The Hyundai Motor Company is on the move in a big way. After setting record sales figures worldwide, taking the Car of the Year title for the first time locally and showing a 24% turn against the market in Europe, the South Korean manufacturer is setting its sights even higher. Now it’s looking to play in the premiership; think BMW 3 Series and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class.
Inside sources close to Hyundai are now saying a new, rear-wheel drive, sports saloon, codenamed the ‘RK’, will compete with the 3 Series and C-Class eventually. Speculation says the RK could run on a similarly sized platform and architecture to the current Genesis coupe and sedan. It is unlikely to arrive before midlife facelifts of the Genesis sedan and Equus sedan that are scheduled to arrive in 2014 at the earliest.
Sure, that is still a long time away, but it’s a significant step in the South Korean manufacturer’s engineering development and shows their premium segment aspirations. Perhaps most importantly, it is reported that Hyundai’s sports sedan will be built as a global model with both left and right-hand drive versions available, unlike the Genesis coupe and sedan, which are only offered in a few countries (not South Africa of course).
There seems to be much validity to these reports when one considers that Kia launched a larger rear-wheel drive sedan, the K9, in South Korea earlier this year. It is a vehicle also based on Genesis underpinnings. We hope Hyundai Motor Company manage to develop some clean burning, fuel efficient engines to go with their RK sports sedan. That is where they will really have to take the fight to the Germans.
