Hyundai plans BMW 3 Series rival on the next generation Genesis platform for 2015

South Korean automaker Hyundai has made gigantic strides in the car industry, so much so that mass market car makers like Ford, Volkswagen, General Motors, Honda and Toyota, now consider Hyundai as a formidable rival in most markets across the world. Now, Hyundai is planning to make a foray into the high luxury segment, a segment in which it hasn’t exactly enjoyed the same level as success like it has, in the mass market segment. Though Hyundai does have the Genesis and Equus luxury sedans, it is still sometime away from giving the Germans a run for their money when it comes to the premium luxury car market.

Hyundai Genesis Coupe used as an illustration

Come 2015, Hyundai will launch a BMW 3 Series rival, based on the next generation Genesis coupe platform. While the next generation Genesis coupe will debut in 2014, the 3 Series rival from Hyundai will arrive a year later. While the Genesis sedan is expected to come with an all wheel drive layout, a first for Hyundai, the coupe will make do with a rear wheel drive layout, and this is what the 3 Series rivaling sedan will also come with. The car that will be benchmarked against the BMW 3 Series sedan is codenamed the RK.

The F30 2012 BMW 3 Series sedan that has recently been launched in India, is already a big success across the world, with the new model delivering more space in a lighter package, along with the traditional 3 Series virtues of driving pleasure and high performance. Hyundai has been showcasing that it can build cars with high quality interiors that can hold their own against the Germans. But the ride and handling package is something that Hyundai designers will have to work very hard to achieve, if indeed they plan to benchmark it against the mighty 3 Series, which it the best in its segment when it comes to ride and handling.

If Hyundai does manage to pull this off and deliver a car that comes close to the 3 Series’ level of ride and handling, we’ll be hoping that this new found focus on driving pleasure will filter down to Hyundai’s mass market sedans like the Verna and the Elantra Fluidic models. While these Hyundai cars come with fantastic interior detailing and are packed to the gills with creature comforts, the driving pleasure is something that is missing. If Hyundai, like Ford, manages to deliver driving pleasure in its future models, the car maker will definitely be a force to reckon with even amongst the enthusiast brigade, who presently won’t touch a Hyundai even with a barge pole.

Source AutoNews