TRANSPORTATION : Hyundai Motor Scores Points in Two Auto Magazines

Hyundai Motor America has had more than its share of bad news in recent weeks, with the resignations of several key officials, a 30% sales decline and a recall of 1986 Excels sold in California.

So the Garden Grove-based company was happy to hear that Motor Trend magazine, in its November issue, named the Hyundai Excel one of the 10 most significant cars of the 1980s. The Excel was chosen because of the impact it had on the economy car market by creating a tier of lower-priced cars.

And if making one top 10 list is good, then being on three might be great.

So Hyundai has lost no time in publicizing the fact that Car and Driver magazine has included the newly introduced V-6 Sonata as a candidate for its “10 Best Cars of 1990” competition and that Motor Trend is testing the new Excel as a nominee for its 1990 “Import Car of the Year” in the subcompact class.

Meantime, Hyundai has just opened new regional offices and a central parts distribution center in Aurora, Ill.

The distribution facility and combined service, training and office space completed the first phase of a $16.6-million, 342,000-square-foot complex.