Its akin to buying a really well made watch thats pretty expensive, but really isn’t anything. They both tell time, but you aspire to own one while the other (this Genesis) you just settle for.

Introverted accountants of the world rejoice, there is a new value proposition for you in a $33-40k luxury car. Start pounding out your excel spreadsheet, make your feature/$$ list and go test drive. Yep, good times.

For everyone else, who would really rather own this, day in and day out, in front of your friends and loved ones, for 3, 5 or 7 years??? Really now?

If anyone shopping has seen how damn good a new CTS, G35, M35, ES350, or any German car is, the entire ownership experience over several years is an absolute non-starter.

Genesizzzzzzzzzzzzzz….

Isn’t establishing new dealers actually profitable? There are up-front franchise fees, the new dealers have to buy a minimum stock of parts and the dealer has to buy cars. The factory doesn’t front the money for all this stuff, the dealers and/or their bankers do.

If you don’t care about RWD, then I don’t see what a V6 Genesis gives you over a V6 Honda Accord EX with leather and navigation and which stickers for less than the Hyundai. On the other hand, if you want an RWD car then the Pontiac G8, in either V6 or V8 form stickers for less, and is already get very favorable reviews.

Is this the same V8 as the Borrego?

Yes, it’s the same V8, slightly modified for towing/body-on-frame duties.

@Axel

They could probably pull it off but bear in mind, Infiniti wasn’t in such a good position when they launched as Lexus and the only good car they had then was the Q45.

If the Genesis proves to be a hit then it is a possibility. However, in this economic climate with the dollar weak and financing hard to come buy, it will be very difficult to do so.

Both the 2002 car and the 2007 car have, between them, been far better than virtually ANY Detroit car I’ve owned since 1973.

Hence, Detroit Inc’s major problems…. the word’s gotten out.

As for the Genesis, well, if I were in the market for such a car, could I imagine myself going for this rather than a more expensive Lexus? Maybe.
Can I imagine myself going for this rather than a top of the line Camry, Avalon or Maxima, for three examples? YES. Would I have this car in lieu of a 3-series BMW? At age 51, with my boy-racer instincts left behind, YES; at age 21 if given this choice, I’d probably have opted for the 3-series.

I believe those cars will just be coming off warranty in 2018. So, at least Hyundai puts their money where their claims are.

Lol @ Axel.

You really think Hyundai has the nuts (or money) to launch a premium division a`la Toyota/Lexus?

If they can do it incrementally, and recover costs at each step of the process, then yes.

I don’t think so…not in this economic climate anyway and regardless of how good the Genesis platform is.

Lexus, Acura, and Infiniti launched during the late-80s bear market. Was Nissan in much of a different position than Hyundai today? And they went balls-out with a high-priced ad campaign that didn’t even show the cars!

The only big expense Hyundai would incur today would be establishing a dealer network (come to think of it, there are probably plenty of BPG dealers who wouldn’t mind jumping ship). Other than that, just come up with a new badge and some commercials showing fields and brooks and bunnies.

You really think Hyundai has the nuts (or money) to launch a premium division a`la Toyota/Lexus?

I don’t think so…not in this economic climate anyway and regardless of how good the Genesis platform is.

For sure it’s not a canyon carver like the BMW 5 Series but more a cruiser like the Lexus GS that can take the occasional curvy road, but doesn’t feel right doing so.

Of course, too many crappy dealers could kill this thing…

Actually, while we’re naming cars after bands that the target market likes, GM should rename “Pontiac” to “Buffet.” And instead of selling the G3, G5, and G6, they could sell the Parrot, Margarita, and Cheeseburger.

I still worry, though: unlike Honda/Acura, there’s a lot of crossover (and a lot of crossovers! ba-doom-ching!) between both brands. That Hyundai is likely to get a new Tiburon while Kia gets the Borrego, followed by the Forte only seems to emphasize the problem: which brand is the premium one? The economy one? The sporty one? The answer: both.

Pity about the Rondo. I drove the four-cyl and it’s adequate for 95% of the tasks I might throw at it. Sure, it’s probably slow, but so were a lot of cars in the 1980s and we all survived.

About the only cars that don’t directly compete are the Genesis and Rondo; the Sportage and Santa Fe are also a little distinct.

I think the Sportage competes more directly with the Tucson since they’re prett much built on the same Elantra-based platform.

The Santa Fe and Sorento aren’t that much related because the Sante Fe is based on the Sonata’s platform while the Sorento is more body-on-frame with a live axle out back.

I see Hyundai/Kia as Honda/Acura…..very loose comparison mind you.

Regarding the Genesis, Hyundai’s intention I think was to appeal to the same kind of person who shops around for an Azera but just so happens to have more money to spend. The Azera is a pretty nice car, but when time comes to upgrade it usually takes them away from the showrooms. Hyundai’s aim to eliminate that with the Genesis. All the classic luxury attributes are there: RWD, V6/V8 power, supple chassis, Hyundai quality (virtually on par with the Japanese) plus an outstanding warranty.

That’s linked in the first line of the blog post.

Bright Asian engineers would run in the same failed management as our current bright American engineers are running into. If you want to replace something at the domestics it is the management, not the designers or engineers.

How do you expect you engineers to come up with anything good when you have some MBA wonk saying “This idea will not produce positive NPV. Make more cheap interiors.”?

Rondo sales are down big time.
June 2007 – 4,139
June 2008 – 2,172

I attribute it to (1) most people not realizing how useful it is; (2) It’s ugly; (3) mileage is OK but nothing special – 18/26 with the you-need-it V6.

I think that the Genesis is for people who don’t really care too much about brand, just the car features and that it can go from a-b in comfort with enough performance for everyday driving…

using true-delta, this thing is 10-20k ‘cheaper’ than many other rwd ‘mid-sized’ V6 luxury…

Are those power leather power leather seats? :-)