Hyundai Dealers = Nobel Laureates

[Air]

Dear Comrades,

In my quest to find out more about the Equus (and I confess I am only recently informed to the car's existence at all) I called ten Hyundai dealerships. Only ONE knew (vaguely) what I was talking about.

Seven of them told me they didn't know what it was/I was crazy.

One said it was going to cost, "Well, I is heard between 80 and 90K."

And the last one told me it was coming out, "Late 2011."


My question is: with this quality training/curiosity about one's own company, etc., what can one realistically expect from the Hyundai dealer experience when it comes time for the Equus to be released?

High five

 

[dataguy]

I'm pretty sure that HMA hasn't told it's dealers anything about the Equus. As far as I've heard, they haven't settled on the feature set for the NA model or pricing, so there's not much information to give dealers.

Besides, in my experience, no dealer, Hyundai or otherwise, is good about knowing anything other than the stock they have on hand that they are trying to sell.

 

[Sal Collaziano]

Hi Air.. Welcome aboard! And thank you for signing up.. I know it's disappointing to call a dealership and find they know nothing about an upcoming vehicle - but Dataguy is right - this happens at most dealerships. Most of the people working at these dealerships just have the job because it's their job. In other words, they don't give two poops about cars - they just need a paycheck. They come in, do their thing, punch out and forget about it when they go home.

You have to get lucky and find the one or two people in the dealership that are actually "car enthusiasts" and know about what's up and coming...

 

[Air]

Hi Air.. Welcome aboard! And thank you for signing up.. I know it's disappointing to call a dealership and find they know nothing about an upcoming vehicle - but Dataguy is right - this happens at most dealerships. Most of the people working at these dealerships just have the job because it's their job. In other words, they don't give two poops about cars - they just need a paycheck. They come in, do their thing, punch out and forget about it when they go home.

You have to get lucky and find the one or two people in the dealership that are actually "car enthusiasts" and know about what's up and coming...

Yeah, I completely agree with both replies. It's just startling, that's all. Especially because when I looked on that schedule someone put up, the Equus had been at all of the dealers I called.

I just don't know how one deals with the seemingly obvious severe disparity between the quality of the product and the quality of those in charge of its care/building the brand, etc.

Still, given all this, to my mind, at 50K the Equus is an obvious choice. At 52K it's a lil more shady. At 54K it's like those kids at Halloween who take their costumes slightly too seriously. At 56K it's beginning to look like Michael Jordan playing for the Wizards. At 58K it's an oblivious, overweight woman, shouting at her husband, "How can you not want all this?!" At 60K it's plainly silly. What say you, forum master?

 

[dataguy]

I have a sinking feeling that it's going to be in the upper 50's. No way it's going to be $50k unless it's stripped down, and HMA has said that they're thinking about doing a loaded model, not a base with options. My gut reaction when seeing one in person is that it's a more substantial car than even the Genesis is, and that alone seems to be worth more than $8-15k uplift.

 

[Air]

has everyone already discussed at what point they're bailing out? who is prepared to pay what, etc?


and one of the things i haven't seen on here is the discussion of one's specific desire for the hyundai brand. everyone compares the equus to Lexus, merc and bmw but no one has taken the opposite stand. I would never buy a lexus. they are some of the best cars manufactured but, unless i changed the badge to a toyota (see: why-can't-they-sell-the-toyota-Prada-in-the-US-save-for-in-gross-lexus-form?), i would puke every single time i looked in the mirror.

i like the idea of driving a hyundai, of it being all stealth and awesome and everyone tilting their heads to the side, "aww, you poor thing, you drive a hyun-what?" Yeah, i'm all about it.

the only real issue i see with that is hyundai's aspirational rather than inspirational approach to the equus. it is so blatantly trying to mimic lexus that (like someone already mentioned several times on here) it smells of knock-off. which is fine. more power to hyundai. i'm with them all the way. but there is an element of missed opportunity. why emulate so directly when they could've brought their own sense of style, character, something just slightly wacky/unique to the equus and made it stand out that much more.

 

[OBCT]

Thoroughly agreed, Air.

 

[Air]

Thoroughly agreed, Air.

point for me, then. i thank you kindly, mr. obct

 

[Mark_888]

When the Lexus LS first came out, a lot of people scoffed and claimed they stole all the technology from the Germans and sold it at half the price. Who cares?

The Equus is being imported to boost the Hyundai brand image in the US, not to sell lots of units and make big profits. Right now, the majority of potential buyers of Honda and Toyota are not even looking at Hyundai, and they are trying to change that (and seem to be making progress).

The Equus does well in the captive Korean market, and that will justify its existence.

