Tag Archives | Hyundai Genesis

Review: 2011 Hyundai Equus Signature

By on December 5, 2011 in Reviews

By Chris Haak

It’s time to take Hyundai seriously as an automaker.  Akio Toyoda certainly knows this, as much of Hyundai’s current lineup takes direct aim at his company’s products, and often manages to top Toyota in a number of areas, while undercutting the Japanese company’s prices.

The Equus is certainly no joke.  It is a credible competitor for the established luxury brands at a price thousands of dollars below the asking price of those other cars.  GM, the once-and-future “world’s largest automaker” makes no product even close to what the Equus delivers.

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Lexus Boss Mark Templin Predicts a Dismal Future For His Brand

By on April 28, 2011 in Editorials

By Chris Haak

Auto executives are, by nature, an optimistic bunch of people.  They’re always on the verge of catching onto the next big trend, of turning around operations, yadda yadda.  Therefore, I raised my eyebrows more than a little bit when I saw what Lexus general manager Mark Templin had to say about his brand’s future.  It wasn’t optimistic; it was downright melancholy.  In an interview with Automotive News, he conceded the luxury-vehicle sales crown for 2011 with seven-plus months remaining in the year.  The reason?

He’s blaming the Japanese earthquake, which has done great harm to the auto industry supply chain, but in particular, to Japanese auto manufacturers.  Many Japanese OEMs still are not running at full production, including heavyweights Honda and Toyota.  Toyota, in fact, said that it was not likely to resume normal production until November, a full eight months after the March earthquake.  Lexus is particularly affected, though, because the majority of the brand’s models, with the sole exception of the RX crossover, are built in Japan.  In post-tsunami Japan, local auto production is a disadvantage.

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In the Metal: 2011 Hyundai Equus VS460

By on July 23, 2010 in Features, News

By Kevin Miller

It’s no secret that Hyundai is set to launch its Equus luxury sedan in the US. Officially introduced at the New York Auto show in April of this year, the Equus will occupy a market segment above the Korean automaker’s Genesis sedan. While neither a price nor an on-sale date for the Equus has been announced, it is widely believed that pricing for car, targeted at the Lexus LS460 and Mercedes-Benz S550, will start close to $50,000, and rise to around $60,000 fully equipped. Hyundai Motor America’s President and CEO John Krafcik penned a piece last month published by Edmunds Inside Line stating the the retail launch of the Equus is still several months away- which indicates that it will be on sale in late 2010.

So far, the only place in the US to get a good look at an Equus has been either at an auto show, or on the internet.  You can imagine my surprise, then, when I encountered an Equus sedan yesterday evening on California’s rural Cabrillo coast highway (CA-1). I was re-tracing the route of my California Great Drive, and I passed through a construction zone with single lane traffic controlled by an automated signal near Pescadero; waiting for the signal to change on the other side was a Hyundai Equus. At first glance I took it to be a (still relatively rare) Genesis sedan, but as I glanced at the car’s side profile I could tell it was not a Genesis.  Just like any car guy would do, I had to get a better look. With no traffic oncoming or behind me on the rural highway, I quickly made a U-turn and found myself behind the car badgeed EQUUS VS460, wearing a California distributor license plate.

See our Huyndai Equus gallery after the jump… Continue Reading →

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New York Auto Show: 2011 Hyundai Equus

By on April 1, 2010 in News

By Chris Haak

Surprising nobody, Hyundai formally announced that it would launch its full-size rear wheel drive luxury sedan, the Equus, in the US in this fall. Hyundai had previously shown the Equus at last year’s New York Auto Show, and said at the time that it was considering whether to offer its Korean domestic market flagship in the US. Having trotted out the Equus at various auto shows during the current season as well, and seeing a generally positive reaction to the car from the media and potential buyers, the company decided to launch the car in the US.

Intended to compete with much more expensive luxury sedans – such as the Lexus LS460 and Mercedes-Benz S550 – but at a much lower price point, the Equus takes Hyundai’s value-for-the-money formula and applies it to the luxury market. On paper, the Equus tops the two above-named competitors in most areas (after all, Hyundai specifically cited those two as their competition), and particularly compared to the Lexus LS, which with it probably most closely competes.

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TrueDelta Releases Quarterly Reliability Results

By on February 9, 2009 in News

By Michael Karesh

02.09.2009

TrueDelta released updated results for its Car Reliability Survey a few days ago. These include owner experiences through the end of 2008, and so are about eight months ahead of other publicly available car reliability information.

One benefit of our prompt quarterly updates: some 2009s are included. Most notable: the 2009 Hyundai Genesis (review coming to Autosavant in a few weeks), with a repair rate close to the average. Since the Genesis was all-new, and most Hyundais are much less complex, Hyundai could easily have botched this one. They didn’t. All of the reported repairs have been minor electrical, which is the most common type of problem reported for recently purchased new cars.

