Quote:
Originally Posted by inv4zn
I've been in one of these in Korea and there's something you guys are misunderstanding about the car.
It was released in Korea only as a 7-series/S-class rival because back in Korea, the S/7 are much more expensive than they are here. "Import" cars also have higher tariffs, etc, and that's why the Equus was attractive. In reality there are quite a lot of them in Korea.
Now, their decision to try and move the car outside the country, you guys have to give Hyundai executives some credit. They are not idiots. They know very well that the target demographic is very different, and that the car may be a flop.
In my opinion, it's not a S/7 rival here in North America. The people who buy cars as status symbols, will NOT consider the Equus at all when shopping for a car, because it's a Hyundai. And yes, compared to the S/7, it does definitely feel cheap.
However, for people shopping for a car for its features/price ratio, it's a very attractive car. If there are no long-term quality issues, and if the name-brand value wasn't of concern to me, if I was looking at a 5 series or an E-class, I'd definitely consider this, considering the extras.
The debate here is good, but I really wish you'd give some credit to Hyundai. I think everyone here has to agree that they have come leaps and bounds from where they used to be, and the fact that they are trying new things and even *gasp* leading the market in areas where Honda/Toyota have become complacent is indisputable.
The whole Hermes thing is a gimmick, yes. But neither Hyundai nor Hermes is run by people who don't know what they're doing.
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true. if the buyer does oversee the hyundai badge... (although most people shopping in that class cant.. they buy cars just because of the brand) they would love the 5 series pricing for the 7 series content and size!
I heard a Genesis Sedan spec R drive by.. and my god it had a great exhaust note.
The Hyundai brand lacks the prestige that the German premium automakers have. I mean, their $70,000 Genesis shares the same showroom and delivery bay as a $12,000 Accent.... (accent is quite nice for the money imo..)
They are trying to cover too broad of a target audience for their brand! with the focus on everything at everything price point, they would lose focus on their cars eventually and would slip in overall quality.
The Germans right now are going the opposite direction... cheaper and cheaper.. A damn B class starts at $29,995! a matter of a few years before they do $3500 incentives and make the price even lower.
Its all about profit nowadays, manufacturers dont seem to even care about their brand image anymore and have seem to have lost their main focus on products.