DETROIT — Maybe Hyundai Motor Co. drivers don't need that 10-year, 100,000-mile warranty after all.

The South Korean automaker known for its value pricing — all its vehicles sell for under $29,000 — delivered a jaw-dropping performance in J.D. Power and Associates' annual survey on new-vehicle quality, which was released yesterday.

Hyundai was the No. 1 non-premium brand in the United States, edging past Toyota, the Japanese brand whose rock-solid quality reputation has been shaking Detroit's dominance in the nation's auto market for years.

Overall, Hyundai was No. 3 in this year's report, behind No. 1 Porsche and No. 2 Lexus, Toyota's luxury brand, and right ahead of Toyota. Last year, Hyundai was No. 11, so the leap made Hyundai the third-most improved nameplate this year.

"We're very proud and very excited," said Don Dees, vice president of service for Hyundai Motor America, the subsidiary of Hyundai that sells and distributes new cars and trucks in the United States.

Even Toyota Motor Corp., whose products topped 11 of the 19 categories, acknowledged the growing pressure from Hyundai.

"There's no question that Hyundai is coming on strong and doing a tremendous job," Jim Lentz, Toyota group vice president and general manager, said in a conference call with journalists. "They are going to become a bigger and bigger player in the marketplace."

The top-notch quality performance will likely boost Hyundai's sales, which are already up 4.5 percent this year, and help the automaker achieve its growth targets.

Hyundai — which has a North American headquarters in Fountain Valley, Calif., a new $1.1 billion plant in Alabama and an engineering and technology center in Superior Township, Mich. — is aiming for 500,000 U.S. sales this year.

The company will certainly have a lot of selling points from this year's report: Five of the seven 2006 models that Hyundai sold ranked in the top three for their category.

The Hyundai Tucson was the No. 1 compact multi-activity vehicle. Three Hyundai cars took second-place spots: the Elantra compact car, the Tiburon sporty car, and the Azera large car.

Hyundai's most popular vehicle, the Sonata, ranked third in the highly competitive mid-sized car segment.

What's more, two of the top-performing vehicles, the Sonata and Azera, were brand-new in 2006, making the performance even more spectacular. Automakers usually take a quality hit the year they launch a new product because it takes time to work out all the new-vehicle glitches.

"That is probably the thing I'm most proud of, because that bucks the normal industry trend," Dees said. "We're launching great, great products."