Over the past few months, rumors have been circling that Hyundai is readying its own luxury brand in the same vein as Toyota started Lexus and Nissan launched its Infiniti brand. Those rumors appear to have been well founded as Hyundai announced that it will launch a new luxury brand in 2010.
But unlike how Toyota, Nissan and Honda launched their luxury brands — Lexus, Infiniti and Acura , respectively — first here in the U.S., Hyundai will launch its yet-to-be-named luxury brand in China. “In 2010, we will officially launch our luxury brand name and logo along the lines of Toyota’s Lexus, Nissan’s Infiniti and Honda’s Acura. All of our luxury models will have the new badge,” Young-Key Koo, chief representative of Hyundai Motor China for sales and marketing, told Gasgoo.com.
But the launch of the luxury brand doesn’t mean that the Hyundai brand will move down class. In fact, Koo says that the Hyundai brand will actually be making the move to a premium brand in China as well. Hyundai recently stopped selling its Matrix MPV there because, according to Koo, it “targets at average consumers, which is not in line with our strategy to build Hyundai as a high-end brand.”
Hyundai’s plan to keep up its luxury image will include the launch of several new products over the next couple of years, including the Santa Fe, Azera and Genesis sedan.
No word if Hyundai plans to bring its luxury brand to the U.S.
