Hyundai reminds me of how Honda and Toyota came on the scene in the 1970's. At first their product was a bit goofy, people didn't trust the foreign brand, but eventually quality and design improved and Americans fell in love with the Japanese cars.
Hyundai seems to be following the same path, and they are starting to round the corner making really great cars. As if that wasn't enough, they just threw their hat in the luxury car ring with the Hyundai Equus.
The Hyundai Equus (I hate the name) competes with the likes of the Lexus LS460, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, and the Audi A8 but for less money. The base price Equus will start well below $60,0000. I know Hyundai quality is pretty damn good these days, but I still (give me a couple more years please) can't get over the fact that it is a "Hyundai". I think I would have to de-badge the car, sorry. With that said, the car looks nothing like a current Hyundai and only has one of the slanted "H" logo's on the trunk. Everywhere else on the car has the Equus name and logo.
The Equus is powered by a 4.6-liter V8 making 385 horsepower (more than the LS460 and the S550) at 333 pound-feet of torque (less than the LS460 and the S550). The power is put to the rear wheels via a ZF six speed automatic transmission. The suspension is air controlled and actively adjusts to driving conditions.
The car is full of the usual luxury gadgetry like adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, a road watching camera, navigation, Bluetooth, iPod integration, driver side massage seat, and the Lexicon audio system (608 watt 13 channel amplifier and 17 speakers, producing 7.1 surround sound).
Hyundai has unveiled the 2011 Hyundai Equus, a large, rear-drive luxury sedan aimed at the Mercedes S-Class and Lexus LS, according to the New York Times.
That’s not the purpose of this post, though. It appears Hyundai, in lieu of having an established status brand, has come up with some innovative ways to pamper Equus customers who will be expected to spend between $50,000 to $60,000 on the car.
For scheduled maintenance, Hyundai dealers will pick up Equus models from owner’s homes, leave a loaner car, and then return the Equus after service, the report said. In addition, instead of the usual 300-page owners manual, buyers will receive a virtual owners manual on an Apple iPad that they can also use to schedule service appointments and operate other apps.