Video: 2009 Hyundai Genesis in action

Detroit is so dead. Go Hyundai!

You mean japan is so dead!

Agreed. Hyundai is going to cause lots of pain and suffering for many companies.

"whats so good about this car???"

It makes you look like a big doorknob when driving this car.

Oh look, Hyundai stole the styling cues of another auto manufacturer. What a surprise. Do their designers have one original bone in their body. Mine as well slap a Lexus badge on the grille. At least the 300 and G8 have their own image. Not someone elses.

My thoughts exactly.

This thing should become Blimp & Driver's vehicle of the year.

Congratulations to Hyundai - the car company we can always trust to ripoff designs from other cars companies.

They don't have an original thought in their frickin' heads.

Who cares, as long as they sell them.

Wow, I hate to agree with EL34, but he's right.

Kaiser

I agree and applaud you. Hopefully this car will keep the competition's rising prices in check.

I agree completely with Kaiserozedude.
The Genesis will be a smash hit.
Forget the styling issues you may have, reports are the car drives and handles great.
The only concern I would have buying one (and that might eventually happen) is the dealer experience compared to the competition (Infiniti, Lexus, Acura, etc). This might turn some off going to the Hyundai dealer for maintenance, etc. If the car is quite reliable this may not be much of an issue. Also, hopefully the maintenance costs will be lower than the Asian competition.

So Hyundai is doing to the Japanese what the Japanese did to the US....give you more for less. Considering Hyundai's reputation for quality I'd say the Japanes have more to worry about than Detroit. Consider this...you import fanboys can relate to this...import buyers rarely cross shop American cars and Japanese cars...now come Hyundai and suddenly import buyers see even more value for their dollar and guess what...it's an import. I find it very laughable that Toyota, Honda, and Nissan fans are going have a hard time with this...afterall its Japan's turn to be America and Hyundai turn to be Japan...here's to the Genesis (glasses raised!)

As we discuss this, just imagine the faces of the executives at Toyota/Lexus. It makes my day.

I dont doubt Lexus is getting ready to disassemble the Genesis as soon as one hits the showrooms to see what they can rip off. Its your turn now Lexus. Just when you thought you would rule the world, along came a car named the Genesis.

Now people who aspired for a Lexus will opt for this bargain, history has a habit or repeating itself.

If the Genesis is going to be a hit, they need to make a new name for it. Face it, when you say 'Hyundai' the first image that pops into mind is a tinny piece of crap that couldn't climb a hill to save it's life. If this car really is what it's said to be (which I highly doubt), it can't/shouldn't be sold as a Hyundai.

The Genesis is spawning a RWD division for Hyundai. The Coupe version will be a landmark vehicle for Hyundai as it would be the only RWD turbo sportscoupe from an Asian Automaker, currently. The Supra was the last time a RWD turbo sportscoupe was ever made by an asian company(atleast I think it was). The Genesis will be a hit on it's own.

I'm not digging it. It looks like a premium car but there is just something akward about the design. It seems like a combination of various existing designs that were fused together to form the Gensis. That's as best as I can describe what I feel.

My take is that Hyundai did a fine job on the Genesis, their first real premium car. All the talk about 'bland' design this or that is simply based on premeditated bias.

No one expects a brand like 'Hyundai' to produce any luxury quality-like vehicles so the naysayers, as expected, will have a field day picking apart this car or any new car that this manufacturer produces because of the low brand perception value that persist about Hyundai regardless of the quality.

Notice I said perception because this is the uphill challenge that Hyundai has to overcome. The main issue that I see with this car is not the design, luxury appointments or pricing, but overcoming the 'cheap' moniker that the Hyundai brand has become synonymous with in the U.S.

I think this car makes a bold statement that says Hyundai is ready to compete at the next level but to be successful it has do so with the development of a new brand. Genesis is that brand. However, the success of Genesis is very dependent on how Hyundai strategically positions this car in the minds of its prospects.

It certainly raises the stakes for Hyundai as well because if it gains sales momentum, then many, including its critics, will refer to this vehicle as the 'breakthrough' vehicle that re-launched Hyundai back on the map but more importantly, allowed it to garner the cache of mainstream acceptability.

This is the main reason why Hyundai has committed to spending millions to re-introduce the brand to consumers through clever soft touch commercials which began in mid September, 2007, that touts the safety benefits of their vehicles rather than scream about how cheap their cars are.

It is clear that the message they are conveying to consumers is, "if you think you know Hyundai, think again." One example where that message maybe having its desired effect was evidenced by this past December sales increase of their bread and butter car, the Sonata, which despite an all new design two years ago, had been experiencing softening sales, did much better than expected with sales of over 24,872 units compared to the same period in 2006 that saw just 10,149 units.