Hyundai is on a roll lately.  Its quality scores are up in J.D. Power surveys. Its first crack at a luxury car, the Genesis, won the North American Car of the Year award for 2008.  Its Assurance Plus program protected the brand from the plummeting sales that have devastated many rivals (in fact, both Ford and GM are now doing their best to one-up the program).  While the recession has punished other automakers, it has seemed as if Hyundai can do little wrong.

But Korea's largest automaker may be preparing to test its luck in a more serious way.  Perhaps Americans can take a Hyundai that rivals entry-level luxury cars seriously.  But a Hyundai that rivals six-figure super-luxury sedans like the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7-Series?  A $100,000 Hyundai?  Could such a thing possibly succeed?

Edmunds Inside Line is reporting that, in a few years, we may find out.  "Forget what you've heard. The Hyundai Equus is coming to the U.S.," Inside Line writes.  According to a "source close to the project," Inside Line reports, "you wouldn't be far off if you said the car was coming to the United States. Our chairman wants it."

The Equus is on display now at the New York Auto Show.

"With a price tag starting at $96,000," Jalopnik writes, the Equus "has a lot to answer for."  The super-luxury sedan offers the same 4.6-liter Tau V8 found in the top-of-the-line Genesis, "And a bigger version clocking in at an even 5.0 liters (a homage to another "pony" car?) cooking up around 420 HP."  The engines come mated to an 8 speed automatic transmission.  Also included are, "Lane Departure Warning System, Vehicle Stability Management System and Pre-Safety Seatbelt System.  Inside are all the accommodations one would expect for high-powered Korean businessmen: leather, rear entertainment system, power window shades, little pseudo-iDrive knobs front and back, table trays in the rear, kimchi bar - the works."

We think they're kidding about the kimchi bar.  But where $100,000 super-luxury cars are concerned, we can't be sure.

The Equus is huge, Motor Trend reports, longer than a Cadillac DTS.  "The exterior styling is safe and relatively restrained, with only a mildly adventurous boneline breaking up the bodyside -- think a combination of Lexus LS460 and Buick Lacrosse."  The Korean-market Equus is tuned very softly, but "will be recalibrated to give it the sportier, more European-oriented ride and handling it needs to compete with Mercedes and Lexus." 

But could Americans accept a $96,000 Hyundai?  Perhaps Hyundai isn't counting on that.  Autoblog reports, "Hyundai knows it's not ready to swim with the whale sharks of the luxury world, so it's hoping to get the sticker closer to $50,000" before bringing the car to the U.S.

The Genesis has been such a sales success, in part, because it brings luxuries from the world of $50,000 sedans into the $30,000 range.  The Equus could do the same a step down, brining super-luxury features down to the price of luxury cars.  Motor Trend notes.  "The Lexus LS460 starts at $64,000, the BMW 7-series at $77,000, and the Mercedes S-class at $89,000. The Equus promises the size, the features, and most of the performance and refinement of the fancy Europeans at a fraction of the price. That sounds like just the sort of deal Americans like."

If you're in the market for a new car, check out the U.S. News rankings of this year's best cars as well as this month's best car deals.