The interesting thing about Hyundai is that it seems to be the company that loves the word "incremental." It's how they operate, how they design cars. They bring out new models incrementally -- changes in their model lineup are not dramatic.
For a while now (to be charitable, we'll forget their early effort, the Excel), Hyundai has been making cars that essentially try to out-do the Japanese, or at least copy the Japanese.
By trying to outdo the Japanese cars, Hyundai is faithfully replicating them, in a way, and it's doing so in incremental fashion -- start off with small, inexpensive models, then start building slightly larger ones.
Hyundai Genesis -- BMW, Audi and Mercedes, take warning. Hyundai's gaining on you.
The problem is that there was no pizazz, no bling. (And there probably won't ever be any true Hyundai bling -- you think they'll come up with an Audi R8 replica?).
Yet Hyundai started getting noticed in the past few years -- look at the model change in the Sonata series (Hyundai's Accord/Camry). Starting with the 2006 Sonata, they went from stodgy to fairly svelte.
Then, incrementally, they brought out the Azera, a more upscale car, with a 3.8-liter V6 as the top engine. It was pretty snazzy. (I was going to say, "for a Hyundai," but actually it stood on its own as a pretty nice car.)
Now they've brought the increment game up to the entry-level luxury field, with the new Genesis. Finally, there's a Hyundai that stops people on the sidewalk, makes them look around.
The Genesis is Hyundai's answer to, in no particular order, the Infiniti G35 crowd, Toyota's Avalon, stripper versions of BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz. At least, that's the perception.
The car comes with two different power trains: a 3.8-liter V6 with 290 horsepower; and a 4.6-liter V8 pumping out 375 horses (or 368 if you use regular gas instead of premium.) Frankly, with only a very small difference in fuel mileage figures between the two, I'd take the V8. (I drove the V8 briefly last summer, before it was on showroom floors, and there's a big difference in the power. The question will be whether you want to spend $5,000 more to have the bigger engine.)
This year's test model was the base V6 car and it was odd to drive something billed as a luxury car, yet without some of the features we've come to expect in even the near-luxury field -- sunroof and driver seat memory come to mind. You can have these lovelies in an added-on package, but you'd think they wouldn't cheap it out this way. At any rate, at less than $33,000, this car was a bargain in its field.
Why? First off, it does have most of the built-in requisite luxo touches that set it apart from a more down-scale model -- it's quiet, even at illegal speeds; both engines are extremely smooth; the six-speed automatic trans (with clutchless manual shifting, too) is extremely smooth.
Inside, you have all the esoterica you'd expect (minus the memory seats and, yes, you get spoiled with those things) -- fine stereo, unobtrusive HVAC, Hyundai's blue instrument lighting, a shade of blue that is subtly electric, sort of like the blues director Michael Mann used back in the days of "Miami Vice."
Then there are also some odd things -- the dome lights are harsh, a cold shade of pale white, kind of like an old fluorescent tube. It's not inviting. And the Genesis' suspension is firm to the point of jarring. Hit a pothole and you will remember it. It felt a bit like the suspension of a Sonata I drove last year, and it's something Hyundai should think of fixing.
Otherwise, you get a pretty good entry luxury car for less than the competition -- it's the old saw of introducing a car priced to undercut its long-established competition (Toyota, Honda and Nissan all did it with, respectively, Lexus, Acura and Infiniti brands).
With Hyundai, of course, which is replicating this system, the only question seems to be -- why did they call it a Hyundai? Why didn't they think up some high-falutin' name that connotes exclusivity? Well, maybe they realize that car buyers see those dodges (so to speak) and would rather just call a Hyundai a Hyundai.
SPECIFICATIONS
2009 Hyundai Genesis rear-wheel-drive four-door sedan.
Price: test model, $32,250
Powertrain: 3.8-liter, V6 290-horsepower; six-speed automatic transmission.
Curb weight: 3,748 pounds. Seating capacity: five. Fuel consumption: 18 mpg, city; 27 mpg, highway.
Fuel tank capacity:19.3 gallons.
Length: 195.9 inches; width, 74.4 inches; height: 58.1 inches; wheelbase: 115.6 inches.
Warranty: bumper to bumper, 5 years/50,000 miles; power train, 10 years/100,000 miles.
Dependability: Hyundai ranks 14th (above industry average) out of 37 brands on the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Vehicle Dependability Study.
Safety: for vehicle safety ratings, visit the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
SFGate.com
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