The Hyundai Genesis Is A Great Value, But Is It Good Enough To Compete With Lexus?

Hyundai started as a small company making Ford Cortina's and in 1975 made the first Korean car, the Hyundai Pony. The Pony was designed and built by Hyundai, but had Mitsubishi power train. In 1988 Hyundai made its first car with their own chassis and most parts, the Sonata and in 1991 they made their first engine. In 1998 Hyundai merged with Kia and in 1999 they introduced the 10 year/100,000 mile warranty. Hyundai continued to extend its model lineup with the Santa Fe SUV and XG300/XG350 large sedans. In the last few years Hyundai has been making more quality products. The current Sonata is very well priced, safe, has better build quality than the Toyota Camry, has a great V6 engine, and drives as well as the Camry. The new Santa Fe is safe, roomy, good to drive, great value, and is even luxurious. The Hyundai Azera is a largish sedan that competes with cars like the Lexus ES350 and is better. Hyundai's mid size SUV, the Veracruz is a competitor to the Toyota Highlander and Honda Pilot, it's just as good as those. Hyundai aimed for the Lexus RX350 with the Veracruz and made a better vehicle than the Lexus. The Hyundai Entourage is another good Hyundai, it's safe, a great value, and the Entourage is beat only by the Honda Odyssey and maybe the Dodge Grand Caravan in the minivan class. Now Hyundai has made its first real luxury car, the Genesis.

The Genesis has everything a modern luxury sedan needs. It has rear wheel drive, available V8 engine, high tech navigation systems, and all the comfort features luxury car buyers can expect. The base price of the V6 Genesis is $32,250 and for that you get 290hp from a 3.8L V6, leather, and lots of luxury. For $39,250 you can have the full 17 speakers, one of the most advanced navigation systems of any car, and just about any luxury feature you might find in a Lexus. For $37,250 you can have a 375hp 4.6L V8 powered Genesis and for $41,250 you can have the technology package, which adds all the high tech features of a fully loaded V6 Genesis. The V8 Genesis is were the value lies. Compared with the $44,600 BMW 528i the closest equipped Genesis V6 is $32,250 over $12,000 less. The most similar new car to the Genesis V8 is the Lexus LS460, which at $63,000 is more than $21,000 more expensive than a similarly equipped Genesis. The closest car I can think of that you can buy to the Genesis is  a 3 or 4 year old Lexus LS430, one of the few cars that is better than its replacement. The Genesis has lots of newer technology that the LS430 misses out on because of being older, so I would still buy the Hyundai. The Cadillac STS V6 is $44,515, but with the likely discounts becomes the Genesis's main new competition,  but the STS happens to be a pretty much terrible car. That makes the Genesis by far the best luxury car value there is and while is isn't fun or exciting car to drive it is enjoyable. With the money you save over a Lexus LS460 you could easily buy a fun sports car, the Mini Cooper S, Mazda MX-5 Miata, or Volkswagen GTI for example. There is a coupe version that will have a more sport tuned suspension and will be much smaller than the sedan. Hyundai is really moving forward and I think will become one of the best car companies here.