Buy an iPad... get a free Hyundai Equus

[txgcoupe]

I like the fact that they'll pick up your car for service.

John

NEW YORK — Buy a $50,000-plus Apple iPad and Hyundai will throw in a luxury car.That's how the pitch could go in light of Hyundai's announcement Thursday that its new flagship luxury car, the Equus, will have an iPad in lieu of a printed owners manual.

Hyundai Motor America CEO John Krafcik referred to the iPad as an "interactive" owners manual. While the features of the new Equus will be loaded into it for quick reference, the iPad is fully functional for whatever else owners wish to do with it.

Krafcik says Hyundai hopes to sell about 3,000 of the full-size luxury cars next year. The South Korea-built Equus, due on sale this summer, is powered by a 378-horsepower V-8 engine and will be the third, and largest, of Hyundai's recent luxury models.

The iPad will also schedule service appointments, for which owners won't even have to drive to the dealer. To give the brand a more upscale feel, Krafcik is creating a system in which a service attendant will pick up the car from the owner and leave them a loaner. Hyundai also is offering home test drives for potential buyers.

The introduction of Equus "has driven us to create an innovative customer experience designed to save our customers time," said Krafcik in a statement. "We'll use what we learn from Equus to upgrade the customer experience for all Hyundai owners."

Including an iPad in the luxury car adds to the car's "gotta-have" factor, predicts William Matthies of research firm Coyote Insight, who follows developments in automotive electronics.

"Many will respond positively to the inclusion of an iPad, not because they needed or planned to buy one, but simply because it is topical and cool," Matthies says.

Link:http://www.usatoday.com/money/...at.me

[Punjab]

tempting, i will stick with my Ex and a $500 ipad..

[jamesstock]

Hyundai has come a long way and they are doing better and ALOT better! Genesis was and still is a great hit. Equus is the next attempt by Hyundai to push into the high end luxurious market. Can't wait to see the car in person. Maybe in 10+years I'll get into that category :p

[Punjab]

I agree completely, if i was in the market for a Toyota, Honda, Ford, GM, Dodge, and similar I would definitely chose a Hyundai over then.

Sister has a sonata and has far surpassed the Toyota she had in the past in every aspects.

Plus Hyundai builds some really big ships.

[JCL622]

it'll be interesting to see how this pans out.

I know that Hyundai wants to grow it's segment, and bring the Genesis sedan out of the Hyundai niche market and sell it as it's own luxury brand.

We may have a korean version of lexus, acura, infiniti very soon.

On top of that Hyundai has been very aggressive with Apple (cleary), KIA has bought Sync, it'll be very interesting how all this turns out.

Although that 38MPG CAFE rating for cars by 20XX (can't remember the year but it's soon) is kind of messed up

[txgcoupe]

I looked at the Genesis and the Buick La Crosse. Just couldn't force myself to pay $40K for either one.

SOme friends just bought a new Genesis and they paid an extra $450.00 for KDM wing baging for it.

Looks nice.

John

[Marconelly]

Hyundai is so funny and so great at the same time. When I look at their vehicle lineup, it's like there's three companies making their cars. This Equus has that eagle on the front, like Rolls Royce or Jaguar, then there's Genesis which doesn't even have their logo, and then new Sonata with a different styled grille again, then other cars that look nothing alike, like Tucson with a completely different grille etc.

But they make cars that are some of the best value for the money probably. The problem is they always look like an obvious mish-mash of existing cars. They just lack something of their own I think, and people who spend more money on things, tend to care about that kind of identity, something they can identify with through product's design.

I agree completely, if i was in the market for a Toyota, Honda, Ford, GM, Dodge, and similar I would definitely chose a Hyundai over then.

Sister has a sonata and has far surpassed the Toyota she had in the past in every aspects.

New Sonata fits exactly to what I described above. Great value for the money, but you can tell what they were looking at when designing it the moment you see it. I was seriously considering it, but decided against because neither wife or I like bigger cars, and both prefer a bit higher seating position - so EX it was - more expensive, but I can't imagine being as happy with anything else now. I also couldn't help but notice that interior in Sonata was an obvious rip-off of Infiniti's styling, just not as expertly designed.

Although that 38MPG CAFE rating for cars by 20XX (can't remember the year but it's soon) is kind of messed up

Couple of companies already choose to pay penalty fees because they cannot meet the rating with their lineup. BMW, Porsche, Ferrari, even VW and some others. Infiniti is safe because of all of small Nissan cars. Soon enough I think everything will be electric anyways.
Modified by Marconelly at 5:04 PM 4/2/2010

[sg77]

I like the fact that they'll pick up your car for service.

I think Infiniti dealers (some? all?) will do that, but only for warranty service, not for periodic maintenance like oil changes. Will Hyundai do it for oil changes too?