Posted on 07/18/2018 9:03:39 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
It all started back in 2006 when Kia Motors announced that Peter Schreyer would become its new Chief Design Officer. At the time, this move seemed equally audacious and puzzling: smart hire by Kia boss Eui-sun Chung, the son of Mong-koo Chung, the billionaire chairman and CEO of Hyundai Motor Group (HMG), but perhaps foolish for Schreyer. After all, what could the smaller automaker offer besides handsome compensation, frequent flyer miles, and a top-down corporate culture? Schreyer, a legit rock star in the design world (with the back-in-black wardrobe to match), already had an impressive résumé that listed icons such as the VW Golf, New Beetle, and Audi TT. He was on the short list to replace VW Group’s design chief, Walter de Silva. Surely, Schreyer had nothing to prove.
His fast start suggested otherwise. At the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show, Schreyer introduced the Kia “tiger nose” design cue and began unifying all styling in this aggressive new direction. Meanwhile, seemingly unrelated moves were afoot at HMG; at the 2007 New York auto show, the Hyundai Genesis luxury sedan made its debut. In 2011, Hyundai Motor Europe started durability testing at the Nürburgring, and in 2012, HMG quietly established the high-performance development N division, ostensibly named for HMG’s Namyang, Korea, R&D center.
After a string of successful designs, Kia named Schreyer president in December 2012, making him the first non-Korean president (of seven) at HMG. A few months later, he added head of design for all of HMG to his title and list of duties. That same year, HMG expanded its European testing capabilities by establishing a permanent R&D facility at the Nürburgring. Then things really began to accelerate....
(Excerpt) Read more at motortrend.com ...
Oh wait, it’s another Motor Trend article where they quietly insult the German competitors by noting how some manufacturer is sucking out all the German talent.
Yeah right.
If you pick a Merc over a Lexus, you have more money than sense (or you are attempting to make a statement of some sort). All there is to it...
Granted, there are exceptions that prove the rule. The AMG editions of just about anything with 8 or more cylinders.
But a non-AMG Merc has no more passion, and probably quite a bit less passion, than a equivalent Lexus. The Lexus engineers are passionate about building a precision vehicle.
At least you can drive the Lexus till the wheels fall off relatively cheaply after the upfront purchase cost.
Yes, but Lexus is boring as hell...even more boring than M-B...
The quality of Lexus, Infinity and Acura are absolute garbage compared to any German brand, including VW, and they are not cheaper to buy either, but yes, you can drive them till the wheels fall off, which will be another 300K miles before the wheels fall off a Mercedes
Ah yes.
The old “engine and body life isn’t quality” arguement.
American automakers made that assertion a dogmatic do or die motto in the sixties and seventies. Consumers like me made sure the long term result was that “die” part.
The quality in anything which doesn’t last is negligible, although there will always be pompous poseurs who insist that the emperor’s clothes are just too fine to see.
I had one of the first years’ Genesis. It was solid, beautiful and a rocket! Plus it was almost 20K cheaper than its rival, the BMW 5 series. The problem for me was the rear wheel drive... a nightmare in Pennsylvania winters. Fortunately they changed that inthe new edition.
Not sure where you get your data from... but live in your little world in German Overpriced Failure Prone Happiness :)
How Genesis’ Dream Team .....
So Peter Gabriel is rejoining the group?
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