The Cressida had a price and market point in the Toyota lineup back then the same place that the Genesis has right now, hence why it's relevant. "Cheap shitbox company" was what Toyota in the eyes of loads of people at the end of the 80s, especially ones in places with road salt thanks to their habit of going transparent after a few winters. The point about the Lexus name (not company) being new is always a valid one, but it's hard to compare, say, the Equus to the Phaeton, which wasn't price-competitive even if it was better equipped.
Exactly so.
The Phaeton also had to pull the GM/BL thing and compete with its higher-badged sister, the A8, at roughly the same price point. That's never a winning idea.
Hyundai doesn't care about making models that interest enthusiasts. They just make cars that sell, by making them better and cheaper than the competition. That matters even in the luxury market. You're not part of their target market, and judging by their product pipeline, they're perfectly fine with that.
And judging by their sales volume, Hyundai couldn't care less about some guy in Massachusetts who drives a car from a company that only makes cars as a means to fund their powersports divisions (and therefore only makes their cars
just good enough to sell well, instead of trying to excel at car making and design) and his complaints about them not making anything that interests him. A significant portion of the American population is buying their wares now, and it's not just because of price.
Also, I will make a point about enthusiasts - if Hyundai didn't care about enthusiasts at all, they wouldn't be making one of the only RWD sport coupes on the market at the current time. Honda and Toyota don't even bother with the segment any more, that's how little they care. Hyundai does want to make cars that sell, and to do that, they're making cars that people want to buy. I've been seeing an awful lot of Genesis Coupes around town lately, for example - more of them than new Camaros, in fact.
Yeah, and Toyota doesn't try to enter the luxury car market, so how is that relevant? Hyundai is doing a good job entering the Honda/Toyota market - aka the cheap family car market. Toyota created the Lexus brand for a reason - because no one was going to pay big money for a Toyota.
Explain the Avalon then.
Irrelevant. The cars you mention are not exactly breath-taking. And are you really suggesting that Hyundai has a solid reputation for building good cars like Honda does? Their recent cars have been decent but their old stuff was garbage.
While you weren't paying attention, Hyundai got a ten year record of making solid cars and standing behind them, starting with the 2000 Elantra. Have you even sat in a Genesis? It's bloody impressive, the more so since I can remember the miserable Excel from which they started in the US. It's even more impressive to drive.
Then again, I'm also old enough to remember the 77 Toyota Corolla that was really Toyota's first solid foot in the door and the 82 Camry from which they got their solid boost onto the US stage. Neither were actually very good to drive, and they weren't actually all that well built - but they were better built than the 'established' US competition, and that's all they needed.
Flash forward 20-some years, and the drama is playing out all over again.
Like I said, the S2000 sold by the bucketload. And when did I say that Honda is concerned about car enthusiasts?
Most buyers seem to like Civics better, judging by sales numbers (Civic was #6 in 2009; Hyundai, once again, did not make the top ten list). Oh, and congrats to Hyundai for releasing a competitor to the Civic a few years after the latter comes out. Really, top notch work!
