Once associated with bargain-basement driveaway prices on boring hatchbacks, in recent times Hyundai has been moving to compete with the best that the Germans and Japanese can offer. The latest indicator of this upmarket move is the Vision G Concept Coupe, which previews the direction for a future line of luxury Hyundais.
While it would certainly turn heads at the local supermarket carpark, Hyundai's designers have made sure the Vision G doesn't shout too loudly. Head designer Peter Schreyer's team has worked to create a sense of understated, classic luxury by giving it a long bonnet and high beltline.
Stepping through the concept's auto-opening doors takes you into an interior that, like the exterior, eschews flashy displays of luxury, instead favoring refined and simple lines.
Power comes from the 5.0-liter Tau V8 engine that features in the Genesis Coupe. Producing 420 hp (313 kW) and 519 Nm (383 ft lb) of torque, the engine in the Vision G has been upgraded with an enhanced timing chain, low-torque exhaust manifold, an increased compression ratio and upgrades to the injection mapping to give it a flatter torque curve than the motor in the Genesis.
The Vision G Concept Coupe debuted to journalists at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) this week and will now make its way to the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, which kicks off on August 16.
Source: Hyundai
We keep cars for so long that resale is not a consideration, but perhaps one of reasons Hyundais have low resale value (if they do) is because of attitudes like yours. We're perfectly happy with ours.
As an aside, did you really just put the German cars in the quality category as the Japanese? What are you smoking? VW consistently rates as one of the least reliable brands on the road, and BMW & Mercedes are not much better.
If it is built, it will struggle to compete with Mercedes and BMW. Look at Lexus, I was in one the other day and it was truly awful in comparison to a Merc. It still felt like a Toyota and wasn't at all special feeling. No-one with a brain is going to fork out £60k plus for a car from a manufacturer that gave us 1970s British Leyland Tech in the 1990s. Their best approach is to either sell it in the bargain basement where Hyundai as a brand belongs, or, completely divorce itself from Hyundai with a totally separate brand and get Europeans in to run it.