Hyundai has revealed the seventh generation of its flagship sedan, the Grandeur, a slick limo-like model that can be thought of as South Korea’s answer to the Mercedes-Benz S-Class or BMW 7 Series.
Sporting a very new-gen design language, the Hyundai Grandeur is only being revealed in design, not specification, for the moment.
Hyundai’s Design Centre boss said the car still holds true to its past despite the new design – some of which even looks incredibly close to the Hyundai Staria van, like the strip ‘Horizon’ light across the front.
“The seventh-generation Grandeur expresses our respect for the past and commitment to move on to the future,” said SangYup Lee, executive vice president and head of Hyundai Design Center.
“We are creating a new standard for the premium sedan market through emotive design and a refined customer experience.”
Inside, interior elements like a sleek dash screen and subsequent twisted panel or the climate control panel exude a plus and luxurious feel, slightly elevated above the usual Hyundai interior.
Its steering wheel, “inspired by the single-spoke design of the first-generation Grandeur”, uses a slightly modified version of the normal Hyundai steering wheel controls.
Badged as the Hyundai Azera in markets outside Korea, the Grandeur was recently treated to an electric car homage in the form of the Heritage Series Grandeur, an EV heavily inspired by the original 1986 model.
With LED lights reminiscent of those on the Ioniq 5 and an interior packed with unusual design choices (like a keyboard to play music), the Heritage concept looked like it could’ve been the car to star in a Korean remake of Back to the Future.
With no recent history of the Grandeur in Australia as well as the existence of both the Genesis brand and its executive sedans, the G70 and G80, the chances of the seventh generation showing up locally are incredibly slim if not nonexistent.
The last few years of the Grandeur’s on-sale time in Australia, it dropped from selling 297 units in 2007 when people were still lapping up sedans like the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon, to just 27 sales in 2009, then a total of eight cars over the next three years.
As a percentage of the large sedan market segment, the Grandeur had a market share of 0.2 per cent or less through its final years.
Hyundai’s luxury brand Genesis has sold more than 130 sedans so far this year between the G70 and G80, suggesting Hyundai would have to work pretty hard to make the Grandeur a viable option.
The last time Hyundai revealed a new Grandeur was 2016, a car inspired by the Le Fil Rouge concept penned by Luc Donckerwolke.
Keyword: Grandeur designs! Seventh-generation Hyundai Grandeur revealed, but there's some bad news...