Friday, August 15, 2008

Hyundai Genesis - The car to worry Lexus and the Germans - First customers include Toyota and GM


The Hyundai Genesis, created to showcase what the Koreans are capable of, idealistically and economically, as it's not a publicity stunt to sell cars that they loss money on every one made, the Koreans were able to create a car that's larger than the A6, more comfortable than an E-Class, handles as well as a 5 Series and as quiet as the Lexus GS - All for the money of an entry level 3 Series. There's a public call amongst fans for Hyundai to launch the Genesis as a luxury brand - of which Hyundai felt it needn't so the Genesis is by itself, the best testament of Hyundai's proclaimed 'Dollars and Senses" brand DNA.

The Genesis had also received wonderful reviews all around typically on it's large interior space, comfort, equipment levels, sound system, the excellent V6 Lambda engine and the V8 Tau engine that's smooth, quiet, efficient, responsive and powerful; and unexpectedly, the excellent balance of it's RWD chassis and handling, which is of no second-par effort like those of the Lexus GS - Yes, it handles and rides better than many of it's competition. FWD Audi A6? You can forget that.

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Of course the Genesis weren't equipped with some of the amenities that made up more for publicity rather than practicality, such as BMW's on screen display, or Merc's self inflating driver seats for cornering in an E-Class (How often that comes along, and your guess are as good as ours).

Such immense publicity the Genesis had gathered, that upon first launch in US the initial batch of 800 Genesis was all sold and amongst the first new customers, are Toyota and GM, snatching up the V6 model, and believably, the V8 once it's launched.

According to Micael Deitz, the purchases from GM only identified himself as part of GM's 'Competitive Intelligence Department.' Thou buying rival cars for R&D purposes are widespread practice over the world, having the world's largest and second largest automaker putting their orders on a car made by budget Korean car maker, is a telltale sign of just how immensely capable the Genesis is, and it is definitely important for Hyundai that they know their rivals are worried. It won't be surprising relly, if Merc, Audi and BMW placed their orders soon.

Check out the photos of the best car you can buy now with $30,000 USD.



4 comments:

Gucci De La Prada said...

A very, VERY good looking Korean here. I wonder if it's gonna be available in the Asian region. Particularly, Malaysia ? Hmmmmm.....

Bobby said...

Currently it's only slated for the Korean market and US (left hand drive)

The price of this car is even higher than that of the previous Azera, of which in Malaysia was sold around RM230,000 the price of an entry level BMW 3 Series, or an Audi A4. Very difficult to justify that kind of pricing, and should it be CKD, Inokom, who had a relationship with Hyundai, might lack the necessary workmanship, technology and outright quality standards to produce the Genesis, provided the market here is big enough for the Koreans to set up a factory. Honestly speaking, if they were to import it, under the moniker of a Hyundai, will anyon buy it for RM260,000? Given the brand conscious Malaysians? I doubt so

Gucci De La Prada said...

I used to be very brand conscious myself. But these days, and I think I have grown older, I need something maintainable. Buying a car is easy, maintaining it could be a problem if :-
1. There are no dealers here
2. Parts and spares are difficult to find (I hate to wait for an order that could take months on end to arrive)
3. No good resale value (hell yeah!)
4. Poor durability and functionality.

But a Korean should be easier to maintain, especially KIA or Hyundai. I'm still waiting to see what other models will be produced within the next 2 - 3 years before eventually making up my mind to get either one.

Bobby said...

Too many have wrong impressions on cars. Never judge cars by the brand and the nationality. Of course there are 'slight' variations. However, take the new Hyundai Genesis for example, besides the badge, they built it like a German car, extensive sound proofing, a 4.6 ltr V8 engine, sensors in the crank, sensors in the exhaust, sensors everywhere to keep the car in check, quality of materials are very high end, premium sound systems etc. How can one assume the maintenance of such a vehicle be cheap? BMW, Audi Merc can always build cars like how Proton does, I'm sure the reliability and maintenance cost would be on par with what Toyota does; it's just that they didn't want to jeopardize their brands for cheap products. Just look at Skoda, essentially an Audi, but they remove most complicated technologies, it's jd power survey rating is on par with Lexus in UK.

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