Grandeur tradition is kept but much changed
From right: Chang Jae-hoon, executive vice president and head of the Korea business division at Hyundai Motor; TV personality Kim Poong; Hyundai Motor Vice President Yoon Sung-hoon; and Lee Sang-yup, senior vice president and head of Hyundai Design Center, pose with the Grandeur Tuesday during an event in Goyang, Gyeonggi. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]
The face-lifted Hyundai Motor Grandeur, coming three years after the sixth-generation model was introduced in November 2016, sports a futuristic design and a range of innovative feature.
“Everything has changed for the new Grandeur, but the very core essence for the series is intact,” said Lee Sang-yup, senior vice president and head of Hyundai Design Center during a marketing event Tuesday. “The new Grandeur embodies our philosophy of accepting new challenges without forgetting with glories of the past.”
The company received 32,179 orders for the sedan in just 11 days between Nov. 4 and Monday, the strongest early sales ever for the Grandeur series.
The automaker credited the new model’s preorder success to its appeal to younger Koreans, with innovative changes in design and the addition of up-to-date technological features. Hyundai Motor said 53 percent of customers who preordered the new Grandeur were those in their 30s and 40s.
The Grandeur series, which has been around since 1986, has traditionally been marketed to the successful.
Hyundai Motor said it sold around 350,000 units of the predecessor Grandeur to date, and it believes the new Grandeur will result in higher sales of the sedan. Demand has been relatively weak in recent years due to the popularity of SUVs.
With a parametric jewel design across the front, the Grandeur integrates the radiator grille, LED headlamps and daytime running lights into one. It follows the company’s new “sensuous sportiness” design philosophy, which was showcased in the automaker’s “Le Fil Rouge” concept car during the Geneva Motor Show in March last year.
Breaking with the accepted wisdom that the measurements remain the same between face-lifts, the wheelbase of 1.47-meter-tall (4.82-feet-tall) sedan is 10 millimeters (0.39 inches) longer than the previous version, at 2.885 meters. The car is also 60 millimeters longer than its predecessor, at 4.99 meters, and 10 millimeters wider, at 1.875 meters.
Hyundai Motor also focused on upgrading the interior of the new Grandeur to live up to its recognition as a premium sedan. The car is equipped with leather seats, a range of tech-based convenience features and two 12.3-inch digital displays, one for the cluster and the other for an infotainment system.
Gasoline, liquid petroleum gas and gasoline hybrid versions are available, and the engine is rated at up to 290 horsepower with 35 kilogram-meters (253.2 pound-feet) in torque.
The newest release is priced between 32.9 million won ($28,159) and 36.7 million won.
BY KO JUN-TAE [ko.juntae@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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