Edmunds.com | Inside Line | Auto Observer Your Account | Help | Directory
You are here:
![[F]](http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/site.gif){kind=small}
Forums
Automotive News & Views Is There Room in the Luxury Market for Hyundai?
4250 messages, Last post on Dec 04, 2009 at 6:46 AM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
|
Here's what I think. What CarolinaBob said about the classifications of a luxury car isn't made by him. It's made by millions of people who set the bar out there. They're the ones who define the class. Second, we all can use whatever sources for what they are, sources. In the end it's consumers who decide which one is what. I'm with Del, the middle and upper luxury class prefer prestige over value, at least most of them are. Even the legendary Lexus took years to penetrate the market back in the years when it was so much easier to do so. Is value the new cool? For now and for some, but when the economy goes back up this "value" (while may still remain cool for some) won't be as cool anymore. That's life. What will happen later? Nobody knows, perhaps Hyundai will find it's path to luxury class, perhaps it won't. Gen is a good start, but as Bob said, I choose to let someone else be the guinea pig. After all, what do I get by being the guinea pig? Nothing. 
|
|
|
Replying to: steve_ (Nov 03, 2009 4:56 pm) |
|
|
Replying to: m4d_cow (Nov 04, 2009 6:14 am) EXACTLY, it IS largely about perceptions, and it is the reason that a Hyundai cannot be a 'luxury brand'. IT also has nothing to do with any particular products they might currently market either - like the Gen Sedan and possibly even the Equus in the future. I would expect, though, to see a Genesis brand to be established if Hyundai is seriously going to attack the luxury market at that point. |
|
|
"After all, what do I get by being the guinea pig? Nothing." Yeah, sure. Wait for the Genesis to win a few dozen more luxury car awards. That certainly won't drive the price up much...... (See Lexus).
|
|
|
Replying to: m4d_cow (Nov 04, 2009 6:14 am) I have some experience there. Nine years ago I was the "guinea pig" who went for an all-new Hyundai design vs. something like the gift-from-the-gods Civic. What did I get for being a guinea pig? * I saved at least $4000 compared to a Civic that had fewer features and much less power. If I compared the Hyundai to a more comparable Civic, I saved more like $7000. * I got a much longer warranty--which as it turned out I didn't need, but it was nice to have. * I got a much smoother, quieter, roomier, more comfortable car with "the best driver's seat in the business" (Car & Driver). A car they ranked 2nd, one-half point behind the Protege, for best car in its class. Nothing to be gained by going for a lower-priced alternative? Hardly. |
|
|
Replying to: espo35 (Nov 04, 2009 11:25 am) A Gen sedan is a remarkable value objectively just as most of Hyundai's other products are BUT to pretend it is even close to an LS (or the appropriate German sedan) objectively is nothing more than fooling yourself. The Genesis isn't winning all its COY awards and/or getting all those favorable reviews (necessarily) because of what it is in any absolute or comparative sense, it is winning them because of what it is at the price they are asking for it. An important distinction, in my mind - true luxury cars don't have to 'buy' their recognition because dollar and cents 'value' is NOT what they are all about. They are what they are, and folks EXPECT to pay a premium for it. Find me a reviewer that can look me in the eye and tell me he'd rather drive a Genesis that the LS that you folks seem to think the Gen compares to and I'll show you a reviewer that smokes too much crack. 
|
|
|
Replying to: captain2 (Nov 04, 2009 2:04 pm) http://autospies.com/news/Which-Impo...And-See-49414/ This may be the first article to confirm that many of us have said all along that the Genesis is being viewed as a luxury automobile and not just a wantabe. This is encouraging for the Equus and Genesis in years to come. |
|
|
Replying to: captain2 (Nov 04, 2009 2:04 pm) Well, it isn't a comparison of the Genesis to a Lexus, but will a comment by a reviewer from a long-term test by Automobile magazine in their December 2009 issue do? At 17,239 miles into their long-term Genesis 4.6 review: "Is it sad that I prefer spending time behind the wheel of our Genesis more than I do our BMW 750Li? The steering feels better weighted and the throttle more progressive." 
|
|
|
Replying to: tenpin288 (Nov 04, 2009 3:47 pm)
|
|
|
Replying to: captain2 (Nov 04, 2009 2:04 pm) Wrong-o. Example 1: James Healey on the Genesis: "Ignoring price, it's a credible contender." Example 2: Consumer Reports has the Genesis as a Recommended car, and the top ranked car in its class. CR does not consider price in its rankings, i.e. they are based on a car's non-price attributes, against an absolute rating scale. But when you think about it, ANY car is eventually judged by its price. Consider the LS. It's a great car; CR says it's the best car they have ever tested. So why doesn't Lexus price them starting at, say, $100,000? That would allow those luxury car shoppers to really pay a premium for it, and they would probably snap it up in huge numbers. Right? Suppose I go house shopping and I find a real nice one for $330,000, but then I go a few blocks away and find another for $600,000. Would I expect the $330,000 house to be as good in every way as the $600,000 house? Of course not, that's ridiculous. But... what if that $330,000 house was just as big as the $600,000 house, looked very similar, had similar quality, similar mechanicals (high-efficiency HVAC, top-quality windows and doors, high-grade appliances etc.), and a 10-year warranty to boot? At this point I am getting very interested in that $330,000 house. But then the realtor says, "But you know, some members at the local country club will look down their noses at you because your house cost ONLY $330,000 while theirs cost $600,000 or more." At that point I start laughing hysterically... all the way to the bank to work out the details on the mortgage on the $330,000 house.
|
|
You are here:
Forums
Automotive News & Views Is There Room in the Luxury Market for Hyundai?
New? Join Now!
Forum Tools
Search Forums
Browse by Vehicle
2010 Hyundai Genesis
Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
Today's Chats
