224,000 Google Results Later, Hyundai CEO Closes The Door On Luxury Brand

If it weren't for auto bloggers, the question of a separate Hyundai luxury brand would have been dead and buried long ago. But auto bloggers, with a desperate need to generate news out of thin air, won't let the story die. 224,000 Google results later, and we finally have a definitive answer. An interview with Automobile Magazine quotes Hyundai CEO John Krafcik as stating "We actually thought about launching the Genesis that way, and putting them in their own showrooms, but we're not going to do standalone premium franchises because costs are so high. If you multiply 200 dealerships by a cost of $10-20 million per dealer to make a new space, it comes out to something like $5000 or $6000 that would have to be added to the price of the car." A look at the Google results shows a series of back-and-forth headlines to the effect of "Hyundai mulls establishing premium luxury brand" and then a refutation shortly after with a headline stating something like "Hyundai denies luxury brand, separate Genesis showrooms". The sad thing is, there's no confusion. All along, the idea has been an unequivocal non-starter. But the gods of pageviews dictate that even the flimsiest rumor has the potential for a story, and thus the rumor, like the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, refuses to die. Hopefully now we can put it all to rest. from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com

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