2009 Hyundai Genesis
It all begins with Genesis
Santa Barbara, CA - The question posed is “can Hyundai successfully market a performance/ luxury sedan?”
It wasn’t me who posed it either — Hyundai themselves brought it up. Heck, it was in their PowerPoint presentation at the debut of their new performance/ luxury sedan last week, the Genesis.
They know what they’re up against, and quite realistic about it. As John Vernile, the company’s V-P of sales and marketing put it at the media launch, “Who ever thought that Hyundai could produce a sedan that rivals Mercedes Benz and BMW?”
The question is bait, of course, and will provoke a lot of debate in the media and among car aficionados in the months leading up to the car’s arrival on dealer lots (the Genesis will begin selling in September, with a coupe version slated to hit our shores in December.)
Rather than pump a lot of ink into the whole “can they?” theme, I will answer the question right now. Yes, of course they can.
Hyundai has learned all the right lessons in their history on this side of the Pacific (indeed, they’re probably the most improved carmaker I have witnessed in my lifetime), and their vastly improved products have turned the company’s rep around, with vehicles like the Sonata and Azera already beginning to build a share in upscale markets for the Korean manufacturer.
Additionally, it's not like Hyundai has never built a lux-car before.
The Equus, which we don’t see many of in North America, is a fine example of such a vehicle.
The Genesis, however, is something we haven’t seen from Hyundai before: a rear-wheel-drive status machine, muscled up with a V8 engine, positioned to torpedo far more expensive makes from the brands that have traditionally dominated this segment.
Hyundai has put the cachet of a classy saloon car within reach of a whole new demographic, priced it right and not scrimped on the fit and finish and quality touches.
The Genesis comes as basically two models (they also offer a V6 engine), with two available option packages (“Premium” and “Technology”)
The bigger engine, a 4.6-litre Tau eight-cylinder, boasts 375 hp, and will put 333 lb.-ft. of torque to the wheels at 3,500 rpm. The V6 powerplant, a 3.8-litre Lambda is no slouch either, offering 290 horses and 264 lb.-ft.
Both flavors of Genesis use a six-speed automatic transmission, but the transmissions vary. The V6 trim gets an Aisin B600 tranny, the V8 a ZF6HP26. Different drive ratios optimized for each engine’s powerband, basically. I won’t go into the minutia here, as I sat through an incredibly long presentation about it and trust me, it’s boring.
The Genesis is very well equipped in either trim, offering the acoustic laminated glass and rain sensing wipers, full array of safety features and airbags, iPod and USB auxiliary inputs for the stereo, and all the power goodies one would expect in a luxury car. And of course, leather trimmed everything (including the dash, in the V8 model).
A notable feature in the technology package option is the 17-speaker Lexicon 7.1 surround sound stereo system. Apparently, it’s the same system found in the Rolls Royce Phantom, the only other automaker for which Lexicon produced car audio systems.
I got to drive the full suite of pre-production models of the Genesis at the media preview, both on the road and on a closed track, and can attest to the car’s ride (very good) and performance (rivals most of its competitors), and also to the attention paid to fit and finish detail, inside and out.
Hyundai has been rigorous in its benchmark testing, employing the independent auto testing group AMCI to rank their new sedan against everything from their most likely competitors (such as Cadillac’s CTS, Chrysler’s 300C and the Lexus ES) to the more ambitious makes that they hope to snag a few buyers from:
Mercedes, BMW and Infiniti’s M sedans.
They weren’t afraid of head-to-head comparisons either, even going so far as to bring a BMW 750 (which, outwardly, the Genesis closely resembles) to the closed track so we of the press could drag race it against the V8 Genesis, which acquitted itself well against the German rival.
So, can a Korean manufacturer bring a luxury/ performance rear wheeler successfully into the North American market? You betcha. Hyundai is realistic about sales targets, expecting to sell a mere 300 of them in the remainder of 2008, and only 1,000 next year, knowing that the conquests will take time.
Where they are positioned to kick it in the sales arena is the pricepoint. The Genesis will sell for literally tens of thousands of dollars less than the high-end “name” brands sought by status-conscious buyers, and on equal footing with the lower end of the lux-car market.
Consider that a base Genesis with V6 will have a sticker of $37,995 and a fully loaded V8 with technology package will only push that MSRP up to $48,995 and you have a serious contender against virtually every luxury and neo-luxury car currently out there.
There’s a lot more to the Genesis than we have space for here, but watch for a full-on road test of the car right here in Autonet when they start shipping later this year.
And when they do hit dealerships in September, the Genesis in either trim is well worth a test drive — and will definitively answer the question of whether Hyundai can pull of the foray into the high-end segment._
Summary:
Strong Points
Weak Points
- - Good looks and build quality
- - full-featured luxury car at a highly competitive price
- - the attraction of being the first kid on the block to own one
- - Hyundai may lack the "name" cachet to lure status-conscious buyers to the brand
- - questions remain about residual value
Editors Rating:
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