Will Hyundai Creat a Luxury Name-Plate?

aneesh

DO you guys thingk that hyundai wil bring a luxury name-plate?
With V8/RWD powered sedans and crossovers?
STRONG CANDIDATES FOR THEIR MODEL LINEUP ARE
the highly expected EQUUS SEDAN
and now the MESA.

dimitri0917

They tried to make Amanti way back when, but now that Hyundai's gone "mainstream, they might want to fit in w/ Toyota Honda and Acura

harrychezt

http://theautochannel.com/news/2006/05/02/005426.html

Hyundai sales: they made the Xg350, now Azera(on sales, it is XG350/Azera) and they have sold over 8K+ units in 4 months(more than the XG350 of last year). Looks to be a 25-28K units per year vehicle on sales(if they stay the course).

The Amanti is a slightly larger XG350, for Kia.

FWD, both models(Xg350/Amanti and new Azera).

I read Hyundai willmake a new Tiburon, a serious RWD sports car, in the next few years, and bring a RWD sedan here, too(Equus?). They may not make the first RWD car anything other than a Hyundai, due to the cost of start up on a luxury branch. I had read that is why Toyota sells Scions at their dealerships, due to start up costs, etc.
(plus, they make more that way, I bet, than having a Scion only dealership).

Will have to wait and see. hard to tell.

wolverinejoe80

do it!! if you name it right and price it low, people will buy it!

xcon

Don't forget, make it economical .

diemusik

We need to remember that among the Japanese luxury brands only Lexus is doing well. I heard that Infinity is still very much struggling after all these years. If it was difficult for Nissan to create a luxury brand of their own, it would be more, if not less, difficult for Hyundai at this point. Hyundai is gaining more consumer acceptance and improving their market image rather rapidly, but they still have a lot of catching up to do. I read in a Korean newspaper that Hyundai had a plan to creat a luxury brand, but due to a small line-up, with only probably two cars (BH and a luxury SUV), they scrapped the plan altogether.

I wonder if Hyundai could purchase a premium brand instead of making one up themselves. They could build on the already existing consumer base and the image the brand has. It was reported in Korean newspapers that Hyundai once tried to purchase Jaguar. It could be a step up for Hyundai if this could happen. I'm not sure if Ford will sell it though. Another possility mentioned was SAAB although I think SAAB's customer base is much smaller than that of Jaguar and not as economically viable for Hyundai. It'd be interesting to see what Hyundai decides to do. I appreciate their efforts to be a better company.

xcon

Isn't Hyundai Kia's luxury brand?

Lexus and Infiniti are doing about the same, not good but not horrorable. Since Cadillac's new look, it has been number one in the mid-luxury segment, far above Hyundai, Lexus, Lincoln and Infiniti.

Ford will not sell anything. If they do, it will be Land Rover or Astin Marton. Saab should just be let go, no one is buying them.I do like where Hyundai is going with the Azera, Entourage, Tuscon and Santa Fe. I think it would help to make a small truck/SUV crossover, based on the new Santa Fe. Like Ford's Sport Trac. All you need is three cars. Saturn had the SL, S1 and SW and in 2003 VUE, Relay and ION and that was all. It led them to success and they've got the VUE, VUE Green Line Hybrid, SKY (and SKY Red Line), ION, ION Quad Coupe, Relay, Aura and Outlook.

dimitri0917

To save myself from sounding stupid months ago, I was thinking of Mazda with it's "Amati" idea!
See:">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda#Marques
I'm kinda obsessive!!!