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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/shiznannigan/IMG_2440.jpg
Side view.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/shiznannigan/IMG_2441.jpg
The dual exhaust outlets are a nice touch.
Hopefully the bandwith on my photobucket account holds out.
The first thing that came to my mind was.... it's much smaller than I expected. It really doesn't look any larger than the new Sonata, even when they're very close together. (You can see the trunklid of one in the first picture... it's bigger than the Azera/Granduer's trunklid!) On it's own, you could tell me that it's the new Avante/Elantra 5-dr, and I'd believe it. Other than that, it looks great, even if styled a little closely to the aforementioned Elantra. Quite sporty looking, hopefully it has the performance to match. I still have trouble believing that it has more interior volume than an Avalon or 7-series, though.
I'm sorry I wasn't able to get more pictures, but the Korean truck drivers get a little uneasy when U.S. military personnel start taking pictures of what they're carrying.
Click on the picture to get to the very nicely done flash site, which is even in (slightly broken) English. Your web browser may need to download a Hangul language pack. Also, I don't know if there will be any differences between the Grandeur and the Azera... I would suspect they would only be minor.
Click on "Advent" for some nice interior shots. A few nice shots and details can also be found in the cheesy "PR Movie".
Some things I noticed:
-huge trunk!
-rear A/C vents
-lots of rear leg room
-nice rims, large tires
-seat preset memory
-more spacious than Sonata
-wood steering wheel
It was light green in color with a beige interior, and that's as much as I can remember.
Hope this helps!
In your opinion, how does the Azera compare to the 2005 Avalon Limited. I am in the market for a mid-level luxury sedan and I am eagerly awaiting the launch of the Azera. Since I am a current owner of a 2000 Avalon XLS, I am inclined to gravitate to the Toyota nameplate, but the "reimagined" Avalon does nothing for me.
Aesthetically, the Azera is very pleasing to the eye, except for the front grille that looks 1980s-ish. What I am looking for is a car that is as quiet (or more quiet) than the Avalon, reliable, and with a powerful heater and AC unit. Is that too much to ask for in a $30K automobile?
To me the Avalon and Azera seem like very similar cars inside and out, although I haven't ever been inside an Avalon. Based on the 2006 Sonata, which is extremely quiet and smooth, I would expect that the Azera will be just as good, and probably even better. The reliability of Hyundai has greatly improved in the last couple of years, and with the 10 years/100,000 mile warranty and 5 years/unlimited roadside assistance the Azera should have a high reliability. The heater and A/C unit should work fine, as it does in my 2005 Elantra. When it arrives don't forget to try the power of the unit during a test drive. Also, the Azera has advanced safety features like rear side airbags and side curtains that other brands do not offer. Hope this helped!
duckied
http://www.hyundai-motors.com and then select E-Catalog and then Grandeur (2005.06). They have the car loaded with everything including turn signals on the mirrors, heated seats front & rear, DVD-Navigation, Rear sensors and monitor, HID headlamps. The pictures are awesome and the information is extensive. Too bad I can't read Korean but there appears to be a lot more information here than you get on the average auto web page. If they don't bring the car over here loaded then they're making a big mistake if they expect to compete with Avalon and the ES 330. They can build the car with the bells and whistles but I think they may be afraid of the price point. After all the price point on the Kia Amanti is much higher than anything Kia's done before and they're not exactly flying out of the showroom. But I think that a loaded Azera would be very competitive and really show that Hyundai's going after the big boys. Check it out for yourself!
The Azera, which rolls out in November, is something of a baby step [into the luxury segment]. Aimed at Avalon and Nissan Maxima drivers, the big sedan serves to show that Hyundai is capable of building a classy vehicle while still offering the decent price Americans have come to expect.
Buyers get a lot for their 30 grand: eight air bags, a five-speed automatic transmission, and an aluminum 3.8-liter V6 engine that pumps out some 265 horsepower. The Azera also is loaded with all the upmarket extras: stability control, a premium sound system, rain-sensing wipers, and a telescoping steering wheel.
Hyundai says it hopes eventually to sell 50,000 Azeras a year, a leap from the 17,000 annual sales its more pedestrian predecessor, the XG350, racks up.
John
The reasoning behind this is that in 2007, Hyundai plans to unveil a RWD luxury sedan to test the market for a luxury Korean sedan. Since the Azera is supposed to be priced around 26k-30k, I'd expect the RWD sedan to be priced around 35k. Thus, Hyundai wouldn't want the Azera and the planned RWD sedan to overlap and compete with each other.
In Korea, even the Sonata has navigation, rear sonata senors, dvd system, etc.
Complicating this decision and one Hyundai is struggling with is whether it should set up a new luxury division, a la Lexus and Infinti, or to make the new sedan its flagship. Either way, the acceptance of that will depend on the Azera. If the Azera turns out to be as good as it purports to be, then the transition to a luxury line will be flawless, perhaps.
It will be a RWD, flawless design of a true sports car, 0-60 close in about 5-5.4 seconds with other innovative add ons
After this car, like most of you guys have written, depending heavily on the success of the Azera, a RWD car their 9th name tba will roll out as their luxury RWD car, positioned to be bigger than the sonata but smaller than the azera.
Big things will come out of hyundai in the next couple of years
choe, where did you hear about the rwd being larger than the sonata but smaller than the azera?
Personally, I think the first is more likely. Positioning a vehicle which is smaller than an Azera,larger than a Sonata yet pricing it higher than an Azera would be disasterous, in my opinion. Even with the Sonata and the Azera, the line between them are very thin and the higher model Sonata's will probably compete with the lower model Azera's. This is similar to the Camry-Avalon and Accord-TL relationship.
