The best new car in North America is a Korean import. Like most Hyundai models, it is designed to compete with more established names in the market by offering a lot of car for a little money, undercutting its competition by thousands of dollars. Unlike most Hyundai models, however, this one doesn't try to remind buyers of a Toyota or Honda product.
Instead, the Hyundai Genesis aims its badgeless grille at BMWs and Lexuses.
CNN Money explains, "The Hyundai Genesis won the prestigious Car of the Year Award Sunday at the start of media preview days for the 2009 Detroit Auto Show." The rear-wheel drive luxury sedan "is part of Hyundai's attempt to reach upscale drivers while still maintaining the brand's roots with low-cost economy models such as the Accent. With prices starting at about $32,000 for V6-powered versions, the Genesis looks and drives much like a Mercedes-Benz or Lexus." Big enough to compete with large luxury cars like the BMW 5-Series, however, the Genesis is priced like a smaller, entry-level luxury model, such as BMW's 3-Series.
The Genesis is available with a V6 that gives it plenty of power, or a V8 more powerful than anything Lexus, BMW or Mercedes-Benz offer in its price range. Unlike most of the cars it claims as competitors, however, All-Wheel-Drive is not available on the Genesis. It also wins praise from the auto press for a sumptuous interior with so much sound-dampening material that its cabin measures among the quietest available, and a unique 17-speaker stereo from Lexicon, the company that manufactures sound systems for Rolls Royce.
Reuters calls the award "a major step for the South Korean automaker in its push to produce a more upscale, mass-market vehicle for U.S. consumers." The award was granted by a panel of 50 automotive writers from the U.S. and Canada. In order to be eligible, a model had to be new or substantially redesigned for the 2009 model year. The Genesis beat out the new Ford Flex and the hyper-efficient Volkswagen Jetta TDI to take the prize.
The announcement marks the first win for a Korean automaker. The Auto Channel notes, "U.S. domestic automakers have won North American Car of the Year eight times. Japanese automakers have won three times. European automakers have won four times."
Hyundai executives, CNN Money notes, had once considering using the Genesis to help start a separate luxury brand, "As Toyota did with Lexus and Honda with Acura, but decided instead that it made sense to create new models under the Hyundai name."
Given the perilous state of the U.S. economy, that may have been a wise decision. Despite the praise the automotive press has heaped on the Genesis since its arrival, the Detroit Free Press notes, Hyundai has sold barely 6,000 of the cars so far.
Rocked by such slow sales, the automakers have all opened 2009 with aggressive price discounts. Research January's Best Car Deals with U.S. News' car Rankings and Reviews.
