Hyundai mulls adding a luxury sedan and a compact crossover to its lineup

Hyundai is considering building an all-new compact crossover and a luxury sedan to join the Genesis and Equus in the luxury car lineup. The plans were revealed by the CEO of Hyundai Motor America, Dave Zuchowski in an interview with Automotive News.

Zuchowski said that the luxury segment was a space with some opportunity for Hyundai and that in a couple of years, they might come up with a premium offering in the segment.  Internally called ‘RK’, the luxury sports sedan is expected to be inducted into Hyundai’s portfolio, to rival the likes of BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Audi A4 and the upcoming Jaguar XS. 

The crossover on the other hand will go up against the Nissan Juke, Kia Soul, Buick Encore and upcoming Honda Fit-based crossover. Zuchowski said, “We’re always looking at segments that we’re not in right now, that maybe we should be based on where the market’s going. We’re very intrigued by this B-segment CUV.”

However, Zuchowski also said that it is always risky to enter too many niche segments at once, as it might affect the sales of existing models. Still, launching niche models was an alternative to increasing market share in established segments. “You’ve got to grow your volume by growing in segments where you aren’t right now,” he added.

With the cars still in planning phase, it is difficult to estimate when we will be able to see these cars on the road. Hyundai’s experiment with the Equus and Genesis has been fairly successful and given the Korean manufacturer’s reputation, we can expect decent sales figures for the new luxury sedan too. The crossover segment has been one of the hot-sellers in our country and the Hyundai, if ever makes it to India, will be a Nissan Terrano and Skoda Yeti competitor.