Hyundai had officially launch their latest addition of their sedan family, the Equus VI at an event in Seoul, Korea.Among the guest of the launch include the South Korea Prime Minister Han Seung-Soo.Codenamed VI, the new luxury sedan, which took Hyundai three years to develop at the expense of 500 million won, is expected to compete against luxury cars such as Mercedes Benz S-class, Audi A8 and BMW 7-Series.
Based on a modified version of the Genesis sedan’s rear-wheel drive platform, the 5,160mm long Equus comes with a choice of two engines, the ‘Lambda’ 3.8-liter V6 with 290HP and 36.5kgm of torque and the ‘Tau’ 4.6-liter V8 delivering 366HP and 44.8kgm of torque. Both engines are matted to a six-speed automatic transmission. According to Hyundai, the Equus V6 has a combined fuel economy rating of 10.8 lt /100km (21.8 mpg US) and the Equus V8, 11.4 lt / 100km (20.6 mpg US).
The Equus rides on a 5-link suspension (front and rear) featuring lightweight aluminum control arms while Hyundai has worked in partnership with ZF-SACHS to develop an air suspension that is electronically governed to minimize body roll, nose-diving and other undesirable characteristics.
Safety of the car had not been compromised.One of the main highlight is the standard vehicle stability management which includes the Lane Departure Warning System, Pre-Safety System, Third Generation Smart Cruise Control (SCC) and other sub-systems. Another thing worth mentioning is the addition of Knee Air Bag for the driver which makes up 9 airbags to be in the car.
There will be four trim levels for the Korean Market with prices starting from 63.7 million won (approximately US$44,850) for thE v6 powered vs380 model to 105 million won (approximately US$73,900) for the high end, v8 powered VS460 prestige.By 2010, there will be another version which will have a longer wheelbase and powered by a 5.0 liter V8 ‘TAU’ engine.
Hyundai plans to sell around 13000 units of the newly launched Equus in the Korean market for 2009 and 19000 units for next year, 2010.The luxury sedan will be exported to overseas market including China and the Middle East starting in the second half of 2009.
Jom komen!