Sunday January 11, 04:32 PM
Hyundai's first luxury sedan wins 'best car of the year'
DETROIT, Michigan (AFP) - South Korea's Hyundai (011760.KS - news) won its first "best car of the year" award at the Detroit Auto Show on Sunday for its entry into the luxury market, proving that recession does not mean foregoing frills.
The Hyundai Genesis sedan won 189 out of 500 votes from US and Canadian automotive journalists, beating out Ford's Flex and Volkswagen (Xetra: 766400 - news) 's Jetta TDI for the win.
"It is the perfect luxury car for bad economic times," priced below 40,000 dollars, John Krafcik, president of Hyundai Motor America told reporters.
Car buyers now "do not want to pay a premium for luxury," he commented.
The vehicle marks a "new beginning" for the company, its first global luxury sedan, equipped with its first V8 engine, "a game changing vehicle which will define our products going forward," said Hyun Soon Lee, vice chairman of Hyundai in accepting the award.
Launched in mid-2008 in North America, Hyundai has sold a mere 6,167 Genesis sedans in Canada and the United States, competing mostly with BMW (Xetra: 519000 - news) 's 5 Series.
A whopping 75 percent of Genesis buyers were new to Hyundai, Lee said.
He hopes the award nod drives up sales of its entire line.
"Hyundai Genesis shows that the Korean automakers have come of age," said award jurist Matt DeLorenzo of Road and Track.
A "dream car for the recession," commented Jayne O'Donnell of USA Today. "It has everything you'd want in a luxury car except the fancy hood ornament."
Ford meanwhile secured another win in the "best truck of the year" category with 259 votes for its F150, beating out runners-up the Dodge Ram and Mercedes (Xetra: 710000 - news) -Benz ML320 BlueTec.
The F150 has dominated the category for 32 years.
Despite slipping truck sales, which peaked in 2005, Mark Fields, president of Ford's Americas division, told AFP that truck buyers "need the vehicles for work" and so he sees sales leveling off soon.
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