Hyundai, the company that makes those cheap little runabouts, is building a big luxury sedan with dreams of slaying German and Japanese standard-bearers. This sounds familiar.
You’ll be forgiven for confusing the Genesis’ and Equus’ stories. After all, the playbook hasn’t changed at all. Both are large luxury sedans with the same V-8 engine driving the same automatic transmission and rear wheels. They also share the strategy that has made Hyundai a powerhouse in the market: more content for less money.
The expected base price of roughly $60,000 includes a list of standard features is as long as your arm, and covers all the uber-luxury standards. In fact, to get the same level of content on a Lexus LS 460, which starts just six thousand dollars higher, you’d have to tack on $10,000 in options. With the Equus, if you can name it, it comes standard. But there’s a catch: no options.To keep build complexity down and the value proposition up, Hyundai’s kept things simple. There are only two models, Signature and Ultimate. The only difference is that the latter is geared more toward chauffeured rear-seat passengers. There is only one set of wheels: 19-inch chrome fare wrapped in wide Continental all-season tires. If you buy an Equus, the kitchen sink is included in the base price. BMW and Mercedes-Benz can’t say that, nor can comparatively low-priced Lexus.
There’s no arguing that Hyundai can go toe-to-toe with segment leaders on features and content, and they can screw it together just as well, too. Fit and finish easily meet segment standards, as does materials quality. Noise/vibration/harshness is the make-or-break point for this car, which is why 75 percent of the Equus’ frame is made from high-strength steel and every porthole save the rear window is filled with thick, acoustic glass. The result is a cathedral-quiet interior, though there is a fair amount of tire noise.
No comments:
Post a Comment