I get that they aren't all that desirable in peoples minds, but then desirability is rarely a pre-requisite for holding off depreciation. See Land Rover, or Mercedes for example. Reputation for becoming money-pits cripples their resale value. So why do Korean brands not benefit from the reverse? Or are they awful in some other way?

Until the turn of the century, Kia and Hyundai were selling cheap, boring cars.

Since about 1998, they've had a huge drive for quality. That obviously took a while to start coming through.

In 2006, amid criticism from reviewers that their vehicles looked “weird” and worse, Hyundai poached Peter Schreyer, an Audi designer who had gained renown for his role in the Audi TT. Under his guidance, Kia and Hyundai started to have a sense of style as well as substance - cars like the Kia Soul came out, and the cars have started to go upmarket.

Hyundai have hired Luc Donckerwolke, another Audi designer, to succeed Schreyer, when he retires - so they are thinking ahead.

They even came top in a JD power survey recently. www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36603772

As a long-term Toyota owner, who is also responsible for quality at work, I've been following Hyundai and Kia for a few years - they've been very open about their strategy. And this summer, I took the plunge, and bought a Sorento. I've done about 4,000 miles in it so far, and am highly impressed.

I suspect their 'old design' cars will continue to sell cheaply secondhand, but the newer designs could do fairly well, as people start to see the quality coming through.

I'm less impressed with the UK dealer network - the skills and attitudes still need a lot of work if they are to match the quality of the cars.