A Korea in the Car Game Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hyundai

Hyundai was founded in 1967 and has its headquarters in South Korea's capital city, Seoul. The company first introduced the Accent in 1994 as a replacement for their outgoing Excel model. It was a subcompact aimed at the small family car market and continued to be sold around the world for over 25 years under a variety of different names in different countries. Just some of those alternative names include the Verna, Pony, Solaris and Brio, while the car has also been rebadged as a Dodge Verna and Attitude. Another version of the car, the Accent WRC, competed in the World Rally Championship from 2000-2003 with its best results being a handful of 4th places.

This question was rolled out by Phoenix Rising's Fifiona81.

Answer: Hyundai

The Elantra (also known as the Avante) was introduced by Hyundai in 1990 as a compact car. Outside of South Korea the name was standardized to Elantra in 2001. The company introduced seven generations of the car between 1990 and 2020. The US market was the biggest market for the model up until 2005 when China became the biggest market. In 2019, the US again became the biggest market at which point the two countries were about even. In the US market it competes against the Ford Escort and Tempo, the Chevy Cavalier, the Toyota Corolla, and the Honda Civic.

This question was driven into the quiz by Phoenix Rising's tazman6619.

Answer: Hyundai

The i30, launched in 2007 by Hyundai, is sold as the Elantra Touring or Elantra GT in North America. It is a small family car that was made available as a three and five door hatchback and as a five door estate (station wagon). There were petrol and diesel options made available.

A popular seller for the company, it also won several awards, including "Car of the Year" in Australia in 2007 and the "Most Satisfying Car in Britain" in 2010. To add lustre to its reputation, Gabriele Tarquini drove an i30 in winning the 2018 World Touring Car Cup.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 who once bought a wooden car but it wooden start.

Answer: Hyundai

The Hyundai Sonata takes its name from the musical term meaning "a piece played" as opposed to 'cantata' meaning "a piece sung". The mid-sized Sonata debuted in 1985 for the South Korean market as a successor to the Hyundai Stellar. It was a rather uninspired attempt to bring an executive sedan to market, but customers were unimpressed by the lack of significant improvements compared to the Stellar. Hyundai released the Sonata to global markets beginning with its second generation in 1989. By its sixth generation (2011-2014), the Sonata earned the company its first ever 10Best Cars award from "Car and Driver". It has become a competitive player in the mid-sized family sedan category thanks to its mechanical and stylistic allure.

This question was composed by Phoenix Rising maestro JCSon.

Answer: Kia

The Kia Rio is a subcompact car introduced in 1999. It was also called the Kia Pride and Kia K2 in China. The models included three- and five-door hatchbacks, a five-door station wagon (since discontinued), and a four-door sedan. When the second generation was introduced in 2005, the car shared a platform with the Hyundai Accent. For the fourth generation of the Rio introduced in 2016, Kia has two models, a global model and one specifically for the Chinese and Russian markets.

Kia is the second largest car manufacturer in South Korea behind its parent company Hyundai.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising's tazman6619 who does not like subcompacts since they are too cramped for him.

Answer: Kia

Manufactured from 2000, the Optima replaced the Kia Credos in the 4-door mid-sized passenger car market. It was called Magentis in Europe and Canada from 2002, and in China from 2004 when it was released in those countries. It became known as K5 globally after the 5th generation was released in 2019.

The early iterations of the vehicle received a poor safety rating, and the Optima was given a facelift and safety overhaul in 2006 which raised its scores from poor to good. The third generation of 2010 similarly received a good rating. The 'Top Safety Pick +' rated version of 2017 received its first 'superior' evaluation.

The fourth generation, available from 2015, saw some conceptual changes with the introduction of a sportswagon and a plug-in hybrid. Other features, such as a grille that opens and closes depending on the speed of the car, were introduced. The Optima won the International Car of the Year award in 2013 and 2016.

This question was backed into its parking space in the quiz by Phoenix Rising member VegemiteKid.

Answer: Kia

The Sportage, which was first produced by Kia in 1993, is an SUV (sport utility vehicle). The first generation Sportage came to the European and North American markets 1995 and the model eventually became the company's best selling car, overtaking the compact Rio in 2016. This was a far cry from its early days as the first generation of the vehicle, thanks to its poor safety ratings, sold in extremely low numbers.

In China, the vehicle has been rebranded and is sold as the KX5.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 who also offers the advice that driving with one headlight is not a bright idea.

Answer: SsangYong

SsangYong is a much smaller car manufacturer than its South Korean rivals Hyundai and Kia and its models are arguably much less well-known around the world. It was previously known as Dong-A Motor, but began trading under the SsangYong name in 1986, specialising in the production of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and pick-up trucks.

The SsangYong Tivoli was first launched in 2015 and is a crossover SUV - a blend between a traditional SUV and a compact family car. The car was named after the Italian town of Tivoli because of its reputation as a stylish resort that had given its name to the Jardin de Tivoli in Paris and Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. However, it is marketed as a budget car and reviews for the Tivoli have tended to criticise both its ride quality and interior (while praising the amount of equipment included as standard).

Phoenix Rising's Fifiona81 reviewed this car despite having never heard of it before.

Answer: SsangYong

The SsangYong Rexton is a mid-size sport utility vehicle (SUV) that was first launched in 2001. The models come with petrol or diesel options as well as two-wheel or four-wheel drive. The car has been praised in its home country for its design, value and safety. In 2017, it walked away with the prestigious Korean Good Design Award, picked up the Best Value Award on two occasions and, in 2018, won the 4x4 of the Year award.

The second generation model, released in 2017, comes complete with nine air-bags, including a driver knee air-bag. Fun fact: the name Rexton is derived from the Latin word for ruler (Rex) and the English word "tone" with the intention that its name would mean "the ruler's tone".

This question was created by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 who advises that chasing cars is likely to leave you exhausted.

Answer: SsangYong

In mid-2022, SsangYong Motor Company unveiled their new Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), the Torres. It is named after the Torres del Paine peaks in Patagonia, Chile. The Torres fills in a gap between SsangYong's smaller Korando and larger Rexton models. The Torres can seat five and has a large boot space of 708 litres. In the interior, physical buttons have been replaced with touchscreens. The standard model is a front-wheel drive, though the four-wheel drive option is also available. Other features of the car include autonomous emergency braking and lane keeping assist with adaptive cruise control and blind spot monitoring as add-on options. At the time of its release for sale globally - except in the United States where SsangYong hadn't entered the market - the Torres has a petrol engine, but an electric version was announced for late 2023.

This question was written on cruise control by Phoenix Rising team members pollucci19 and purelyqing.