2011 Hyundai Equus - First Drive Review

When Hyundai announced the Genesis luxury sedan in 2008, some were skeptical. A $40,000 Hyundai? But the Genesis has been a hit with buyers, outselling the Audi A6 and Lexus GS combined. After two years on the market, sales of the Genesis are still increasing. Hyundai says this is a sign that American consumers are seeing the brand differently and are ready for Hyundai to head even farther upmarket. And so, with the 2011 Equus, the company has its sights set on the top of the luxury heap: cars like the Lexus LS and Mercedes-Benz S-class.

That bold goal comes with a proviso, however. The Equus was designed primarily with its home South Korean market in mind. Shoppers there are fervently loyal to domestic manufacturers—with Hyundai being the largest—and since this Equus went on sale there over a year ago, it has been successful at luring government officials and hot-shot businessmen out of the black Mercedes S-classes that are de rigueur for elites worldwide. So although it would be unfair to call the U.S. an afterthought, Hyundai knows the Equus doesn’t have wide-reaching American appeal, and it has set the sales targets at a realistically modest 2000 to 3000 cars per year.

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