Well, it only took almost 25 years, but a Hyundai is North America’s Car of the Year.
Congrats Hyundai, however that bit of good news still doesn’t change the fact that the wheels are coming off pretty much the entire global automotive industry.
Hyundai Genesis North American Car of the Year
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{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve only ridden in a Genesis, not driven one, but it seems to be a very good car. Hyundai should promote the heck out of it as a game-changer for their brand. The conventional wisdom would have had Hyundai start a new marque like Lexus or Infiniti, so that the downmarket Hyundai brand image would not drag down the Genesis. But nobody (except Ulsan, I guess) expected the converse: That through engineering and manufacturing quality, Genesis could pull the perception of the rest of Hyundai’s line along with it. Yet that’s within their grasp.
The Genesis Coupe is a cool car. I can’t believe Hyudai is 25 now…
Consumer Reports rates the Genesis ahead of Lexus and Acura competitors. They did a fine job raising their quality and beating those two makers. The only thing though, it’s just the wrong time and wrong marketing. They should have a separate Genesis brand. No luxury car buyers would buy their car from a Hyundai lot. This is the market where prestige is just as important as quality.
I’ve said before and will say it again, Hyundai has been making some darned good cars since 2000-2002.
I think the genesis coupe is even better. It is a beautiful coupe and their first rear wheel drive coupe. I think it shows a shift in Hyundai’s understanding of the luxury car market. It is not about what the car will do, but what it can potentially do.
Front wheel drive is more effecient and for every day driving no difference in handling and comfort (that is more the department of suspesnion). But realistically front wheel drive cars are limited to about 125-150kW before torque steer and understeer become unbearable. That is why you have to make rwd cars so that you can have the V8 and you can have 200-300kW cars. Despite the fact that the majority of 3 series BMW’s sold are shitty little 318 and 320′s with aroun 80-110kw, they are still rwd so that can make the M3 for the sake of the brand.
I just hope they put the V8 into the coupe because so far all i have seen are 2L twinturbos and 3litre V6′s.
Correction 3.8L V6
I too would like to see Hyundai establish their own brand as well, but that is an expensive proposition. First you need a line of products. A sedan, a sporty sedan, an SUV, a large SUV, etc. Then you need your own dealer network… major brain damage. Then you need your own supply chain, the building of which also costs more money.
The costs are just too prohibitive right now. Maybe with more sales volume and a fuller range of products Hyundai can think about it.
I think they are aiming for brand seperation with Kia and Hyundai, they are pushing Kia as trhe cheap korean brand and Hyundai as the prestige brand.
But at the moment they produce too many models, they are 4 or 5 models in the micro to light car area.
I don’t know how good the i10 is but with the i30, Genesis and Genesis coupe and the Sonata (it is not bad) and the grandeur they have a good line up. And to be far there are no special SUV’s on the market that blow the mind so the Santa Fe is good enough.
They just have to make sure no crap get’s put into prouction under the marque otherwise consumers will quickly remember the hyundai of the 80′s and 90′s. They should start canning surplus models now or pass them down to Kia if they feel they must make them.
“I think they are aiming for brand seperation with Kia and Hyundai, they are pushing Kia as trhe cheap korean brand and Hyundai as the prestige brand.”
You’re probably on to something.
cm, you never bought a Korean car.
cm, to you, FTA, Hyundai, etc, everything is wrong, not right, not ideal, etc, while you advocated for actual Koreans in Korea to bear layoffs, high taxes, etc. That’s why I think mins0306 hated your ass.
Marmot, mins0306 was justified in venting a little against cm, a man of very low IQ.
Your mistake in banning mins.
And you shouldn’t. Hyundai Motor Company was established in 1967.
Hyundai began selling cars in the US in 1986, so is this 23-year-ago event the same almost took 25 years event wangkon mentions?
Interesting sales plan to boot.
