dunnojack

kia flagship. now you can't even tell a lexus apart from a kia from 500 ft away....

what's lexus gonna do now to distinguish itself in the sheetmetal???



they say sheetmetal costs about the same no matter the style.
kia/hyundai have the ***** to do what some are scared to. spicing it up, that is.

of course, kia isn't gonna sell as well as lexus, but I don't want my lexus looking like a kia either

JessePS

i just noticed it looks like they copied Audi's headlights lol

honestly i find it looks more like a VW Passat CC then anything Lexus came out with. Maybe there is a few GS cues.

Epik151

Looks nothing like a Lexus. Looks better. But don't worry, it's just a concept.

dunnojack

the most recent hyundai concepts have all been very very close to the production model.

this is troubling because now the imitation is equal or better in appearance.
lexus owners will get poked fun of. bmw drivers will now be able to say- "it looks like a kia...."

bmw and merc owners so far have nothing to worry about, as the koreans have not copied them too much.

pagemaster

There was a time that nobody could touch Toyota, Lexus and Honda for build quality, design and reliability.

This has changed with some of the new cars such as the Mazda 6, Maxima, Genesis, Infiniti interiors. The design cues, parts and assembly are very close to higher end cars...While the others have stepped up their game and product in my mind Lexus has stayed constant. They haven't gotten worse but they haven't moved farther ahead.

A car company like Hyundai can build a car that is on par or exceeds Lexus...even at the top of the Lexus line up.

Cabinetman

It isn't all about the looks. These companies still have to prove they can offer Lexus like reliability and customer service.

pagemaster

I agree it not just the looks but almost any of the big auto manufacturers can go at least 100,000 miles with no problems. I think everyone offers 100,000 mile powertrain warranties.

pagemaster

I completely disagree. Lexus was once the leader in customer service. Lexus still leads but the others are up there. They lead the way because Lexus owners were paying a premium for the Lexus brand. While others didn't worry about the customer service issue Lexus took advantage.

This is no longer the case. I have been to many Toyota dealerships and the far surpass Lexus customer service. They dealers now are state of the art with all the luxury amentities that was once only found in a Lexus dealer. Don Valley North Toyota in Toronto is far nicer than any Lexus dealer I have ever seen.

All of the dealer these days know the importance of customer service. From the corporate level, the manufacturers monitor how the dealer is serving the customer.

Many people could care less if the salesman was dressed well, was nice etc etc. All people care about now is the price, looks, performance of the car. If a good price means poor serive then I will take it. I can always find nicer place to service the car.
We live in a internet world and we can now buy cars without ever seeing the salesman until the deal closes.

The G Man

Even if Lexus doesnt have the best quality and reliability anymore, I think they still have the best warranty service. They stand behind their product and go out of their way to please the customer.

dunnojack

this thing looks almost like the ES

probably $10000 cheaper, comparably equipped too.

Sens4Miles

Umm, 3-4 good years does not equal long term reliability/dependability. I think you need a reality check. Hyundai has come a long way in a relatively short time, but let's not get crazy here. Try comparing a 10 year old Hyundai with a 10 year old Toyota or Lexus with the same mileage and see which one has held up better. I have no doubt that Hyundai has greatly improved the quality of their products in the past few years and has thus made them more reliable and dependable than the Hyundais from years past. But to suggest that they can "easily surpass" Honda, Toyota, & Nissan when those companies have for the most part put out reliable/dependable transportation for the past 25 years is a bit presumptuous.

Cabinetman

Actually, I'm from north Texas.

I'm not saying these cars won't be reliable, but they will have to establish a record of reliability. I don't doubt that there are other manufactures besides Toyota and Lexus that can deliver high reliability.

Also, they will need to build a luxury dealer network to compete with the established luxury brands. Many people who drive luxury cars expect upscale dealerships with service above and beyond the norm. They expect nice loaners when their cars are in for service and comfortable and luxurious waiting areas. These things cost money. Competing brands will have to allow profit margins high enough to allow their dealers to provide this.

I welcome the competition. It will be the end users who will benefit.

rdgdawg

BEAUTIFUL!!!

MPLexus301

iTrader: (3)

Also, MeowCat, your father largely has Toyota and Honda to thank for the125,000 care free miles on his Sonata. For a long time Hyundai was buying old Toyota/Honda parts and technology from their own suppliers and has only recently started engineering more of it on their own.

Yes, they have made strides but IMO, we need to see some long term dependability studies in 3-4 years to determine if the cars that they are making NOW really do stack up to Toyota, Honda, and others in terms of reliability. Not saying they won't but Hyundai was doing some shady dealing with Toyota and Honda suppliers until each of those companies went to the suppliers and said, "It's us or them, period," and it stopped.

ho0n

I don't know if that is a fair statement to make. Hyundai-Kia has been on the rise as of only a half-decade or so ago, but Toyota/Honda have had maintained reputation for reliability for far longer than that. A more accurate trial would be to compare late-model representative cars from Hyundai-Kia, Toyota-Lexus, and Honda-Acura and take those 10 years subject to as similar conditions as possible.

Still, Hyundai-Kia's pricing strategy makes keeping the car for 10 years a moot point for the middle class and up, if you ask me. This would be an incredible advantage for Korea if the pricing indeed enables consumers to "keep up with the [richer] Joneses" in frequency of changing cars with comparable design and hopefully features.