Twenty or so years ago, the Western world was flooded with cars from East Asia. Now, I don’t mean Japanese cars. I mean Korean and Malaysian cars. Nowadays, South Korea makes some fantastic cars. Malaysia makes decent cars though they’re only kept in Malaysia and in some other countries.
However, in 2002, both countries made some awful cars. When I say awful I mean so bad that they embarrass the idea of a car as a whole. I’d rather take the bus or walk than drive a Kia Rio. The thing is though, almost all of these cars were properly cheap. Usually, the cheapest cars in the world back in the day were Korean or Malaysian.
So, why were they so bad? Why were they hated by petrolheads all around the world? Let’s find out.
The History.
Ever heard the phrase “cheap and cheerful?” Well, these cars were cheap but far from cheerful. The first-ever Korean car to be sold in the USA was the Sibal which was based on the Willys Jeep. Unfortunately, it didn’t sell well whatsoever. In fact, that was the first-ever South Korean car.
But in 1975 the first-ever Korean-developed car was made. The hideous Hyundai Pony. That car was produced from 1975 until 1990 and was sold globally. It was an awful car but it wasn’t the worst car that Hyundai has made in its 54-year history. It was designed by Italdesign and that leads to something.
A few Korean and Malaysian cars were designed badly by Italian tuning houses. They probably got the apprentices or the blind employees to design these cars. The Hyundai Matrix for example was designed by Pininfarina (who designed the Ferrari Enzo) and that car is horrible in every single way.
Malaysia started building cars way back. Ford Malay was one of the largest manufacturers which were founded in 1926. They were based in Singapore though. The independence of Malaysia happened in August 1957. Then in 1985, Malaysia made its first-ever car, the Proton Saga.
It was made between 1985 and 2008 and over 1.2 million units were sold. It was a horrid car but things got worse. Proton then created the Wira which was so awful in every single way. Fortunately, no Malaysian cars were exported to the US.
The Invasion
The invasion of the Pacific market started around the mid to late 1990s to early 2000s. This is when Korean and Malaysian car manufacturers started to push hard. In 1995 the Hyundai Accent earned Canada’s best buy award. Hyundai then started to invest massively into the quality of their cars too and then they added a 100,000-mile warranty on their cars in the US.
In 1997 though there was a massive issue. Kia had helped push South Korea into the Asian financial crisis. Therefore, Kia was sold to Hyundai (despite the two brands being huge rivals). This helped Kia stay afloat and due to this, their quality of build quality, design, etc improved.
Then there was Daewoo who truly were embarrassing. They were eventually brought out by GM who then, later on, stripped the brand and sold all of its assets. Daewoo did sell cars in the US, but they were all awful. They even had a trim level known as “Xtra Cool” which is far from cool.
Malaysia then started to push in the UK. They launched models such as the Proton Impian, the Perodua Nippa, and the Proton Satria Neo. All of these cars were cheaper than their European or Japanese equivalents but they were worse than the Korean cars on offer. The build quality was poor, they were all ugly, they were as strong as wet cardboard and they were slow. Very very slow.
The pacific rim cars all had weird engines. I can remember the Hyundai Accent had a three-cylinder diesel which was horrid in every single way. These cars were also horrendous to drive.
Eventually, Daewoo cars in Europe were rebadged as Chevrolet cars. Then Chevrolet started to make many of their cheaper cars in South Korea (cars like the Spark). The Lacetti was one of these cars made in Korea that was re-badged as many other cars worldwide.
The Departure
Unfortunately, not all of these brands succeeded. Daewoo has been killed off, Ssang Yong motors are irrelevant and Malaysian cars mostly aren’t exported elsewhere. The reason why some of these car companies failed was that they depreciated heavily. They were also poorly built. Many cars from the Pacific rim were also ugly. They looked horrid in every single way and no petrolhead would want to be seen dead in one. Why couldn’t the Koreans or Malaysians build a decent car?
By the mid, to late 2000s Malaysia started to pull out of Europe. It was a failure for them. However, for the Koreans things were only just getting started. For sure, Daewoo was gone and Ssang Yong had just ruined their reputation with the hideous Rodius. But for Kia and Hyundai their sales started to climb and climb despite the fact that they made truly woeful cars.
The reason why some of these brands departed was that their cars were just so poorly built. The parts were not cheap either so in the long term these cars were very expensive and annoying to live with, They were also horrendous to drive. Proton owned Lotus when they were importing their cars into the UK and their cars actually handled well. Unfortunately in a straight line, they were hopeless.
Proton did make a hot-hatch called the Satria Neo GTi. It had 138hp from a Mitsubishi engine and it was ridiculously fast and also pretty cheap. It may just be the only good car Malaysia has ever made. It also handles pretty well due to Lotus developed suspension.
To Conclude:
Malaysia and South Korea have made some horrendous cars. They tried to capture the West and in some ways, South Korea succeeded. Malaysia on the other hand did not.
Cars from Korea nowadays are just so much better than they used to be. In fact, they’re better built by Japanese cars. The reason why is because they have invested so much money into building their cars. The two brands that have succeeded most is Kia and Hyundai who are now best-sellers globally.
However, two decades ago Pacific rim cars were genuinely horrendous in every single way.