Car companies usually have a few competitors that they target, be it for benchmarking or simply for stealing sales. This list is usually a short one of a few top sellers and performers. For example, a car company would be crazy not to target its new family sedan at the Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, Toyota Camry, Mazda6, Ford Fusion, or Chevrolet Malibu. Simple enough.

But Hyundai’s Genesis goes up against one of the largest possible cross-sections of competitors that we’ve seen:

•    At the Genesis' debut in Detroit this winter, their promo video showed the car competing against the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and BMW 5 Series. Of course there are tons of cars in that class, such as the Infiniti M35, Lexus GS, Acura RL, Audi A6, to name a few.
•    Price wise, it lines up exactly against a Lexus ES, and it targets the same comfort-oriented customers. 
•    Folks shopping a loaded Toyota Avalon could consider the Genesis, especially if you skip some options. Same with a Buick Lucerne or even the Hyundai Azera.
•    Yet, Hyundai claims the Genesis has as much interior volume as a Mercedes S-Class. That brings a whole other realm of competitors, including the king of posh rolling isolation, the Lexus LS.

That range of competitors raises some questions. While Hyundai has been building some knockout products – the Elantra SE and Santa Fe were CR Top Picks in our April issue – their brand image is still recovering from the days of the first craptastic Excel. Although the car is aggressively priced, all the better in a down sales market, does Hyundai have enough cachet to pull off selling a car of this stature?

In the end, that’s not really our concern. We just want to know if the Genesis is a good car. So, we bought a $36,000 Genesis 3.8 with the Premium Plus Package, including a Lexicon stereo, swanky brown leather dash inserts, and a sunroof. (The V8 wasn’t out in time for our test group, and we avoided the navigation system with its iDrive-lite-like controller.)

How is Hyundai’s most ambitious car to date working out so far? To the logbook!

“A good cruiser with lots of room in the back for kids and stuff.”

“Strong acceleration and brakes.”

“Steering is light, but a lot better than most Lexi.”

“Wonderful fit and finish, nice materials, and great fit.”

“Low speed urban ride is a bit stiff.”

“Blue switch lighting very hard to read at night or on a rainy day.”

“Doors close with a satisfying thunk.”

“I don’t think the market is going to support a $36K Hyundai.”

“Strong stereo, but I needed to look in a dictionary to know what Lexicon means.”

“Impressive vehicle. Parked next to a (Cadillac) DTS, it cedes very little.”

“Controls are nice and large.”

“Great motor – V8 power [from a V6].”

“Quiet cabin, easy controls, comfy seats.”

“Exterior styling is a bit invisible – I walked past it twice and actually got into the Sonata before I realized that it was the wrong car.”

“A screaming deal at $36K, and I’d buy this over an ES 350 or Lucerne – but a car needs to be near perfect to take on M35, E-Class, or 5 Series.”

“A number of my neighbors thought this was a Lexus or Infiniti.”

Given the questions in the introduction above, it’s no surprise that we don’t all agree if the Genesis will be a success in the luxury car field. But we’re pretty much in agreement that the Genesis is a really nice car. We’ll report how well it performs in our February magazine group.

--Tom Mutchler