Cars are increasingly becoming computers on wheels and that line is starting to blur even more with the advent of autonomous driving technology.
Hyundai Motor Group’s head of high-performance development, Albert Biermann, sees this as a side show which really doesn’t benefit consumers. As he told Drive, luxury brands such as BMW and Mercedes have become obsessed with technology and they’re are spending too much time and money developing things that don’t provide much value.
According to Biermann, “It’s all marketing, first of all. Much of this exists for media, to give a hype, to show the technology level. But how many people really buy it later on?” He specifically mentioned road sensing cameras, which sense surface imperfections and adjust the suspension accordingly, and called them stupid.
The former BMW M boss also noted the Genesis G90 eschews an air suspension and uses a “little bit heavier” high-strength steel platform. Despite this, the model can “still outpace the S-Class in the double lane-change in Consumer Reports. We almost beat the BMW, without all the fancy stuff.”
Part of the decision to stay relatively low tech is to help improve long-term reliability. It’s also the reason the company extensively tests its vehicle at the Namyang research and development center where models log 30,000 km (18,641 miles). This is in additional to the 10,000 km (6,213 miles) they complete on the Nürburgring.
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