If someone were to tell you 10 years ago that Hyundai and its sister company Kia would try to battle Germany’s finest car brands with a rear-wheel drive luxury sedan, you would probably laugh at their face.
Today, the German’s are not in the least amused by the Koreans efforts, which started with the Hyundai Genesis premium sedan that was launched in production trim in 2008.
Surprisingly for an Asian model, the Genesis sedan has aged well cosmetically, though, in all fairness, Hyundai’s designers did take some styling notes from their counterparts in Munich…
Nevertheless, Hyundai wants to keep its mid-size model relevant against the competition, so it’s currently completing the development of the second generation Genesis Sedan, which according to Hyundai Motor Company CEO Kim Choon-ho, will launch towards the end of 2013.
Our spy shooters spotted a prototype of the 2014 model Genesis outside the brand’s European headquarters in Germany. The styling of the car appears to have changed significantly, with the new Genesis adopting a similar roof- and profile window-line as the mainstream Azera. In fact, if it weren’t for the upright face, we could have easily mistaken it for Hyundai’s other mid-size model…
Besides the sloping roof, the new Genesis gains modern LED accent lights that surround the headlamp units and a stubbier tail.
The 2014 model will ride on an updated version of the current Genesis sedan’s platform that benefits from new suspension components while also shedding a few pounds in the process.
We expect Hyundai to offer the car with uprated versions of the 3.8-liter V6 and 5.0-liter V8 units, though, there’s a possibility the Koreans may finish the development of a new 3.3-liter turbocharged V6 introduced on last year’s KIA GT RWD Concept.
It also remains to be seen if Hyundai will continue to offer its BMW 5-Series-sized model at BMW 3-Series prices, as it does with the current Genesis Sedan.
Photo Credits: CarPix for CarScoop
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