V2: “Toyota L—s are great brands produced by the Japanese.”

Uh,Toyota and L—s are two brands of the same cars. And you can get a better car for less, unless it’s ther Yaris (CS 180) you’re talking about.

e46Ne90:”v2 l—s and a—a started out as a basically European wannabes …” Actually they started out as camcords, then the strategic badge placement, and you’ve got “japanese luxury.”

Heart64: “Hyundai’s have improved quality considerably but I don’t think its on par with L—s just yet.”
With every improvement in quality,Hyundai getsfurther and further away frombeing on par with Toyota’s faux-luxury division.

dsmdriver84:”I personally drive an FX35.” You drive a really good car.

Scarface03 “If you’re in the mood for a Camry ….” Then you’re already dead.

Need more oil for GM: “Remember, Toyota only has a couple of years left in the auto business.”
No. Retards haven’t stopped reproducing, so you’re wrong about that.

TOZO: “And then lead posioning will kill that market.” Classic ****!

Kaizen: “The ting that makes L—s so sucessful is not just the product.” Right, it’s the marketing.

RicardoHead: “Slutty women and lazy men are about 93% of Australia.”That’s some classic **** as well, although I spent Christmas in Kiama Downs and didn’t see many sluts.

autonut:”Honda, Toyota and Nissan did not start selling premium cars in US before they established new level of customer service: luxury divisions.”

Nissan started selling a “premium car in the U.S. in ‘82. When toyonda will is anybody’s guess.

They’re absolutely right, and they’re on the right track. I wonder what would happen if the Big 3 took some humble pie and asked the same question.

. . . . “In Australia, Hyundai is the brand for single mums and the unemployable……
. . . . it will never progress pass that.”

That’s not a bad market. Slutty women and lazy men are about 93% of Australia.

How come it’s not surprising that the most stereotypical, racist, sexist responses are from an Australian or an American? How about keeping the discussion at hand relevant and not so blatantly ignorant? Guess you have to keep your cojones on show for the world to see how manly you aren’t?

OK … back at the topic at hand, Hyundai’s ascent from 3rd rate toward a premiere marque has been meteoric. What they’ve done in 20 years is almost as much as most of the Japanese companies achieved in 30 years. Various quality awards, worldwide expansion, profits … they are the only manufacturer that the ‘king of the hill’ Toyota has on their radar. Hyundai has the same dilemma that Toyota/Honda/Nissan had 15 years ago … how to create an image of a tier one car company.

Those who are looking at a BMW or Mercedes will not cross-shop for a Hyundai. They are too much a brand snob now to see much into Hyundai. Once they develop a following, they will be as loyal to the brand as Lexus-philes are to their brand. Then people will start to cross-shop (or so the theory goes). Getting from theory into practice is the $1,000,000 question. I think Hyundai needs to create a new brand to get into the door of the big boy’s league.

Interior quality is not enough to justify them as being a good luxury brand. Many of you may solely base your opinions on that, but as long as the quality of parts is good, I could care less about itsy bitsy panel gaps and horsepower. What I really care about is if it will be reliable, if it’s rides nicely, and probably most personally is how utilitarian it is.

On New Year’s Eve, I was rear-ended. My rental car after that was a 2006 Focus, which was barely, and I mean BARELY a car.

The autobody shop screwed up and is delaying the repair of my car, so now I’m driving their loaner, a 2000 Hyundai Elantra, which is, and trust me when I say this, the absolute ****tiest little car I have ever driven.

Now, that was the Hyundai of then, this is the Hyundai of now. Hyundai is not the same. V2’s opinions are the clear minority. If you’re in the mood for a Camry, test drive the Sonata. The Eclipse strike your fancy, you would be good to drive a Tiburon. And pretty soon, if you think Mustang power’s where your money’s at, check out the Genesis Coupe.

Hyundai is a force to be reckoned with. One day they *will* have a luxury division and when they do, it’ll make me think twice about replacing my ‘05 TL with another Acura…. once it’s out of the shop, that is.

I personally drive an infiniti FX35, and im really nit picky when it comes to interior materials and after spending the time in my car, trust me saying that if i were any japanese auto company i would be shaking in my skin.

Hyundai is making all the right moves.