 

[Air]

more equus competition to be unveiled in nov: http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=148006

______________________________

Help support this site so it can continue supporting you!

 

[Air]

When the Lexus LS first came out, a lot of people scoffed and claimed they stole all the technology from the Germans and sold it at half the price.

that's exactly my point: who would accuse lexus of being creative, classy, interesting? fantastic quality, yes. but surely you'd agree it is lacking in the originality department. my only comment was that hyundai could've added something new to the mix with the equus in terms of character and so on rather than trying to, as you said, do what lexus did in the early 90's, literally play by play.

 

[CHFM]

Dear Comrades,

In my quest to find out more about the Equus (and I confess I am only recently informed to the car's existence at all) I called ten Hyundai dealerships. Only ONE knew (vaguely) what I was talking about.

Seven of them told me they didn't know what it was/I was crazy.

One said it was going to cost, "Well, I is heard between 80 and 90K."

And the last one told me it was coming out, "Late 2011."


My question is: with this quality training/curiosity about one's own company, etc., what can one realistically expect from the Hyundai dealer experience when it comes time for the Equus to be released?

High five

Hyundai has not set a release date as of yet, nor have they set a price. We have heard middle to late 2011 with a price range of $50,000 and up but i have also heard of a starting price as low as $45,000 but my guess is the prices will adjust to a very competitive price according to feed back and demand to get the car started in the U.S market. It's really hard to say until they release a date more info will be out.

 

[Air]

an equus with wheels like this would look amazing:

 

[Air]

Hyundai has not set a release date as of yet, nor have they set a price. We have heard middle to late 2011 with a price range of $50,000 and up but i have also heard of a starting price as low as $45,000 but my guess is the prices will adjust to a very competitive price according to feed back and demand to get the car started in the U.S market. It's really hard to say until they release a date more info will be out.

i also didn't really understand some of the posts on here regarding dealers selling the equus OVER msrp when it first comes out. is it demand going to really be that great? are they that cocky? isn't it in their interests (brand building, etc) to sell it at a fair price. i thought that was the whole Hyundai thing, the reason everyone's so in love with hyundai...

no disrespect but it's not like it's the new M3 coming out or something...

shouldn't they be at least fair?

 

[CHFM]

i also didn't really understand some of the posts on here regarding dealers selling the equus OVER msrp when it first comes out. is it demand going to really be that great? are they that cocky? isn't it in their interests (brand building, etc) to sell it at a fair price. i thought that was the whole Hyundai thing, the reason everyone's so in love with hyundai...

no disrespect but it's not like it's the new M3 coming out or something...

shouldn't they be at least fair?

I completly agree but you know how some are the first ones are like gold and i'm sure they will be released slowly so getting them will be the problem. I would think most dealers would be happy at MSRP, but you know everone tries to use the old supply and demand theory so it will just be a waiting game untill everything is announced and dates are released.

 

[CHFM]

an equus with wheels like this would look amazing:

Don't worry i'm just waiting.

 

[dataguy]

If Genesis sales numbers and the sales numbers from the premium brands' flagship models are any indication, they may not build that many Equus vehicles, which would tend to motivate dealers to add adjustments if the demand was there.

 

[Air]

demand will come when the equus makes its first appearance in a rap video

 

[Mark_888]

that's exactly my point: who would accuse lexus of being creative, classy, interesting? fantastic quality, yes. but surely you'd agree it is lacking in the originality department. my only comment was that hyundai could've added something new to the mix with the equus in terms of character and so on rather than trying to, as you said, do what lexus did in the early 90's, literally play by play.

Why should they? The Equus was built for the captive Korean market, and buyers over there want it to be as much like an LS as possible. In Asia, originality and individuality are not highly prized attributes. When it comes to cars, I am not so big on it myself.

 

[Mark_888]

i also didn't really understand some of the posts on here regarding dealers selling the equus OVER msrp when it first comes out. is it demand going to really be that great? are they that cocky? isn't it in their interests (brand building, etc) to sell it at a fair price. i thought that was the whole Hyundai thing, the reason everyone's so in love with hyundai...

no disrespect but it's not like it's the new M3 coming out or something...

shouldn't they be at least fair?

"Building the brand" means that a buyer will see and hear about the luxurious and high-quality Equus, and then feel good about their Sonata purchase. It has nothing to do with actually being able to afford or purchase an Equus.

The purpose is to get Honda and Toyota buyers to consider a Hyundai, where they may not have even thought about it before because of negative brand associations from the past.

HMA tracks the stats very closely on buyers of Honda and Toyota cars as to which buyers even looked at the equivilent Hyundai offering. They are making pretty good strides, but you may be amazed how low those numbers still are who will even look at a Hyundai.