In 2002, Hyundai indicated it was serious about addressing the US luxury-car market by showing its new Equus concept (pictured below) on the North American car show circuit. In typical Korean fashion, eight years later they are due to bring the big one. I say typical because by the time Kia brought the Sedona to market in the US, we were pulling our hair out trying to shove more Sephias and Sportages down the dealers throats. For a couple of companies founded in dyn-O-mite Korean short-term, kill the chicken instead of harvesting the egg principals, I’ll never understand why they couldn’t see the immediate advantage to have these cars launched sooner. The Borrego is another stellar example, while everyone is looking for small, fuel efficient cars, Kia comes out with a full size SUV.
And speaking of throats, open wide dealers here comes the horse, ah no kidding. This Hyundai is called the Equus (pronounced “eh-kwus“) which means “horse” in Latin. Most likely due for a name change once it hits our shores, but right now it couldn’t be more appropriate as they expect to sell 5,000 a year. Can you say Phaeton? Yeah, probably not. Can you say big luxury VW that bombed? Hyundai seems to have more sensibility about the pricing then VW did. But lets remember all the other factors you need to sell a high end luxury car.
1. Quality dealers that can cater to high end clients
2. Quality showrooms
3. Quality service
Admittedly, I haven’t been to a Hyundai dealership in years but I hold VW in a higher place then Hyundai and VW couldn’t pull it off.
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