They also seem to pack a lot of features into the car for the money, I’ve seen ventilated seat options, standard tech and safety that the Japanese makes either don’t offer or require you to move to their top tier trims. Their UI seems to be more intuitive and thought out. I think the Japanese makes have become complacent relying on years of good will while Hyundai and Kia are hungry and aggressive.
I’ve read a few quality review sites that show they’ve surpassed Toyota and Honda in some models and their style seems to be forward thinking compared to others that look stale.
When you see a 10 year powertrain warranty you know they have confidence in their product’s reliability.