From Automotive News....
Hyundai wants a luxury brand
Korean automaker seeks U.S. debut as early as 2007
Hyundai Motor Co. aims to set up a luxury sales channel in the United States as early as 2007. South Korea's upwardly mobile carmaker is developing a luxury sedan in a plan to mimic Toyota's Lexus and Nissan's Infiniti offshoots.

 

any word on what they want to call it?

 

yea Kiadillac

 

Welcome. They sure do have their work cut out for them, though.

 

LOL..... Luxury Hyundai... Who is going to by that over a BMW, Cadillac, Lexus, or Mercedes.

The Lux Hyundai looks in this pic looks pretty ugly too.

 

Yeah I know. Back in 1990, who the hell was going to buy a Toyota Lexus over a BMW, MB, or Cadillac?

 

That's exactly right. People were laughing.....but guess what, the rest is
history.


Hyundai's strategy will probably be.....offer 80% of the car (compared to Lexus) for 60% of the cost.

 

My friend has an 02 Hyundai tiburon and the interior on it is impressive for being a sub $20k car.

 

f3cking L man! they ripped off the GAZ-Volga! not really a good thing by any stretch.

http://polonez.free.fr/gaz/volgataxi.jpg

that's the one Jason Bourne drives in the movie.

 

Here's the whole story.....

http://www.autoweek.com/cat_content...._code=09846617

 

they are kidding right?

They need to wait at least 5 - 6 years to build up knowledge etc before they try a "luxury brand"

 

I'm sure lexus is shaking in its boots.

If Hyundai follows their usual game, they are really going to just be building cars for people who don't have the money to buy a standard luxury car, so they buy a cheaper "luxury car".

Personally I'd rather spend 30 grand on a well-engineered "standard" car like a loaded to the hilt Accord, Camry, or maybe an Acura TL or ES330 or Cadillac CTS than a pseudo luxury hyundai with premium leather, a large body, and extra sound deadening.

But hey... who knows... like others have said, people said the same thing about Toyota when they came out with Lexus, and now looks who's the number one selling luxury brand in the US.

At the same time however, I think Lexus shook up the game because they did something nobody else was doing: they were absolutely obsessed with sparing no expense or no amount of work to make their cars perfect in initial quality and perfect in long-term reliability. At that point in time most people who bought expensive cars could expect expensive repair bills too. Lexus said "we think if you pay more for the car, you should get better durability and reliability as well".

Somehow I can't see Hyundai saying the same.

 

Take a moment to look at the JD Powers numbers for Hyundai. Very impressive IMO. Some could say that Hyundai is raising the bar for the Lexus's and BMW's of the world, and they are doing it at Chevy and Ford prices.

 

so what brand do you think is more likely to succeed to at least reach Lexus level's.. Buick or Hyundai?