I love how he calls the GS a non-entry......

 

Which basically ruined his credibility as an objective reviewer. He should be be

1) rating a car on its objective intrinsic merits rather than popularity or else we should only be considering McDonalds when we want a good burger.Just discounting the GS just because it doesn't sell as well as a 5 series/E-class is just intellectual laziness.

2) The GS is neck and neck with A6 in sales and that's after intra-brand market share splitting with the Lexus ES. Claiming that an A6 is "relevant" but a GS isn't just due to sales is a completely baseless assumption.

It just smacks of lazy writing and a reviewer not doing his due diligence before writing what is essentially an opinion piece rather than an objective assessment of a car and how it stacks up to its competitors.

 

he was just trying to sound smart... doesnt detract from the "review", which isnt really a review.

Unfortunately for Hyundai, if they want to sell significant number of Genesis and Equus, they need to a. create luxury brand b. make it class leading in performance/features, not just the price.

As they keep improving it, they have to keep raising the price.. new model is $3k more expensive than old, and next one will likely be as well... if they make a luxury brand and create separate dealers, they will have to raise the prices as well.

Looking over Hyundai website, they still have deals on unsold 2013 Genesis, then 2014 Genesis and then new 2015 Genesis.

 

Could not agree more. I've said this over and over again. Hyundai (and Kia), bite the investment bullet for a luxury brand like the Japanese did in the late 80's - look where they are today to see how much this makes sense. You have the product, which desperately needs the luxury brand and experience to truly compete and be successful.

 

For 50k you guys can get the Corvette

Who'd buy the Genesis over that??

 

My wife had a 2012 Azera put 28,000 miles on it before trading in for a 2014 ES 350. It was not a bad car. Traded it because the trade in value was dropping very fast for some reason. The car was pretty quick, did not ride that well, too stiff for a luxury type car. Hyundai thinks their cars need to be sports cars for some reason. And of course the next year they softened it somewhat. Gas mileage was good although the computer mileage was all way's 1 to 11/2 MPG higher than checking it at the pump. Paint was very soft compared to the 2011 Sonata I had. Scratches showed up on the paint very easy. I washed the two cars the same way and the Sonata had hardly and marks on the paint compared to the Azera.
Anyway the wife is much happier with the ES than the Azera, better fuel mileage, seems just as quick, better ride, much much quieter and better interior for starters.
Hyundai is a better car today, just remember the trade value drops a lot for some reason between year 2 and 3 of ownership and after that.

 

Not sure if serious......

A person shopping for a corvette would not be cross shopping a 4dr luxury car, nor vice versa.

 

Yeah, the Vette vs. Genesis is a stretch on many levels. Realistically, can you really get a new Vette for $50k??

 

I don't really care for the styling of the Azera. The interior looks ok, but everything in it felt cheap when I sat in it. All the panels felt thin, the leather was of average quality, seats weren't that comfortable or supportive. I just didn't like it and wasn't really impressed by it. The exterior in my opinion is just not that attractive or distinctive. It pretty much looks like every other sedan these days except the red trim running across the rear end connecting the taillights looks like it came straight out of the 80s. Not a very upscale or modern look.

 

Where do your kids sit when you pick them up from school with the Corvette? I guess one of them is ***** out of luck, huh?

 

A child of that size can easily fit in that back window compartment of a vette.

If I had 2 kids and say a Porsche Cayman, one of them is going in the front trunk.

 

Hyundai needs two things: 1. a luxury brand, 2. original styling.

Right now it looks like they've put in decent effort with the new Genesis, but $40k for a Hyundai may still be a tough sell for a lot of people, and to eliminate any risk on losing sales due to styling, they've been forced to blatantly copy cars the Genesis aspires to be like.

A separate luxury brand and developed brand cachet affords you the ability to sell your cars at a higher price, and take the risk of developing original styling that sets trends instead of follows them.

 

Good post.
With Kia now out with the K900, it's very difficult to figure out what the Hyundai Motor Company is thinking as far as the future is concerned. They now have competing models in almost every segment and you can't really say the Hyundai brand is any more premium than Kia anymore. So even if they did launch a new separate luxury brand called Genesis or Equus, what would happen to Kia's K900 and their other premium models?

 

It would take at least half a decade of planning if they had any intention to debut a luxury brand right. You don't just wake up one morning and debut a luxury brand.

Also again having a luxury brand does not equate instant success, look at Volvo, Saab, Lincoln, Acura, Infiniti who all struggle and have a "badge". Lexus is the only one that got it right and its no coincidence Toyota owns the brand, who spend more in R&D than anyone and have the cash and passion to have done it right. If you read the Lexus Story it was quite the fanatical effort to debut Lexus.

If they are happy with the sales they get and clearly the cars have elevated the brand what is the issue?

 

Hehe actually Volvo is doing okay.

Well better than Lincoln that's for sure