Originally Posted By: KrisZ
Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
No one laughed at the LS400. It scared the [censored] out of everyone, Mercedes spent a billion dollars designing the W140 in response.
Hyundai doesn't really have a car like that, yet...
The Japanese fired two moon shots in the 80's, the NSX and the LS400. We can thank them for better luxury cars, and better Italian exotics.
I suspect many sleepless nights were spent in Germany and Italy when those came out.
Oh please, early Honda's and Toyotas were nothing more than penalty boxes. My question was a rhetorical one as the buying public was indeed laughing at Honda and Toyota, as they were rust buckets with tiny engines.
Lexus was also laughed at because it heavily copied Mercedes, no one cared how well engineered it was until of course the brand gained traction and market share.
Companies are a totally different story. I posted a link few years ago, when Hyundai was making the biggest market gain, about Japanese CEO's being very scared of Hyundai and Kia brands.
That's not true.
Lexus made Mercedes Benz change the way they made cars. Forced them into a rather painful reform period.
Acura had fired a shot across the bow against BMW, but no one took the Legend and the Integra seriously. They were 4 and 6 cylinder fwd cars. Rather well put together fwd cars but fwd nonetheless. It should have put the Germans on notice. If a small motorcycle company like Honda can get headlines like "HONDA BUILDS A BETTER BMW!" then imagine what a bigger company like Toyota or Nissan can do.
The LS400 blew them away. So much so that BMW accused Lexus of selling their cars below cost because, "no one could make a machine that precise at that cost."
Acura would have its day. When the NSX was introduced, it was the Italians who were put on notice. It was no longer acceptable to make a "supercar" that overheated in traffic and that parts routinely fell off of.
Hyundai is not there yet. They have a lot of the right pieces in place, but they are really not there. Suspension tuning for instance. Can you imagine the Genesis Coupe if BMW or Mazda had engineered the chassis? Or the Equus if Citroen or Lexus had engineered the chassis? But they don't and it comes up short.
Hyundai is a manufacturing giant. They make freight ships, locomotives, heavy construction equipment....but I think they need an automotive partner than can help dial in the little details.