Also, from the best of my knowledge, the RWD sedan will be the next generation Korean-market Equus sedan, which is a large model with a 4.5 V8.
I do hope they create a luxury brand - soon - but after 2010. 2010 is the year Hyundai wants to sell 1 million vehicles. Only if they have met this goal should they pursue another division.
btw the 9th vehicle if it will come out, would be a 2008-2009 vehicle, and will not be the next equus. If you think about it, there is no way hyundai has that sort of reputation by 2008 to be able to sell say a 40-50 grand car much like the 7 series or A8, which ultimately what the equus is in korea. Even 5 grand cheaper or so, it would not be smart. A reputation like that takes a long time to build.
What hyundai though wants to aim for is a car of the size of the bmw 5 series, priced just above the azera that will be competatively priced(bmw 3 price for a bmw5). I think personally that is a great idea, and i don't understand your rebuttal of why it wouldn't work. It would be gloriously luxurious, and try hard to compete for a spot in the market(why get a TL when you can get a bigger and cheaper RWD car)
A accord-TL , accord-avalon makes dearly no sense beacuse in hyundais case, it would be more like altima - M45, which there is a thick line of differences.
If this new luxury division is successful then like you said the equus would come in.
sorry about my rambling... i'm still jet-lagged and tired.
One more question, what about the NHV and fit and finish is it Lexus like? Once again thanks for feeding our anticipation. I have never been at a Hyundai dealership but hope dealers will treat Azera customers attentively providing with loaners etc.
Only one negative to the car is that there is a bit too much plastic up in the front dash... kinda like the new MB M-class's dash... all that plastic. But that is nit-picking, because overall i like the interior of the car.
I was concerned more about wind noise though, due to glass thickness or lack thereof. Many factors can contribute to harshness including, shocks, springs and wheels. The size of the engine contributes to vibration, but since the Azera is equipped with a 3.8-litre V-6 engine and (presumably) use sound deadening material in the engine compartment, I think negative vibration should be minimal.
Once again great report!
different from the front?
I went to www.hyundai-motor.com and it seems they changed it to the
version we'll see in the states.
Let me show you how I did it. It's much easier than it sounds.
You'll need Macromedia Flash player for this.
1. click here first.
2. See the large picture? (That's Azera, BTW) At left bottom, it says
"showroom" in English.
3. Move the mouse to it (no clicking), then the menu appears(not a pop-up).
4. Under "passenger cars", you'll see "Grandeur." Click that.
5. A pop-up opens and menu on the left is actually in English.
(maybe it's just me, but you might need to click the "grandeur" on top left corner
of the pop-up window the first time - figuring this out took me a while. :P )
6. Click the menus (especially exterior and interior) and play around. Of course
you won't understand Korean explanations (or whatever they are), but they've
got good number of quality pics.
NOTE: In "exterior" page, they have rear views separately. Click Korean letters
right above the right arrow sign (bottom right), it'll take you to rear views.
ALSO, the "color & line up" page takes a while to load.
LASTLY, they must be using Sonata engines for Korean version of the Azera.
(Maybe you knew that already)
That's it~ Enjoy.
P.S. You can take the same steps to look at other models. Just choose a
different model on step 4. I'm impressed with more upscale looking Sonata,
so check that out if you're interested.
Alot of general folks maybe turned off by hyundai or this new car, but one test drive and they mite not know what hit their feelings.
It will challenge the Avalon, fusion, Milan, Lacrosse and could even pry some TL, BMW 3, Audi A4 shoppers too who dont' care about name as much as luxury and size.
If i was like 35 or a corporate man, i would seriously want one of these
Steve
To make sure Azera stays considerably cheaper than competition, they'd have
to cut corners whereever they can.
Also, since Hyundai is obsessed with quality, they might be afraid to put in so
many features that can cause so many little annoying problems. And that won't
help JD Power ratings. :P
My guess is that they will use Korean market as testbeds and see if they can
contain any possible long-term defaults. Then, they can start selling cars with
more accessory features.
Just my opinion...
They also have other cars like the equuas , the chariman etc. and though they are RWD, they are very poor executed RWD cars.
Alot of big business people who prefer hyundai, will buy this car now. Though alot of koreans still love the actual bmw 7's and e class cars
You have to realize that most wealthy Korean businessmen do not drive their own vehicles - they are usually driven to and from their destinations by chauffeurs. Therefore, vehicles like the Equus are much more desirable due to their larger passenger space (assumption).
And you have to take into account Korean's obsession with class and rank. The Equus is a higher range car, and therefore will automatically be preferred over the Grandeur.
It's kind of interesting how in Korea, Hyundai competes head to head with these higher end marques. I think Hyundai definitely needs a separate luxury marque - if not in the US - definitely in Korea.
According to the Korea Times, the Grandeur XG is now the bestseller in Korea. In Korea, both the current gen XG and the next gen Azera are sold side by side. The current XG is called Grandeur and the next gen Azera is called the Grandeur XG in Korea.
The Grandeur XG sold 8,549 units, in comparison to No. 2 (Samsung SM7) with 1,667 units.
Also, it is said the Grandeur XG took away sales from higher-end level Sonata sedans as the Grandeur was released.
Meanwhile, sales of lower-end models such as the Verna, Avante, Kalos, and Click all slid due to the "rich get richer and poor get poorer" phenomenom currently taking hold in Korea.