Look closely at the slanted H on a Hyundai and you'll see two people shaking hands: according to Hyundai, a company representative and a satisfied customer.
- Country
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South Korea - Active
- Since 1967
- Founded by
- Chung Ju-yung
- Website
- Official website ↗
A farmer’s son who wanted something better
Before Hyundai built a single car, its founder repaired them. Chung Ju-yung, a farmer’s son, opened a car repair shop in Seoul in 1941. Hyundai likes to quote his boast from those days: “we repaired in only five days what took other companies twenty”.
His story is full of false starts. According to Hyundai, he left home several times as a young man, and more than once his father came and took him back. In 1947 he moved into the building trade and founded the Hyundai Group, with Hyundai Engineering & Construction helping to rebuild the country’s roads. That work gave him a simple idea. If roads are the country’s veins, he said, cars are the blood running through them.
So in 1967 Hyundai Motor Company was founded. Its Ulsan plant was finished in 1968, and the first car it assembled there was the Cortina, built in cooperation with Ford.
One word: modern
The name is not a family name or a place. Hyundai is the Korean word for modern, and the company says that fits its progressive spirit. For a firm that went from repair shop to carmaker in a generation, it is a pretty honest label.
A handshake hidden in the H
At first glance the Hyundai badge is just a slanted H inside an oval. Look again. According to Hyundai’s European newsroom, the H also shows two people shaking hands. One is a company representative, the other a satisfied customer. The oval around them stands for Hyundai’s global presence.
Once you spot the two leaning figures, it’s hard to unsee them. The left stroke is one person, the right stroke the other, and the bar that joins them is the handshake.
The slanted H wasn’t the first Hyundai car badge. According to Jalopnik, the early cars wore a stylised HD, and the H in an oval arrived in 1992. Hyundai doesn’t give a date for the switch in the sources we checked, so treat the exact year with a little care. Other readings of the H, such as a road or a symbol of harmony, appear on logo sites but not in Hyundai’s own explanation.
From kukmincha to fuel cells
Hyundai learned by assembling someone else’s car, then designed its own and kept moving. The cars below trace that path.
Landmark Hyundais, decade by decade
- 1968: Cortina. The first vehicle Hyundai assembled at its Ulsan plant, in cooperation with Ford.
- 1976: Pony. Hyundai calls it the first Korean passenger car. Styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro and nicknamed kukmincha, the car for the people, it premiered at the Turin Motor Show in 1974.
- 1986: Excel. Sold as the Pony Excel, it was the first Hyundai model sold in the United States.
- 2000: Santa Fe. Hyundai’s first SUV, named after the city in New Mexico.
- 2013: ix35 Fuel Cell. According to Hyundai, the first commercially mass-produced hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in the world.
- 2016: IONIQ. The first car in the world to offer hybrid, plug-in hybrid and full electric powertrains, says Hyundai. The name mixes ion and unique.
Hyundai has some close relatives. It acquired Kia in 1998, and in 2015 it launched Genesis as a global luxury brand with its own badge. Other South Korean brands with pages here include Daewoo and SsangYong. For more on how symbols like the handshake H come together, see how car logos are designed.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Hyundai logo mean?
According to Hyundai, the slanted H also shows two people shaking hands: a company representative and a satisfied customer. The oval stands for Hyundai’s global presence.
What does the name Hyundai mean?
Hyundai is the Korean word for modern.
Who founded Hyundai?
Chung Ju-yung. He founded the Hyundai Group in 1947, and Hyundai Motor Company followed in 1967.
Are Hyundai, Kia and Genesis the same company?
They are related. Hyundai acquired Kia in 1998 and launched Genesis as its global luxury brand in 2015. Each brand has its own badge.
Repair shop to Ulsan: the handshake ledger
- Founded
- 1967
- Founder
- Chung Ju-yung
- Country
- South Korea
- Headquarters
- Seoul, South Korea
- Parent company
- Hyundai Motor Group
- Current emblem
- A slanted H in an oval that also depicts two people shaking hands
- Known for
- The Pony, Korea's first passenger car, and early hydrogen and electric cars
- Website
- Official website ↗
