Gojirra99

Auto news

HALO CARS: Hyundai is ready for its Halo cars
Automaker has proved it can sell; now it wants a car to generate buzz

June 30, 2006
BY MARK PHELAN

FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Fueled by the sales success of its recent models and excellent quality ratings, Hyundai is considering building a performance car to create an aura of excitement for the brand and draw more customers to its showrooms.

"The time is right for us to do a halo car," John F. Krafcik, Hyundai Motor America vice president for product development and strategic planning, said in an interview as Hyundai introduced its redesigned 2007 Santa Fe midsize SUV in Santa Barbara.

"This will validate the engineering proficiency of Hyundai," he said. "It's a sure sign we've arrived."

Hyundai probably would price the car below $25,000, although the company is considering a wide range of options, including either a front-wheel-drive model based on its Tiburon sporty coupe or a more powerful rear-wheel-drive model. "We could do a convertible based on either," Krafcik said.

Hyundai will decide whether to build the car within the next six months, said Krafcik, the company's top U.S. product development executive.

Hyundai expects to set a U.S. sales record this year, thanks to new models like the Santa Fe and the Sonata and Azera sedans that went on sale last year.

The South Korean automaker is developing new cars and trucks at a hectic pace as it works to boost sales and become the world's fifth-largest automaker.

Hyundai also is developing another SUV that will be larger than the new version of the Santa Fe, which just began rolling out of the company's assembly plant in Alabama. The bigger SUV will be about the size of the Honda Pilot, Krafcik said.

Hyundai also will build a pickup at some point, Krafcik said. He wouldn't say when either of those models would go on sale, but the SUV is closer to reality. Hyundai is still debating whether the pickup should be a traditional full-size model like the Ford F-150 or a smaller model like the Honda Ridgeline.

If the halo car gets the green light, Hyundai probably will reveal it to consumers early in the process, perhaps as a concept car at one of next year's major auto shows.

"There's not much point keeping it secret," Krafcik said. "The whole point of a vehicle like this is to generate buzz and excitement, so we might as well let people see it early.

"Whether to use a front- or rear-wheel-drive platform is the decision point we're at now."

A front-wheel-drive model could be a compact performance coupe like the Acura RS-X, while a rear-drive would be larger and more powerful, like the Infiniti G35, he said. He declined to say when the performance model might go on sale.

Automakers often develop sporty halo models to create favorable publicity and boost sales for entire brands.

Krafcik cited the Pontiac Solstice roadster as the best recent example of a successful halo car. Pontiac aims to sell fewer than 20,000 of the inexpensive little sports cars a year, but Hyundai's research showed that a remarkable 59% of visitors to Pontiac dealerships this year came because of the Solstice.

"Most of them won't buy a Solstice, but the rule of thumb is that around 20% of showroom visitors buy a vehicle, so it drives higher sales for the whole brand," he said.

A halo car also could catch the eye of car buffs who don't give Hyundai much thought.

"We haven't developed a relationship with the enthusiast customer," Krafcik said. "We've been absent from the pages of the big car magazines, but they have about a million readers each, and their readers are the ones other shoppers seek opinions from."

Developing a performance model would also build excitement among Hyundai's own engineers and designers, he said.

"It can be a motivator for the whole company. We're car guys, too."

Source : freep.com

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

I want to see Hyundai do all that they can do to make a ruckus in the automotive industry. They've been making good cars with nice price tags, and the competition needs to make note of it. It will be interesting to see how they'll evolve. They started off well, but they now need to continue moving in the right direction.

We'll see their progress real soon...

STIG

I agree, Hyundai is ready! But I am not sure if the consumers are ready to buy one tho.

bruce van

I can't think of a halo car which is front wheel drive. If Hyundai wants a halo car, it needs to
look good and not copy/borrow other cars' designs. It should try to look like a G35, Solstice,
BMW, etc.

All they need to do is hire a kick a** designer and let him do his job. Job number one is to
make it look good. I'm pretty sure the engineers probably can't make a great performing car
for $25,000 when there are way too many choices. If Hyundai builds a sexy car like the
Solstice and make it reasonable okay to drive, that will bring people in to see their cars.

spwolf

well, this is their progress, this year complete lineup will be updated, so this is what you get for the next 5 years....

Their latest car is pretty nice - Santa Fe, best Hyundai ever.

mmarshall

Get a load of this : Here's a story from the Washington Times Auto Weekly ( which, of course, I read regularly )

It's no secret, of course, that I am not a big fan of the way J.D. Power operates and how they do their rankings ( Consumer Reports, IMO, does a much better job ) but it is just one more sign that Hyundai is serious about quality.

Hameed

Where does Hyundai rank on CR in relation to Toyota and other brands?

videcormeum

CR evaluates vehicle's more than they do marques - so to compare marques w/ CR's vehicle reliability ratings, you'd need to do a weighted average (based on sales) of all cars' reliability.

But that sort of intensive comparison isn't really necessary.

Generally, Toyota's vehicles are still percieved by CR's survey respondents to be much more reliable than Hyundai's vehicles.

M.

LexFather

I think they need to slow down.

mmarshall

CR generally thinks highly of just about all Hyundai vehicles in terms of fit-and-finish, assembly quality, warranty coverage, and in value per dollar. The actual repair records of Hyundai vehicles vary a little more, though, from the much-better-than-average Sonata to the worse-than average Tuscon ( based on the Tuscon's first year). . Most of the other Hyundai and Kia nameplate vehicles fall somewhere in between...but it is still a long way from the days that anything Hyundai made was deservedly the butt of jokes.
On the other hand, Toyota vehicles in general have a long established record of well-above average reliability records in CR's database.....with some exceptions. Recent V6 ( not V8 ) 4-Runners have had fuel-system problems and a below-average record, and the new Avalon rates only an average repair record...as does the Camry of the last couple of years. In fact, there is some evidence that Toyota's build quality may be starting to slip on some models....but, along with Honda they are still one of the industry leaders in overall quality if not THE leader.

One of the things that separates CR's Recommended lists from " enthusiast " best-car lists like Car and Driver's 10 Best and Autoweek and AUTOMOBILE's Drivers' Choice awards is that to get on CR's Recommended list, a vehicle MUST pass all of CR's tests PLUS the Government Safety tests PLUS have at least an Average reliability repair record as well. If not, it will not make the grade. CR's BEST PICK awards are based on the above criteria PLUS outstanding results in their testing as well.

Magazines like Car and Driver, Road and Track, etc..... on the other hand, while they do run some excellent 4-Season year-long durability tests on come of the cars they have ( and put a lot of miles on them to find out ) , in general they are more concerned with acceleration, high-G cornering, and " sport " features on a car than with long-term reliability.