That's a really narrow conception of "meme". If you think of it as the brand's reputation, and widespread jokes, anecdotes, etc. then it's spot on.

USENET meme then?

I've never seen a Hyundai meme.

Meme as in image macro with top and bottom text? I haven't either, but that's not what the word "meme" has meant until very recently. Meme as in "Hyundai/Yugo are terrible cars" repeated even by people who have never driven one? Very common back in the day before meme meant image macro.

FORD = Found On Road Dead (or Fix Or Repair Daily)

FIAT = Fix It Again Tony

JEEP = Just Empty Every Pocket

HYUNDAI = Hope You Understand Nothings Drivable And Inexpensive

An article from 2001 saying this Hyundai joke is now outdated because they finally make good cars: http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1000326...

They generally were jokes, some with images, some not. It seems every joke site at the time had at least one about Yugo's or Hyundai's. At least that's what I remember. This is roughly between 1995 and 2000. Some may have been on Compuserve instead of the Internet, I don't remember the details, but generally both copied each other.

> FORD = Found On Road Dead (or Fix Or Repair Daily)

Haha, just fixed my Ford in the driveway today! (Battery cable corroded to the point it wouldn't conduct anymore.) But the beast is 30 years old, so I forgive it.

In the same vein, my grandpa considered Toyotas to be "toys" ("they've even got 'toy' in the name) until he bought a Highlander and - eventually - a Prius.

Yugo = you go on foot

You don't remember Rodney King "getaway car" jokes? Maybe that was regional.