Leap Of Faith: Will The Equus Become The Next LS Or Phaeton?

Next LS!

009, you must be talking about sales as to whether it will be a success or not.

Regarding the Phaeton, it was and is to this day one of the finest cars ever manufactured. Just because people are attached to a badge name plate and snubbed their nose at the Phaeton does not mean it was not successful and great luxury automobile.

The Phaeton might have been a great designed car, but the fact that because of the VW on the front meant it didn't sell well is very important. It's hard to justify spending so much for a VW (or in this case a hyundai) even if it is a nice car, it almost almost comes down to branding. I agree that both the Equus and Phaeton are/were nice cars but the fact is both have something in common, they are priced too high for their brand.

It also depends on the goals Hyundai has set for it, if it meets those goals they'll consider it a success. I'm becoming a fan of Hyundai so I hope the Equus succeeds. Toyota, GM, VW and the other big names need a company like them breathing down their necks.

somewhere in between.... I don't know anybody that is capable to fork out 60k for a car right now in this economy but im sure there are some i think it will take sales but not many from people that want an 80k car car can afford it so it will sale in small numbers given our economy.

not the phaeton--which was overpriced and never sold well. the equus is value priced and will sell well.

it's the lexus model all over again. build 80% as good a car and price it 30% below the competition.

It's pretty much the same as the Phaeton all over again though. It's an affordable car company trying to make a luxury car under the same brand name. It's hard to sell a $60K car on the same lot as an $18K car under a brand that doesn't exactly stand for luxury and expensive cars (not yet at least)

I'm sorry I was being generous apparently, there's the Hyundai Accent on the same lot for $9,970

It will be the next Equus.

LS or Phaeton? Who knows?


Hyundai has one of the best marketing teams around. They've got the cash to fund commercials. The fact that their employees are being actively scouted out by other companies speaks volumes to this effect. Hyundai was able to significantly alter their image in 2 years. I'm confident that we'll see drastic shifts in brand reputation in the coming years. They make cars that typically get 5-star crash ratings and high quality scores on JD Power and Consumer Reports. Who's to say they won't find any success in the ultra high luxury segment?

It will be the new Phaeton.

$60,000 is a lot of money in this bad economy - bad timing, really bad timing.

I agree with enthusiastx11; Not the Phaeton in any way. Look, the phaeton, like the Passat V8, failed because, at the time, they were plain vanilla wrappers around sparkling engineering at a very expensive price. NO one noticed. A few saw them as the gems they were. Remember the Phaetons were MORE than 60g's, years ago. Then they checked into VW's reliability in the long term and found less than steller performance. Especially bad with the little problems, hard to diagnois and expensive to repair. The warranty was not as good as the Hyundai's is now. Now the Equs. Stellar styling: No. But it is a excellent combo of all of the competition. It works. It will get noticed if only for people to react enough to think it's one of it's competitors cars. That's what sells cars. That is what made the original LS a huge success over the Q45 of the same period. Now, factor in that the Towncar will be going away within a year. Wouldn't the Equs make a fine executive car? All the features of the much more expensive competition and 30% less. I wonder how many of the riders will then, once they experience the car, buy one simply because of the quality to value ratio it represents? As happened with the LS. Now for the real question: can Hyundai dealers develop and engender the same level of satisfaction with there service experience that Lexus has done? If they can do this; the Equs's success will be assured.

The Phaeton failed because it was a luxury car (in terms of quality and price) from a car company that is known for affordable cars. If Toyota, Nissan, and Honda never made a spinoff luxury car company from their names their luxury cars probably would have failed also. Timing is not the problem, all they have to do is lower their sales goals to make up for a down economy, the badge on the car is going to be the problem. Now if hyundai can get rid of all their cheap cars and keep everything at a higher quality and price they'll have a chance. As long as they have the Hyundai Accent on the same lot as the Equus, it's going to have a hard time selling.

Your point about the Equus replacing the town car..... that would kill it faster than anything.

^^^that is speculation. no one knows, I do know however that Toyota did not carry the "Lexus" name to anywhere but the US and the UK initially (IIRC). they did pretty well with the Toyota Celsior (Lexus LS) and the Toyota Arists (Lexus GS) without having to market it under Lexus.

also, Hyundai is offering something no other manufacturer does with the Equus...Tier 1 service. The owner never has to go to the dealership for any type of service or maintenance. Hyundai will pick up the vehicle from the residence, leaving a loaner car (more than likely a Genesis sedan) for the owner to continue his/her day with.

We all know how much waiting around for service at the dealership can be...Hyundai is ahead of the pack with this, and will certainly gain some customers due to this. Remember, though brand image is weighed heavily, often jump brands because of the lack of service offered at dealerships. I've seen it many times before.

The Equus doesnt have high sales figures, 3000 is the goal. I see them obtaining this with ease and brilliant marketing.

@r15mohd

Right on. 3,000 units sold for 2011 is going to be cake walk. I like where they're going with this. Keep unit sales low and (maybe) increase capacity and sales as awareness of the Equus picks up. I doubt they're going for high volume.

@r15mohd

Right on. 3,000 units sold for 2011 is going to be cake walk. I like where they're going with this. Keep unit sales low and (maybe) increase capacity and sales as awareness of the Equus picks up. I doubt they're going for high volume.

"What everyone is ignoring is what is Hyundai offering on the equus that no one else is? Lexus offered technology, service And a lower price. Hyundai is offering a Hyundai thAts pretending it to be a Hyundai." -huu76

Can't believe I am agreeing with you huu76 but there is always a first!
'nuff said.

My issue with the Equus is that while it is "value" priced unlike the Phaeton against the 7,LS, and S class it still is an expensive car. You have to really wonder how many of those people are also willing to simply buy an E class or 5 series as an alternative. The people I know that drive those full size luxury sedans dont need them for their added space, nor are they driving people around all day in the back. The Phaeton was certainly a nice car but it had more than than its badge as an issue its styling was also bland and generic it simply looked like a big Passat even if you could past the badge why would you want an 80,000 car that looks like a big 30,000 car lol wait im describing the new a8 lol but still the Phaeton had more issues than the badge. I guess we will see if Hyundai talk value in an already expensive car....

i guess it depends what you are used to, if you ever had a Lexus,Bmw, Mercedes most likely you will not be driving an equus..

this would clearly be a down grade, there is no way in hell you could pull up in a country club and be proud of an Equus..

after 3 bmw's i got myself 1 lexus ( is-f ) and even then felt it wasnt on the same level in terms of cache of a bmw.. even though it had all the same options and similar performance..
lexus doesnt make any cheap cars, if hyundai wants to be considered with the big boys, they need to drop all their bottom line cars..

Smashing sales records? That's a tough one--Hyundai never made that claim.