mmarshall

Come on, guys, give me a break. Do you actually BELIEVE what auto marketers tell you, Hyundai, Toyota, Lexus, or otherwise? Listen, these guys would make Bill Clinton sound honest. I know........I've dealt with enough of them.

mmarshall

At one time, Mike, I thought I would never own a Lexus....or an AWD product. Now look at me.

True, Hyundai might be expanding, but it looks like its britches are keeping up.

toy4two

If you look at JD Powers Hyndai will be the Honda of the next decade.

All they need is a Halo car, a la the NSX.

mmarshall

Well, if the Acura NSX didn't sell at $90,000, and the $90,000 VW Phaeton didn't either, what makes you think a $90,000 Hyundai exotic will?
Though there has been some talk about it, Hyundai has yet to being their $45,000 Equus luxury car over here from Korea because they think THAT car is still too expensive for the American market....half the price of what you are talikng about.

xioix

The NSX was selling almost 40k over its MSRP, and was selling very well when launched and had a very good sales for a few years, but when the competition changed and updated its cars, the NSX was virtually the same and sales declined

mmarshall

Well, I don't have all the figures right in my head, but I don't ever remember the NSX selling well in the American market....and I don't remember ever seeing one, at least here in the DC area, marked up over list ( which was usually 85-90K ). And I don't personally know anyone who ever actually bought one, although among CL members, DocC once owned one, and so did DaveGS4, the moderator's, girlfriend ( fiancee?).

Although to some extent the public can only blame themselves for not buying the 90K W12 Phaeton, which was a heck of a deal compared to the V12 BMW and Merecedes competition, it is evident that the Phaeton was not going to sell here either, in spite of its worthiness and being such a bargain....more so than the V8 version.....and, unfortunately, like many other German-designed cars, it had reliability problems too.
So.....while none of us, of course, has a crystal ball, I don't see the prospects for a 90K Hyundai " halo " or exotic car doing very well here either. In fact, that is primarily what killed the Phaeton...the public perception that it was simply an overpriced VW and not a real BMW or Mercedes competitor. The Audi A8, which is a similiar but somewhat more firmly-sprung version of the Phaeton, will have to carry on in its place.
Given the current state of thinking in the American marketplace, I think that's just what would happen to a 90K Hyundai. Like the Phaeton, people would not look on it for its merits but stereotype it with Hyundai being an econobox nameplate ( which, of course, it really is not any more...witness the Azera ).

Gojirra99

I remember hearing about long waiting lists for them the first year or two. Of course, that doesn't mean they sell a lot of them, just that the demand far exceeds the supply, & they don't make THAT many of them in the first place.

mmarshall

I'm not doubting your word, Andrew....I know you get a hold of a lot of sales figures. I just don't ever remember seeing many of them on the road. It was quite an event when I did. And what few I saw in this area, for some reason, were usually black or white....the red and yellow ones didn't seem to sell at all, and, surprisingly, not the silver ones either. Silver, in the U.S., is usually the top-selling color for just about any vehicle.

Anyhow, I don't want to dwell on the NSX or the Phaeton too much. I only brought them both up as examples of why I don't think a 90K Hyundai will fly here, and that was generally the thread topic....Hyundai's value as oposed to its competitiors.

xioix

http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/General/...ionnumbers.htm

Umm, the MSRP in 91 was 60k, those 85k were marked up by 35k

spwolf

which is probably why they had to make that claim, lol :-).

Just look at SUV's, all Toyota SUV's have VSC standard (first manufacturer that has done so, back in 2004), and I bet Toyota sells more SUV's than Hyundai cars with ESP :-).

So they had to make some crazy claim...

mmarshall

Yes...the original NSX was not 90K, but by the early 2000's had become one.
However, to be fair, like the Audi A8 and Jaguar XJ, it was all-aluminum car, and aluminum costs money....more than steel.