Hyundai goes even more upscale with Prada Genesis
Click above for two high-res pics of the Hyundai Genesis Prada
Nobody blinked when Subaru and L.L. Bean hooked up. Or when Mercury and Nautica got busy. And remember those Levis Edition Jeeps? That actually worked.
But South Korea's Hyundai and Italian fashion house Prada? Ummm. Just a few years ago it would have been laughable, and possibly an enormously bad business decision for Prada. But Hyundai's gone all upscale with the Genesis and, in this economy, Prada's not nearly as picky about where it gets publicity.
In April, Hyundai will show one of three Prada Genesis sedans at the Seoul Motor Show. The other two cars will be auctioned for charity at the Prada Transformer, which is some kind of temporary building that will showcase art, cinema and fashion events. Whatever. All we know is that buyers of the Prada cars can probably expect some of the best leather seats they've ever sat in for probably the most money ever paid for a Hyundai. At least it's for charity.
Gallery: Hyundai Genesis Prada
[Source: Carscoop]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Torrent 11:09AM (11/12/2008)
The Genesis has done it for me. It looks great and I'm more impressed with the Genesis than any Korean car made to date. I know they're 2 different classes, but if I wasn't already sold on the Camaro, I'd probably get a Genesis.
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SOhp101 1:53PM (11/12/2008)
I agree. I've seen two on the road so far and they have a strong yet subdued presence--two things a full size luxury sedan should have. Could there be some improvement? Of course, but they've done a fantastic job already.
happy_penguin 2:20PM (11/12/2008)
Toyota is the new General Motors and Hyundai is the new Toyota.
P.V. 6:42PM (11/12/2008)
Same. My parents want to buy a new car and I'm trying to convince them to at least seriously consider Hyundai (in the same sentence as Honda and even before Toyota; their biases are Honda/Toyota, nothing else). Also, there is a Genesis in the street across from mine. It looks very classy.
I heard something about Hyundai making a sedan to slot ABOVE the Genesis. This makes me wonder whether Hyundai is forgoing the creation of a separate luxury brand and doing everything it can to make itself the luxury brand (and make people forget about cars like the Excel which gave Hyundai its current reputation (among most people)).
big j 9:17PM (11/12/2008)
"Toyota is the new General Motors and Hyundai is the new Toyota."
Except that as ugly as their designs may be at least they will still be reliable.
happy_penguin 2:30AM (11/13/2008)
Well, bigj, plenty of General Motors' models are quite reliable. The next logical step for Toyota as the new General Motors is complacency and crappy design. We've already seen the signs of what's to come. ;)
Mobius_1 11:26AM (11/12/2008)
That looks fantastic, powerful but elegant, not overstated w/ chrome all over the place. Nice one Hyundai.
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j 12:33PM (11/12/2008)
it has a Mercedes grill with a BMW backside
Mobius_1 1:59PM (11/12/2008)
But really, do you mind a Hyundai that looks like a BMW or MB? (Although I would mind a BMW or MB that looks like a Hyundai ;))
j 4:17PM (11/12/2008)
I'm not a Hyundai hater, but they've been around long enough to come up with their own styling language by now, instead of cutting and pasting.
retsel 11:41AM (11/12/2008)
What if Ford had made something like this as the next Crown Victoria...
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CBR 11:47AM (11/12/2008)
As long as they don't call it the Crown Victoria...
black 11:54AM (11/12/2008)
It would destroy the whole point of having the MKS.
Frylock350 11:55AM (11/12/2008)
You mean replace a workhorse BOF massive sedan with a smaller unitized sedan incapable of absorbing the abuse the CV is asked to endure?
retsel 11:58AM (11/12/2008)
I am sorry this would be a bad idea... I forget that the Crown Vic is a commerical vehicle not a consumer item...
happy_penguin 2:22PM (11/12/2008)
Crown Vic is the last remaining traditional body on frame police grade cruiser. We don't need to lose that.
Librapaj 11:49AM (11/12/2008)
I actually just saw the Genesis at the Auto Show down here in Miami. Let me tell you, Hyundai did an amazing job with this car. The photos simply do not do it justice. If I didn't know anything about cars and they would have told me it was a Hyundai, I would not have believed in. The luxury and attention to detail is impeccable.
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Dean 11:52AM (11/12/2008)
Looks like Hyundai has come out with a winner. The car is nicely done, classy, not over the top when it comes to styling, but it doesn't seem like it's worthy of the association with Prada. Hyundai, and Prada are on two completely different ends of the spectrum, with some items from Prada costing more than Hyundais. A very nice car otherwise.
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Frylock350 11:57AM (11/12/2008)
I agree that they don't belong together. Why would Hyundai hook up with a company that sells extremely overpriced goods when they are trying to present Genesis as an S-class for less money?
tekd 12:15PM (11/12/2008)
Prada's been whoring their brand image to Korean companies for a while now...just look at the LG Prada cell phone-basically an iphone knockoff. So it's not entirely too surprising that Prada is going to put it's brand on something that also looks rather similar to other high end products.
Anyways the pics shown seem to be the korean market Genesis. I really wish the US market got the grille in the pics though.
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