2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 3.8 R-spec 3.8l 6-speed Premium on 2040-cars

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Hyundai, Genesis, Subaru warn their dealers about markups

Six weeks ago, word got out that Ford's VP of sales for the U.S. and Canada wrote one of those "It has come to our attention..." e-mails to the automaker's dealer body. The VP's problem was dealers trying to get reservation deposits for the Ford F-150 Lightning well above the official $100 fee. The tomfoolery resulted in interactions "with customers in a manner that is negatively impacting customer satisfaction and damaging to the Ford Motor Company brand and Dealer Body reputation." Two weeks later, GM told its dealers to cut out the reservation gaming and the markups on the 2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06, banditry that's been going on for two years. Two weeks ago, Ford was back at it, this time about markups on the Bronco. Last week, Asian automakers swept into the melee, with Hyundai and Genesis, Subaru, and Infiniti writing letters to their dealers to deliver some variant of, "Stop pissing off the customers." Automotive News reported an SVP at Hyundai Motor America and the COO at Genesis Motor North America sent letters to their dealers expressing disappointment at "certain pricing practices which, if left unchecked, will have a negative impact on the health of our brand." One of the practices mentioned was dealer markups, another was the bait-and-switch, with dealers advertising one price then charging a higher price once the customer showed up at the lot. The letters acknowledged that dealers are separate companies to the automakers and have the right to set their own prices. The automakers cannot interfere with that; their leverage is distributing allocations and perks such as advertising support and financial incentives. So, like a movie boss letting the protagonist go on a technicality, the brands wrote, "we cannot stand idly by watching the actions of the aforementioned dealers undo all the efforts we collectively have put into making these brands what they are today." Jalopnik got tipped to a letter Subaru of America CEO Thomas Doll sent to that brand's dealers. Doll's polite yet insistent tone was the result of a letter a loyal Subaru owner sent to the automaker's VP of Customer Advocacy. In the market for a third brand-new Forester, the owner said they encountered a "tax" labeled a "Low Inventory Surcharge" of as much as $6,000, putting the Forester out of reach.

2015 Hyundai Genesis

Hyundai grabbed our attention with its first-generation Genesis. Now, with this second-gen model, the company's job is to keep it. The 2015 Genesis, known internally as "DH," wisely follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, a model that showed the automaker's naked ambition, putting it on the map of not just bargain hunters, but the upwardly mobile, too.
The outgoing Genesis proved Hyundai was capable of producing a premium car of superior quality, complete with a plush interior, handsome looks and a relatively sporty driving demeanor, all for the sort of cut-rate price the brand built its reputation on. The first Genesis worked wonders for expanding Hyundai's allure, opening it up to all kinds of new car shoppers who previously wouldn't have given its other models a second glance.

Hyundai crashes two Sonatas in public to prove a point about safety

According to The Korean Car Blog, Hyundai has a quality perception gap in the minds of its domestic customers, but it's not with another brand: some South Koreans think US-market Hyundai products are safer than those sold in South Korea. For example, home-market consumers think the US gets more advanced airbag systems than they do. Hyundai decided that the best way to combat that idea was to ram two 2015 Sonata 2.0 Turbos into one another, each one traveling at 34 miles per hour, in front of a live audience. From what we can glean from a Google-translated version of the backstory, the company had a local university professor secure two vehicles, a Lakeside Blue model from South Korea and a Venetian Red model manufactured in the company's US plant and flown over. It invited buyers of the 30th Anniversary Sonata and members of the local media to a drive-in movie premiere on August 22, the show actually being the crash test. In addition to the two Sonatas that would autonomously throw themselves at one another, the company had a Tucson Fuel Cell use its hydrogen fuel cell stack to make popcorn and 119 various emergency vehicles emergency services on standby in case anything went wrong. When guests were asked which car they thought would fare better, 74 percent of the crowd said the US-spec car. In interviews conducted on the street, 81 percent of respondents said they believe the US car is safer. The video above is in Korean, but car crashes are a universal language. Check it out to see which car comes out better.