PRLog (Press Release)– Mar 11, 2011– ALL DRESSED UP The Equus's long list of standard features includes an iPad. More This $60,000 Lexus-baiting limo will look like an alien battleship at Hyundai dealerships, hovering over the Elantras and Tucsons. But to owners of the Lexus LS 460, the better sci-fi reference is "Invasion of the Body Snatchers": from its design to its powertrain to its features, the Hyundai seems a virtual copy of the Lexus, such a crib that it might hail from Shanghai, not South Korea.
Of course, that's how Lexus began its Trojan horse conquest of America in 1990, by imitating a Mercedes bmw but selling the impostor for $35,000 — seemingly a lot at the time for a social-climbing Toyota, but some $27,000 less than a Benz 420SEL.
Today, cars in this league can top $100,000, but the idea is the same. Coming from the 21st-century discount king, the Equus looks to kick Lexus and the Germans in the shins while cutting their prices off at the knees.
The Equus starts at $58,900 for the Signature model, compared with nearly $73,000 for the long-wheelbase version of the Lexus. But the de facto price spread is wider, because the feature-stuffed Hyundai doesn't offer a single extra-cost option.
Choose the Ultimate edition at $65,400, and the Equus goes feature-to-feature with a loaded LS 460 L that tops $97,000 — right down to the Lexus's plush rear quarters with its right-side reclining chair, which not only heats, cools and massages a pampered passenger, but comes with a power footrest, DVD entertainment and a refrigerator in the center console that awaits a bottle of bubbly or Cap aston martin ri Suns for your coddled children.
Clearly, big spenders can feel like big savers if they choose the Hyundai. Automotive Lease Guide, whose resale estimates help automakers set lease rates, figures the Equus will lose 50 percent of its value after three years, which ties it with the Lexus for the least depreciation in the class.
So toast the Equus buyer for financial intelligence. And if you limit driving expectations to what the Lexus does so well — it's still one of the world's most tranquil cruisers — the Hyundai acquits itself with surprising grace.
But Hyundai's money-saving strategy, successful in more affordable cars, may be less convincing in the C.E.O. class, where spending more is no sin.
Remember, too, that the Equus enters a luxury market that's vastly more crowded and sophisticated than buick when Lexus saw its big chance. In 1990, Mercedes was the complacent benchmark, Jaguar was in steep decline and Audi was a blip on the radar. Today, the Lexus LS — the target at which Hyundai has taken dead aim — is hardly the benchmark, but the oldest car in a class overflowing with superb choices.
According to Car and Driver, the Lexus and dodge Hyundai ran neck-and-neck in a quarter-mile sprint, at 14.5 seconds. The Lexus reached 60 m.p.h. in 6.0 seconds, the Equus in 6.1. Stopping distance from 70 m.p.h.? It was 171 feet for the Lexus, 170 for the Equus.
Did Hyundai engineers, dressed as ninjas, infiltrate Lexus headquarters?
Late this summer, the 2012 Equus will adopt a 5-liter V-8 with 429 horsepower — giving the Equus the most standard horses in its class. An 8-speed transmission will replace the current 6-speed. One wonders why Hyundai didn't offer the Equus from the get-go with that stronger powertrain.
And if the Hyundai doesn't quite waft over the road like the Lexus — the Rolls-Royce of Japan, only quieter — it comes comfortably close. For this type of cocooning sedan, I prefer the Lexus's creamier steering, but the Hyundai actually felt more connected to the road, especially after switching its air suspension to Sport mode.
That raises a final issue: while the company name is conspicuously absent from the Equus, this remains a Hyundai, not a stand-alone luxury brand. Ask Volkswagen how that worked with its disastrous $80,000 Phaeton sedan. Even stand-alone Infiniti and Acura, nurtured into being by Nissan and Honda, respectively, have failed to gain traction in the market for $50,000-and-up sedans.
Yet Mr. Krafcik said Hyundai was on pace to move 2,500 to 3,000 Equus models this year — the modest, market-seeding number it expected.
Business plan aside, the Equus doesn't have an original bone it its body, and it needs seasoning. But like a Japanese newcomer 20 years ago, if this Korean upstart can make marquee names cut their bloated prices, that's a game all luxury buyers can applaud.
Visit Tameron Hyundai for a test drive of the all new EQUUS!!!!
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