The Drive to Compete

Hyundai Motor's car factory in India, set amid palm-studded marshes on the outskirts of Madras, is a gleaming example of what could be the future of India's economy. Built for $1 billion, its high-tech robots and monstrous steel-pressing machines will churn out 300,000 Accent sedans and other vehicles this year, at world-class quality levels. Hyundai has been shifting production of its smallest cars to India to take advantage of low costs, thereby keeping the business profitable. One-third of its cars produced in India are exported to Germany, Peru, South Africa and elsewhere. Opened in 1998, the plant was operating long before...