Hyundai's first Genesis tiptoed toward luxury; the redesign aims higher

SEOUL -- With its first-generation Genesis sedan, Hyundai set out to prove it could produce a competent upscale car for value-minded shoppers.

With the second generation arriving early next year, the Korean automaker says it's ready for a bigger challenge: proving that it can take on German rivals such as the BMW 5 series, Audi A6 and Mercedes -Benz E class.

It's more than just talk. Hyundai spent five years and more than $500 million developing the 2015 Genesis and its new rear-wheel-drive platform. Designers gave the sedan the kind of wide stance, cab-rearward proportions and clean lines that attract luxury car buyers.

Inside, aluminum trim and wood available in five grains accent the clean, modern interior. All-wheel drive will be available for the first time on a Hyundai sedan. Much attention also went into improving ride and handling, a shortcoming of the first-generation car.

Still, Hyundai has much to prove, not least that it can successfully take on the Germans with a $50,000 premium sedan sold by a mass-market brand, alongside such entry-level cars as the $17,000 Elantra.

It's an uncommon route. Most automakers market mainstream and luxury vehicles under distinct brands in separate showrooms. Attempts to blur that distinction -- such as Volkswagen's high-priced Phaeton sedan -- have been flops.

But Hyundai has reason to believe it can succeed. Before slipping 7 percent this year, Genesis sales in the United States grew every year since the model's 2008 launch. And Hyundai says selling premium and mainstream vehicles side by side has boosted the perception of its brand overall.

"Why wouldn't our very best cars carry the Hyundai badge?" John Krafcik, CEO of Hyundai Motor America, told Automotive News. "There's no question that you're getting more return on investment calling these Hyundai products as opposed to taking the other approach."

Hyundai says the next Genesis will represent an evolution in design as well. The first Genesis' design was conservative and derivative. "We didn't want to ruffle many feathers," Krafcik said.

At the time, said Casey Hyun, creative design manager at Hyundai Motor Co., Hyundai was still in its "fast follower" stage, before the swoopy lines and deep sheet metal creases appeared on the Sonata mid-sized sedan and Elantra compact.

Since then, Hyun says, Hyundai design has become more assertive and mature, and the Genesis reflects that. Redesigns of other vehicles will adopt some of the luxury sedan's styling elements, such as the new hexagonal grille.

"We feel that this will be a defining car for our brand for the next five years," said Hyun.

Under the skin, too, the 2015 Genesis is a leap forward for the brand. The new platform shares no parts with the outgoing model, Hyundai says. High-strength steel accounts for more than 50 percent of the car's body-in-white, compared with less than 14 percent in the outgoing model. Unlike competing German automakers, Hyundai uses no aluminum in the Genesis' body.

The car is 60 pounds heavier than the outgoing model; steel was added late in development for better performance on the small-overlap crash test done by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Hyundai engineers say they benchmarked the BMW 5 series for ride and handling characteristics, an area where Korean automakers have trailed the competition. A stronger, stiffer body was a key improvement, said Park Joon Hong, a ride and handling researcher at Hyundai Motor Group.

The standard 3.8-liter V-6 and optional 5.0-liter V-8 engines are carried over, as is the eight-speed automatic transmission. But Hyundai engineers say they tweaked both engines to get more low- to mid-range torque.

Safety improvements include an emergency braking system that can stop the car when it senses an imminent collision, and a feature that applies steering corrections when the car appears to be drifting out of its lane.

Hyundai's approach -- putting high-priced, more luxurious models alongside entry-level cars with the same brand -- acknowledges that the care and feeding of a separate luxury brand can be risky and expensive. Among other Asian rivals, only Toyota's 25-year-old Lexus brand has truly cemented itself as bona fide luxury player in the United States. Honda's Acura brand and Nissan's Infiniti marque have nibbled around the edges of the luxury marketplace.

Krafcik thinks Hyundai is on the right path.

"I do believe that when the three premium Japanese brands were launched, it was during a certain time in the industry when there was a certain optimism about where the industry was headed," he said.

"I really believe that if those three companies had a chance to really think about their path, they might have taken the path that we chose."