Autoblog

1. acura,
are you seeing this?

Posted at 5:47PM on Feb 18th 2008 by wrussi

2. They're still just Hyundais.

Posted at 6:19PM on Feb 18th 2008 by 3seriesisking

3. They said the same thing about Toyota in the 70's, and Lexus in the early 90's; look where they're at now.

Posted at 2:03AM on Feb 19th 2008 by RJ

4. Don't know what you're talking about. BMWs are BMW's. Hyundais are Hyundai's... ????

3seriesisking, please come to my house and fix all of the stupid electrical problems on my brother's 2004 BMW 3 series(I forgot which 3 series, 325 or something?)

Posted at 12:22PM on Mar 30th 2008 by Yowzers!

5. I doubt that Hyundai will erode MB or BMW client base, but I see it grabbing a big chunk of Lexus + Acura buyers.

Posted at 6:29PM on Feb 18th 2008 by Me Too

6. I have been selling the Hyundai's since 99 when I started they had 4 cars accent, elantra, tiburon, sonata. The most expensive was around 17-18,000.00 and I too thought why would you want to buy one of these. My customers used to compare them to domestics or buy one because it was all they could get. Now with 9 models in their line up my customers look at what the experts say are the best cars in thier class (camery, civic, odysey, crv, ect.......)
and compare the Hyundai to them. Some don't buy after looking at the Hyundai, but I would say that alot have, otherwise they would not be running supperbowl adds for a $35,000 and up car. So you can say "its still a Hyundai", thats ok, alot of Hyundai's compition thought that too. Look to a previous article on this Blog " Toyota considers Hyundai one of their biggest enemies " what does Toyota know that you don't 3seriesisking

Posted at 6:38PM on Feb 18th 2008 by geocaldwell

7. Toyota may be afraid of the competition legitimately. It just bothers me when people put these new Hyundais on par with BMW and MB. Of which they are not even close to in my opinion.

Posted at 6:58PM on Feb 18th 2008 by 3seriesisking

8. 'They're still just Hyundais'

Having recently driven a Genesis in Seoul, you might want to drive a Genesis before you make negative comments about this company. My expectations were very high and the Genesis exceeded them.

Posted at 7:02PM on Feb 18th 2008 by iSpec

9. I agree that this is just a another hyundai.

However, it's better hyundai and nobody can deny this fact.

Everyone wanted bigger car, so they made it big

Everyone wanted quiet car, so they made it to drive quietly

Everyone wanted more powerful car, so they gave it 375 horses

Everyone wanted faster car, so they set the ECU chipset of this car to run 0-60 in 5.3 seconds

Everyone wanted all the options above at cheap price, so they set the price range of this car around $30k-35k

This dream-package is just came out, and people are now complaining about this car for no reason, but because they're jealous by the fact that they already bought frikkin Lesucks for $45k

Please name me something that this car's lacked of, compare to its class-competitors.

Posted at 7:08PM on Feb 18th 2008 by K2A1

10. I'm not arguing the fact that this is a better Hyundai. I applaud the company for making a better car. However, Hyundai is still Hyundai, they still have a loooooong way to go to be up there with auto makers whole build cars with passion.

Posted at 7:14PM on Feb 18th 2008 by 3seriesisking

11. How about reserve your judgement after a few Genesis road tests?

A chevy is a chevy.........yeh.......right.....like a chevette and a corvette are from the same root stalk........right?

Posted at 6:17PM on Feb 19th 2008 by Gary Blomquist

12. I agree with that. They've just came a mile or so in the full-length marathon.

Next 10 years or so would be the hardest period for Hyundai to go through in their history. Just like Lexus has gone through series of challenges in the market since they first appeared on the market, Hyundai will be in same situation in near future, I guess.

However, I want to stress you the fact that they finally began to speed up against giant companies. Nobody knows how well it would work from the launch of Genesis. But we know they may try their best on this great task which obviously will give Hyundai a clear answer of their possibility in America in the future.

Posted at 7:25PM on Feb 18th 2008 by K2A1

13. I don't think Hyundai has a loooong way to go... they are here and already eating away honda and toyota share which honda toyota ate away from ford and gm.

I came extremely close to buying Sata fe (superb value for your money). The only reason I didn't buy it becuase of the dealer treatment (the one on plymouth road in livonia, they suck).

Next two-three years and they will be doing even better...

American OEMs should not take any new competitior lightly, because if they do, eventually they will lose portion of their market share.

Posted at 7:38PM on Feb 18th 2008 by DesiAuto

14. Yeah, I would say the dealers are the biggest obstacle for hyundai. These dealers have been selling cheap crap for years, and now they've got all these upscale vehicles. People are going to be cross-shopping these cars with Acuras, Lexuses, Infinitis, and Mercs. Hyundai's dealer experience will have a LOT of catching up to do.

This was one of the many reasons I was hoping for a separate luxury marque. This may be the constant thorn in Hyundai's side.

Posted at 7:52PM on Feb 18th 2008 by Seoultrain

15. Not a Hyundai fan, but as car buffs and internet users, you have heard of Google? Type "Hyundai customer satisfaction" in and see what it returns.

Hyundai Leapfrogs Toyota In Quality
http://www.motortrend.com/features/auto_news/2006/112_news46


Other similar articles from 06 mainly. People I know who have them love them for their price and warranty. Found similar stories going back as far as 2001.

Posted at 8:43PM on Feb 18th 2008 by MajorGeek

16. The real reason Toyota is worried about Hyundai is because they can build most of their cars a lot cheaper in their own country. Hyundai's three year quality is still no where close to Toyota's.

Posted at 8:49PM on Feb 18th 2008 by Brian W

17. Says the guy whose never driven a Hyundai. I guess all the car magazines and reviewers are wrong and you are right, dumbass. lol

Posted at 9:13PM on Feb 18th 2008 by Doctorwho

18. Nowhere close?

Go rent a three-year-old Sonata that's been roughed up in the rental fleet. I have in Los Angeles. It sure drove better than my brother's four-year old Camry. It emitted less noise, it had less vibration, and the slushbox was smoother than the Toyota's.

And, ever since the new Sonata, the "loooooong" way became a lot shorted. Take the current Sonata, Azera, Eleantra, Santa Fe and the Veracruz and compare it to previous, or even other current Hyundais. Do they look like they're from the same company? No. Do they drive like it? Hell to the no.

I agree that it's not close to BMW or MB. But I'd say the Genesis has a better interior than the C or even the E-class, and it has more horses than most 3 or 5-series sedans. No, it doesn't carry a three-pointed star, and no, it doesn't drive like a Bimmer. But they got a hell of a lot close than merely five years ago.

I wouldn't say a mile out of a marathon. I'd say they're about halfway there. With my recent test drive of the Genesis, I'm seriously regretting picking up a '08 G35 for my year here in Korea.

Posted at 9:28PM on Feb 18th 2008 by Longhorn

19. I bought a 2001 Elantra when I was a sophomore in college. It was my first new car, and I loved it. Great car, and unmatched value for the money.

Posted at 9:29PM on Feb 18th 2008 by Eric

20. I actually talked to a Hyundai employee about launching a seperate brand, but he was like "what the hell are we gonna do with ONE car? Genesis is awesome but we can't even begin to talk about launching a third brand without a full lineup ready."

He's in the long-term strategy division so I'd take his word. I don't think they're gonna do it anytime soon. Their core markets include India and the Middle East so it's no easy feat for them to come up with four or five models instantly for a North American luxury brand. They move way more units elsewhere anyway.

Posted at 9:34PM on Feb 18th 2008 by Longhorn