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Hyundai Considering Premium Flagship Crossover

Judging by the second-generation Hyundai Genesis that was recently released, Hyundai has a pretty good learning curve when it comes to premium vehicles. Following the Equus and the 2015 Genesis, it looks like Hyundai might be look to expand its luxury lineup to include a new premium crossover to compete against the segment leader, the Lexus RX.
2014 Hyundai Santa Fe 1 photo
Photo: Hyundai
In a recent interview with Edmunds, Hyundai Motor America CEO Dave Zuchowski hinted that the South Korean automaker has been studying whether or not to expand its premium lineup of vehicles. "We definitely studied a premium people mover, if you will. It is not in the plan and it is not eliminated. It is something under consideration," he said.

Unlike the Equus and Genesis, this premium vehicle would likely be based on the long-wheelbase Hyundai Santa Fe platform, which means it would be front-wheel-drive based. This wouldn’t necessarily be a problem since most of this segment has front-drive-based CUVs like the Cadillac SRX, Acura RDX and Infiniti QX50. Using this larger version of the Santa Fe family, Hyundai could position its luxury crossover against the Acura MDX, Infiniti QX60 and the Buick Enclave.

Perhaps the most important aspect of this new model would be the price point at which this vehicle would start. It would have to be priced high enough with enough added content and luxury to create some breathing room between it and the Santa Fe, but still be a value compared to other vehicles in the segment.

One thing Hyundai isn’t looking to do is create a separate brand like Toyota and Honda did with Lexus and Acura, respectively. That means that this premium version of the Santa Fe would be selling on the same showroom.

"One of our problems is we made a conscious decision on our premium products not to establish a secondary distribution channel. And that decision, and we absolutely think it is the right decision, has some flow-through impact on products," said Zuchowski.
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