2005 Hyundai Sonata Gls! 93k, V6, Auto, Loaded, Runs New! No Reserve! Must See! on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Strange, unfunny Hyundai N Performance commercials badly miss the mark

Take a minute and watch the video above. After, you might have questions. I will try to help you with these. But first, here are some questions for you: No matter whether you thought the ad was good or not, does it get you excited about the N Performance subbrand? Do you want to find out more about it? I suspect the answer is "no" for most of you reading. Unfortunately, reading what Hyundai and the ad agency said about these ads isn't going to help much. Intended to skewer traditional luxury advertising tropes, the agency says, these ads are a "tongue-(stuck firmly)-in-cheek poke at automotive and luxury brands taking themselves too seriously." R/GA is the ad agency behind these ads, and its chief creative officer, James Temple, told AdAge, "We want people to rethink their views of Hyundai as a practical, compromise choice, to a brand which shows people through the power of 'N' that they make cars that are fun to drive and which aren't like anything else out there." OK. So, poke fun at luxury and automotive advertising that takes itself too seriously. And to be fair, this sort of thing has been done before to great success and general acclaim. Remember Volkswagen's "Unpimp The Auto" campaign? It cleverly took aim at a then-trendy aspect of the tuner culture and literally crushed it with a new GTI. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The message was clear: Your over-tuned Ford Focus is both gaudy and inferior. Step up to a GTI, which by the logic of the ad, you don't need to throw tuner parts at to have fun. It built excitement for the hot hatch while earning some automotive credibility by throwing shade at MTV's over-the-top " Pimp My Ride," at that point rapidly losing its halo of tuner coolness. "Pimp My Ride" was a big, easy target to mock. And the relationship to automotive performance (or lack thereof (most were plays on the "Yo dawg I heard you like ..." theme, anyways) made the analogy work. Where the Hyundai ads step off is the target for ridicule. R/GA claims it's roasting automotive brands, and they can say that all they want — I don't see it. I see a childlike understanding of how to dismantle the tropes of a classic Calvin Klein ad — monotone, lots of black, shirtless models, personal beauty products — over which the lightest veneer of automotive reference is applied. So the perfume smells like burning tires. That's still a humorous ad about perfume.

Autoblog sell-it-yourself highlight: 2012 Hyundai Genesis

It was a business model established some 25 years earlier by Honda. The Japanese carmarker was looking for a way to profit from loyal Honda owners wanting to move upscale, but not willing to move out of Honda's orbit. The launch of Acura and two models – the upscale Legend and accessible Integra – did the trick. In the past five years, Korean carmaker Hyundai has been attempting to make its own move upmarket with its Genesis sedan and, more recently, the Genesis brand. In 2012, it was the Genesis coupe and 4-door; the coupe enjoyed an Infiniti-like vibe, while the sedan had a whiff of Mercedes in its sheetmetal and value in its window sticker. Available with V6 or V8 power and prices in the low $40s to low $50s, the Genesis four-door represented bargain luxury in an America gripped by recession. Today, a pre-owned Genesis, like our example here, extends the value argument. If this Genesis has a V8, the price point is spot-on for an example in excellent condition. If, however, it's equipped with a V6, we'd hope the seller is flexible. Related Video: Hyundai Car Buying Used Car Buying Ownership Sedan

Hyundai Genesis V8 HTRAC may come with performance orientation

When the second-generation Hyundai Genesis arrives in dealers, customers looking for the new all-wheel-drive variant will need to settle for the 3.8-liter V6. This is no bad thing, as the V6 is a sound engine, but what if you want that brawny, 429-horsepower, 5.0-liter V8? For now, you're stuck spinning the rear wheels.
A report from AutoGuide, though, claims that the new HTRAC all-wheel-drive system could be mated up to the Genny Sedan's optional V8 engine at a later date, as part of a new performance version. According to spokesman Miles Johnson, a performance-minded Genesis, perhaps in the same vein as the first-generation R-Spec, is being looked at by the powers that be at Hyundai and that there "may be a market demand for such a model."
Whether it'd add on to the V8's 429 ponies, or simply shore up other parts of the car while adding the AWD system remains to be seen. Of course, if we hear any more on an AWD, V8-powered, performance version of the new Genesis Sedan, we'll be sure to let you know.