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Hyundai taps Lamborghini exec to lead Genesis brand

If Hyundai is serious about going after the big boys with the launch of its new Genesis brand, it's going to need the right people with experience in the luxury marketplace to pull it off. Fortunately it appears to have found just the man for the job. His name is Manfred Fitzgerald, and he'll be running the Korean automaker's new luxury brand starting next month. Fitzgerald was formerly director of brand and design at Lamborghini, where he worked for 12 years before leaving to start his own consultancy. As the latest Senior Vice President at Hyundai, he'll be tasked with leading the "brand strategy, marketing, and other business operations" for the Genesis brand. That means working closely with Luc Donckerwolke, who – having penned for a number of Volkswagen divisions including Lamborghini as well – recently left his post as head of design at Bentley to run Hyundai's new Prestige Design Division (which will handle the styling for all future Genesis vehicles). Donckerwolke works under Peter Schreyer, who – as chief design officer at Hyundai and one of three presidents of Kia – is the highest-ranked foreigner at the company. Schreyer is also a former VW Group man, having designed the original Audi TT and the Volkswagen New Beetle before leaving for South Korea. One year ago, Hyundai similarly tapped Albert Biermann – formerly head engineer at BMW M GmbH – to run its new performance division. Hyundai Motor Announces Manfred Fitzgerald to lead the Genesis Brand - Manfred Fitzgerald takes role of leading the Genesis brand - Genesis brand targets the global luxury car market by appointing a prominent figure that transformed Lamborghini into a luxury car brand December 28, 2015 – Hyundai Motor announced Manfred Fitzgerald, former Director of Brand and Design at Lamborghini, to lead the Genesis brand from January, 2016. Based in Hyundai Motor Headquarters Seoul, Mr. Fitzgerald will be in charge of establishing and executing strategies for the Genesis brand as the Senior Vice President. For the brand to set a strong foothold in the global luxury car market, he will take a core role in brand strategy, marketing and other business operations within the Genesis brand. During his twelve year career at Lamborghini, Mr. Fitzgerald played a pivotal role in transforming Lamborghini from a prototype car company to a luxury car brand and increased its sales ten folds as the Director of Brand and Design. Mr.

Hyundai, Porsche top J.D. Power APEAL study

Just as they did in the Initial Quality Study, Porsche and Hyundai have taken the premium and non-premium crown, respectively, for the 2014 J.D. Power APEAL study. This is the tenth consecutive year for that Porsche has been rated the best premium make in the APEAL study, which attempts to figure out how pleased owners are with their purchases. For 2014, it asked 86,000 owners of MY2014 cars to rate their vehicles in 77 different categories 90 days after their initial purchase. The resulting figures were plugged in deliver the APEAL score, which is rated on a 1,000-point scale.
The industry average sits at 794 points for 2014, although that's a one-percent decline over last year's rating. In this year's study, premium brands averaged 840 out of 1,000, while non-premium makes average 785. For their part, Porsche netted an impressive 882 points, while Hyundai earned an 804. Interestingly, only four non-premium brands (Hyundai, Ram, Volkswagen and Mini) finished above the industry average for 2014.
It's also interesting to see the clear delineation between premium and non-premium brands, with an eight-point gap between the non-premium champ, Hyundai, and the lowest-rated premium brand, Volvo.

Hyundai ups price of 2014 Sonata Hybrid slightly to $26,000

Hyundai is hoping prospective car buyers won't quibble with a 1.3 percent price hike for its Sonata Hybrid this year. Heck, the South Korean automaker brought the price down a year ago, so everyone's theoretically almost even. Or so they hope. Hyundai is boosting the base MSRP on the 2014 hybrid sedan by $350 to an even $26,000, with the top-of-the-line version now priced at $30,750. The company's probably feeling pretty confident after coming off its best sales year ever in the US. Last year, Hyundai boosted unit sales by 2.5 percent to almost 720,800 units domestically. Oddly, Sonata sales fell enough last year for Elantra to become Hyundai's new best-selling model in the US. And the company doesn't break out sales of the Sonata Hybrid (don't feel bad, sister company Kia doesn't break out hybrid sales figures for its twin Optima either). A year ago - and after a very public lowering of fuel economy numbers - Hyundai increasing the Sonata Hybrid's fuel efficiency while cutting its price, and even arranged for bigger cargo space to boot. Specifically, the 2013 model-year Sonata Hybrid increased fuel efficiency to a 36/40/38 miles per gallon split while cutting its price by $200 to a base MSRP of $25,650. Check out Hyundai's press release on the 2014 Sonata Hybrid below. 2014 Sonata Hybrid Refreshes Interior With New Standard Premium Features and Maximizes Electric-Only Driving Efficiency Hyundai Continues Industry-Exclusive Hybrid Lifetime Battery Warranty FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., March 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai Motor America has announced pricing for the 2014 Sonata Hybrid, starting at $26,000 for the extraordinarily well-equipped Sonata Hybrid and $30,750 for the range-topping Sonata Hybrid Limited. Hyundai Motor America will continue to offer an industry-exclusive Hybrid Lifetime Battery Warranty on the 2014 Sonata Hybrid. 2014 SONATA HYBRID PRICING Model Engine Transmission MSRP Sonata Hybrid 2.4L Atkinson 4-cyl. Hybrid 6-Speed A/T $26,000 Sonata Hybrid Limited 2.4L Atkinson 4-cyl. Hybrid 6-Speed A/T $30,750 Freight Charges for the 2014MY Sonata Hybrid are $810 and not included in the prices above. The 2014 Sonata Hybrid continues to demonstrate Hyundai's commitment to innovation with its advanced Hybrid Blue Drive architecture, which features a powerful 35 kW electric motor, 47 kW Lithium Polymer battery pack and an optimized hybrid operating strategy.