Hyundai launching Lexus-like luxury brand... in China
Speculation has been mounting for some time now that Hyundai could spin off a luxury division, and those rumors have finally been confirmed. But while Toyota, Nissan and Honda initially targeted its luxury brands (Lexus, Infiniti and Acura, respectively) at the American market, emerging reports suggest that Hyundai's premium marque will make its debut in China.
Hyundai is currently the second most popular import in the rapidly-growing Chinese auto market, trailing only Toyota for sales in the country. With five different models, Hyundai sold 24,000 vehicles in China last year, and manufactures more in joint ventures locally. Eying the emerging luxury car market in China – Lexus sales increased 160 percent last year and was projected at 80% growth this year – Hyundai has confirmed it is preparing to launch its own premium brand there. However, while it would seem that the establishment of a luxury badge would allow the mainstream Hyundais to move downmarket, the Korean automaker is also attempting to take its standard models upmarket along with it. One of its most popular models in China, the Matrix minivan, is being withdrawn as Hyundai tries to increase its brand image as a premium automaker. In its place, Hyundai is bringing in the new Santa Fe, Azera, a larger, more expensive Coupe and a new premium crossover.
The luxury division – complete with its own name and badge – is expected to be officially launched in 2010. Whether the new brand will make the trip around the world and land on American shores remains to be seen, but we certainly wouldn't discount the possibility.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
M 2:13PM (3/17/2008)
24000 vehicles? did you mean 240 000?
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Brian 2:16PM (3/17/2008)
Finally! Maybe the launching of a new brand will shut up the haters out there. I seriously believe that if you slapped another badge on any Hyundai now, the same haters would be saying what a great car it is.
Hyundai clearly has the engineering capability and technology to be an entry-level luxury maker. After they move the Hyundai name upmarket, I'm sure they'll launch a luxury brand in the US as well. I always like the name Genesis.
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Seoultrain 2:20PM (3/17/2008)
The haters on here would say "It's still a Hyundai", but for the majority of the buying public, this would be a big difference. I mean, what percentage of people do you think know that Infiniti is Nissan's luxury brand?
Larry 2:34PM (3/17/2008)
Have said this before, but I too used to mock Hyundai until I saw the restyled '03 Tiburon GT..... More than five years later, it remains possibly my favorite car ever... and PAID off in two years.
SPF 3:15PM (3/17/2008)
@zamafir
Yes, Infiniti does sell cars in China.
zamafir 2:31PM (3/17/2008)
... does infiniti sell cars in china? is it even worth asking rhetorically with GM and VW selling the most cars there (of any non Chinese brand, including joint ventures)?
Seoultrain 2:28PM (3/17/2008)
If Hyundai wants to get serious in America, they'll bring this brand here and expand the Genesis line to include a sport sedan. Maybe move the Veracruz over, or rebadge/re-engineer a premium SUV.
Not a single automaker successfully sells a $40k luxury car next to a $10k economy car. I doubt Hyundai can be the first.
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Brian 2:35PM (3/17/2008)
Yes, the only thing that's stopping Hyundai from creating a new Luxury in the US is consumer perception not matching the actual reality of its cars. Hyundai hopes by keeping the Genesis and Veracruz, etc under the Hyundai name, people will see the cars for what they are. After consumers give Hyundai the respect they deserve, then Hyundai will launch a Luxury brand.
ron 2:34PM (3/17/2008)
If they want luxury they should put a cooled passenger seat, not just heated/cooled driver seat & just heated passenger seat like the Genesis. I don't get that.
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Torrent 3:11PM (3/17/2008)
KIA should be Hyundai's sporty alter ego, and Hyundai should be a luxury division. Just my 2 cents.
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Luis Martinez 4:48PM (3/17/2008)
Aren't KIA's almost rebadged Hyundais? They seem pretty similar and Kia seems to have its own Sonata and Elantra.
Kia is still seen as bottom of the barrel from most people I've seen while Hyundai has gained some acceptance.
Hyundai is comparable to Toyota and Honda outside the United States (or at least viewed). That's probably one of the reasons why the brand will be launched outside the US first.
Jeff 3:23PM (3/17/2008)
The reason Lexus, Acura and Infiniti do well is Toyota,Honda and Nissan are great companies themselves. Americans like those brands...Hyundai does not have the following or cache' of these 3!!
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k.w.a 4:13PM (3/17/2008)
that's a good point, however i think the majority of car buyers who can't tell that it's a rebadged hyundai will be first in line to get one
aarons12 8:01PM (3/17/2008)
I am the very happy owner of an 07 Santa Fe. I got what they called a 'base limited' meaning i don't have the 3rd seat or sunroof. it stickered well under $30k, and i got a decent discount from the dealer to boot.
it's so close to my 99 lexus rx300, that i couldn't imagine spending the money on a newer RX350 or whatever they are up to, which would have almost doubled the cost.
i've been driving it almost a year, and the only thing is i wish i had had the choice of the diesel engine, which has been reported online as getting as much as 50 MPG...
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Richard S. 9:00PM (3/17/2008)
Given the Chinese love-affair with Buick, perhaps Hyundai should purchase the name "Oldsmobile" from GM and use it as a premium brand in China. Who knows, seeing the Buick models being developed in China, it might take the Chinese to revive Oldsmobile from the dead.
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Jason 10:45PM (3/17/2008)
I think they'll launch the brand in China, and use some of the profits (if successful) to launch it here in the states. Because startup cost was going to be the biggest hurdle to get over here.
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tekdemon 4:07PM (3/27/2008)
You know, I was thinking the other day about how every now and then I read posts from Koreans (actually, Korean-Americans usually) on Autoblog flaming Chinese cars and the Chinese people.
Then I realized that they're just screwing over Korean car manufacturers, since they're going to make Koreans look like total asshats when China is one of South Korea's largest export car markets. And who wants to buy cars from people who like to trash-talk racist crap about them?
My point is, Hyundai needs access to the Chinese market a lot more than Chinese manufacturers need access to the South Korean market.
Come to think of it, the same thing really applies to all the domestic fanboys who like to spend their time trash-talking China whenever there's a post about Chinese cars. Hey dumbasses, if it weren't for China GM wouldn't just be up sh*t creek, they'd have fallen over the waterfall.
So you're really doing American manufacturers a big disservice when you trash talk China, since those readers from Autoblog Chinese probably come over to regular Autoblog once in a while. And the last thing Buick needs is for some American Buick fanboy to spend a post talking about how Chinese people are delivering his eggrolls and how Chinese cars are all sold at Walmart, or have lead paint or whatever nonsense. I'm sure Buick really appreciates you making their Chinese customer base go and buy somethign else thanks to you.
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tekdemon 4:13PM (3/27/2008)
Anyways, back on topic. I think this move by Hyundai makes a decent amount of sense. In China they never experienced the Excel era of Hyundai vehicles, and with VW's being so popular I'd suspect that even the most questionable Hyundais look like Lexuses as far as reliability goes.
Plus, they're also competing mostly with a lot of domestic Chinese car companies, and European and Russian brands too, so I'd suspect that Hyundai is already thought of as one of the better car companies in China, whereas in the United States it's not quite in the top tier.
So between the fact that they haven't trashed their reputation in China, and the fact that the playing field is honestly wider and much more forgiving, it makes perfect sense that Hyundai thinks that it can pull it off in China.
It's going to take some more time before they can do that in the US though. They're getting there but not just yet.
The capital needed to launch a brand here isn't the real problem as someone else claimed, since it costs a LOT of money to launch a brand in China these days.
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