“First you need a line of products. A sedan, a sporty sedan, an SUV, a large SUV, etc.”
Not necessarily, to me at least. The world is moving away from SUV and large line of vehicles. I’d like to see Hyundai establish the Genesis brand, modify the i30, Elantra, Sonata – put a turbo engine in there somewhere, jazz up the interiors, market them as premium cars.
Look at Acura, all their cars are nothing but regular Honda’s but with higher grade interiors and some turbo engines here and there.
I’m glad Hyundai is concentrating on small cars. Small cars with premium performance, prestige, and premium interior – like the fun driving Mini, Audi A3/A4 – and other luxurious small cars are the new wave of the future. Small doesn’t nescessarily have to be just economy cars.
As for WJK, I’m not even going to bother with you, since I really have to question your intelligence.
# 11,
Yes, you are correct. Hyundai’s been around longer then 25 years, but their presence in the U.S. as a seller of their own branded cars has been since 1985 or so… so about 23-24 years or a little less than 25 years.
# 12,
Regarding a luxury brand for Hyundai… it’s too early. If they had a separate luxury badge they would need a separate dealer network. What would they fill the dealer showrooms with? One large sedan (the Genesis)? I think to support a dealer network, you need at least three products: a large sedan, a sports (or sporty) car and some kind of SUV. Yes, SUVs are on the decline with the average car buyer, but luxury car buyers are not the average car buyer.
The Genesis coupe comes out later this year. Let’s see how it does. If the coupe does well and if the guys at Hyundai revamp the Veracruz and/or Sante Fe into a luxury version… than the chances of there being a seperate Hyundai luxury brand goes up. I know you talk about small cars like the i30, but seriously… luxury car does not equal small car, especially in the U.S. market (although I do believe the i30 would sell well for Hyundai, but definately under the Hyundai badge).
Again, what’s the point of having a separate luxury badge if you don’t have the products to support a separate dealer network?
Fucking cars…I hate this car culture
A few years ago when Aston Martin came out on sale, there were some talks that Hyundai should buy the company since it was the only large car company that did not have a luxury brand in America. Hyundai said no thanks, and Tata ended up buying AM. Afterwards, Genesis came out. At the time, I thought it was stupid for Hyundai to pass up AM like that — but like Brendon at 1 noted, Hyundai seems to have turned the conventional wisdom on its head. Kudos for them.
One thing I’ve noticed about Hyundai’s in general is that working-class white folks in the US tend to be far more enthusiastic about Hyundai cars than Korean-Americans of any socio-economic class. That’s great. I just wish they’d stop pronouncing it “Hun-DIE’s”, the correct pronunciation is not that difficult even for English speaking American tongues. Many gyopo’s are prejudiced even against the current generation of Hyundai cars, which is idiotic. You are much more likely to find a gyopo driving around in a more expensive Honda or an Acura, even if they cant really afford one. This is champagne taste on a beer budget mentality.
I am one of those rare 2nd gen gyopos who owns a 2002 Elantra. 7 years and over 90,000 miles, it’s still running strong. I bought it because it was a good value. I also bought it because the Hyundai identity is reminescent of myself, a scrappy underdog with a flawed past fighting to make it and survive in a competitive world. I keep it in good condition and I will stick with it until however long it lasts. I also tell my Honda or Acura owning friends, who’ve experienced expensive rims doing disappearing acts during the night that Hyundai’s come with one of the world’s most sophisticated anti-theft devices, which is the Hyundai badge. So to my fellow gyopo’s, get over yourselves and stop being a car racist.
cm, you’re a car racist.
i hate cm.
Marmot, can I go all out on cm?
Seriously, mins0306 gave us read-worthy stuff on military, politics, finance.
Is there any possiblity you can personally beg mins0306 to come back?
Nice article on the Genesis sedan from Automotive magazine.
http://www.automobilemag.com/features/columns/0903_hyundai_genesis_appeal/index.html
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