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Style and Convenience
A modern luxury car must have presence, style and poise. If there’s one knock against the Genesis it’s not that it lacks these things, but that it fails to make an individual styling statement. On one hand, a $40,000 luxury car from Hyundai is probably already enough for most people, so saddling it with a new styling paradigm may have pushed things too far. Still, there’s too much Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and BMW in the design to make it truly stand out from the crowd.
That’s not to say that it’s a bad looking car, because it’s not. Quite the contrary, Hyundai has certainly cribbed in all the right ways. It has the profile of an LS 460, a grille treatment that’s somewhere between that car and an S-Class Benz, and in the hindquarters, there’s a hint of the bustle-back look started by BMW in the 7 Series. To look at the Genesis is to look at the best elements of its image-competitors, and though we’d prefer more distinction, we can’t argue with the results. One thing to note about the exterior styling: Unless you’re familiar with the Hyundai “H” logo, you’d be hard pressed to tell who makes this car. The badge appears only on the center of the trunk lid, and the word “Hyundai” is absent entirely. Perhaps the company is hoping you’ll keep thinking “Lexus” for as long as possible when you first view this car.
The interior is also conventional, with no new ground broken, but it still speaks the common language of luxury well. Base models get faux wood trim that’s convincing enough, but opt for the Premium Package – or choose the V-8 – and you get leather trim in its place; Hyundai’s claims of a “leather-wrapped” dash are exaggerated, but it is unusual to see leather on the dash of a car at this price. Of the three interior décor schemes we saw, we liked the combination of black and saddle leather the best, with the dark brown leather looking particularly elegant against the black and satin-finish metal surfaces inside.
The interior is also functional, with all the knobs and switches within easy reach, and all of them marked clearly enough so that there’s almost zero acclimation time in this car. The Technology Package introduces a large knob mounted centrally on the console to the interior; it controls things like the navigation system, audio functions and so forth. However, while it bears a superficial similarity to BMW’s iDrive and Audi’s MMI, it is much more intuitive and simpler to use.
Storage capacity is only so-so, with hinged door pockets in front and two cupholders in the center console in front of the deep two-tier bin. The glovebox is on the small side though, and we wish for a few more small pockets here and there for items like an iPod or cell phone. Rear seat passengers get two cupholders integrated into the fold-down armrest, and the design merits a note: The cupholder itself is covered with a soft lid, so if you’re not using it to store beverages, you still have plenty of room for your arm. There’s less elbow room if you’re actually using it to hold a cup, but it’s still adequate. Door and seatback pockets round out the storage for rear seat passengers. Behind them is a large trunk with hidden hinges and a nice low liftover that was capable of swallowing several bags worth of video gear with plenty of room to spare.
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