A blog devoted to RANTS ON AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN, car reviews, and - above all - fugly autos. whether looking for vehicular plagiarism or rides of extreme tastelessness, you've come to the right place.


Thursday, April 22, 2010

Attack of the Clones: Hyundai Genesis

Hyundai's first foray into the realm of near-luxury has been a relative success, achieving accolades and sales. But it hasn't exactly done so with a daring new design. Like the last generation Sonata, it's more of an attractive conglomerate than anything original. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.



I mean, what's the fault in making your car look kinda like the Lexus LS - the Genesis's "I can make a world class luxury car too" spiritual predecessor - but actually looks better? I suppose the similarity falls mostly in the appearance of the headlights and the shape of the grille.



Had the Genesis come over with it's Korean spec grille consisting of narrow, horizontal chrome bars the look would be even more similar. Speaking of that grille - it's one of the Genesis's worst features. Sure it's unique, but it doesn't look very classy. More like a chrome interpretation of a Klingon forehead. Or maybe the guided ribcage of some poor animal.


The rear end and greenhouse look in my eyes like a Japanese take on the BMW 5-Series. When looking at the rear ends of the LS, 5-Series and Infiniti M, you can see slight resemblances to all of them. Which might say more to the slightly bland appearances of all modern cars than it Hyundai's lack of originality.

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