German Car Mag AutoBild Declares Hyundai "Best in Germany"

Germany has traditionally been thought of as the home of the best automotive engineering in the world. Names like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Porsche are synonymous with “top quality.”

So you’d think that when German car magazine AutoBild held a quality contest, a win by a domestic manufacturer would be a slam-dunk.

Well, surprise, surprise. The top place wasn’t taken by a German manufacturer, nor by Lexus or Infiniti. Nope, it was—you guessed it—Hyundai!

The result wasn’t just the product of someone’s subjective evaluation either. AutoBild uses a formula based primarily on “hard” data such as recall info, the provisions of manufacturers’ warranties, feedback provided by over 9,000 drivers, and data from the German vehicle inspection authority, the Technischer Überwachungs-Verein (TÜV). And when they added up the results, Hyundai beat ‘em all, including Mercedes and BMW.

That they have been bested by a Korean manufacturer will doubtlessly leave many German automotive engineers crying in their (still #1) German beer!