Aside from the level of complexity, same goes for the 2008.5 / 2009 Pontiac G8 and 2009 Subaru Forester. They’re also all-new, and have similarly average repair rates. The redesigned 2009 Nissan Murano and 2009 Toyota Corolla and refreshed 2009 Hyundai Sonata check in just enough better than the others–the difference is only one or two extra repair trips per ten cars per year–to rate “better than average.” Toyota has dropped the ball a couple of times in recent years, but their small cars still tend to be glitch-free. Continue Reading →

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2009 Infiniti M35s Review

By on January 27, 2009 in Reviews

By Chris Haak

01.27.2009

Having sampled most of Infiniti’s current lineup at one time or another, the M was never one of my favorite models (incidentally, the one model I haven’t driven before).  The original M45 was wrapped in extremely conservative styling, but featured the fire-breathing 340-horsepower V8 of the larger and more expensive Q45 flagship; it was basically a Japanese muscle car.

The second-generation Infiniti M added a less-expensive V6 model, as well as the availability of all wheel drive, all in a body that was far more curvaceous than the previous model.  The interior also enjoyed a new design, with one of Nissan/Infiniti’s first implementations of its new touchscreen/control wheel navigation interfaces at the top of a large center stack.  The M is a fairly expensive car, but it also contains a lot of slick technology.

When I learned that I’d be getting an M35 to review, I was initially disappointed that I was getting the “slow one,” rather than the 4.5 liter V8-powered M45.  As it turned out, I honestly never once for a second felt a need for the extra 22 horsepower that the V8 would bring to the table.  The VQ 3.5 liter V6 is rated at 303 horsepower in the M35s (versus 325 horsepower for the now down-rated 4.5 liter V8 in the M45), and makes that power without the use of direct injection or forced induction.  When my parents visited last weekend, my father assumed that the “s” in the model designation indicated a supercharger; from a power standpoint, it might as well have (it means “Sport,” by the way).  Even with traction control engaged, the M could spin its rear tires (note that my test vehicle was an M35s, not an all-wheel drive M35x) in both first and second gears without careful throttle application, and the car really accelerated from nearly any speed with a huge sense of urgency, with one exception:  in D(rive) mode or in DS (Drive Sport) mode, the transmission sometimes didn’t kick down far enough for maximum performance, in spite of having plenty of available ratios.  Shifts were smooth and quickly actuated, with my belief that the only limitation that the M35′s transmission suffers is a lack of shift paddles behind the steering wheel for manual gear changes. Continue Reading →

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And The 2009 North American Car and Truck of the Year Finalists Are…

By on December 22, 2008 in News

By David Surace

12.22.2008

Those of you who follow the auto industry like we do have become somewhat jaded to the sense of drama about these “…Of The Year” awards, in part because they happen every year (I know, right?), and also because many times they’re a bit of a snore. The casual observer can see plenty of conflicts of interest in the decision making process for “OTY” awards at a fistful of magazines, and not just automotive ones, either.

That’s really too bad, because perhaps one of the better annual awards, the North American Car/Truck of the Year, unveiled annually at the Detroit Show, seems to go largely unnoticed. The jury is comprised of no less than 50 international automotive journalists at any one time, who are invited to contribute based upon their breadth of knowledge and length of time covering the auto industry. The funds to cover the Awards come from membership dues only, to avoid outside influence. What I’m trying to say is, if I had to pick one “Of The Year” award each year, the North American Car/Truck Of The Year would get my Car Of The Year Award Of The Year… award.

Anyway, enough about them. The real story here is that we have a very interesting mix of vehicles on the table this year, with some clear winners, but also some surprises.

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Hyundai Plans 50,000 Genesis Sales Annually, Will Launch Sonata Hybrid in 2010

By on August 21, 2008 in Editorials, News

By Chris Haak

08.21.2008

Yesterday, Hyundai announced that it expects to sell 50,000 Genesis sedans and coupes annually, although its specific projections for 2009 have not been finalized. The Genesis sedan, which Hyundai is marketing as a competitor to the BMW 5-series, while pricing it thousands less. The Genesis Coupe has not launched yet, but will be slightly smaller, and will feature a range of engines from a turbocharged four cylinder to a 300-plus horsepower 3.8 liter V6, and will be priced far lower than the $33,000 entry point for the sedan. The Genesis coupe will be positioned as a competitor to the Mustang, Challenger, and 350Z.

Hyundai expects to sell 8,000 Genesis sedans during 2008, and the coupe will be launched in the first quarter of 2009. I find it curious that Hyundai chose to apply the Genesis name to both the sedan and coupe, because although they share the same basic architecture, they are in fact very different vehicles. The coupe is not a two-door version of the Genesis sedan, but is more of a larger rear wheel drive successor to the Tiburon coupe (although the Tiburon will likely be replaced in the next few years by a new front wheel drive vehicle at a lower price point than the Genesis coupe will be priced at). Continue Reading →

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