Hyundai Unveils 1st Luxury Car Under Genesis Brand

Hyundai on Wednesday unveiled the premium sedan under the separate Genesis brand on Wednesday.

The EQ900 is 4 cm longer than Hyundai's flagship Equus but the same height to give it a sleeker shape. The car's interior is also 10 cm wider. The 484-liter trunk can take four golf bags and four Boston bags, according to the automaker.

The EQ900 has a robust chassis while being more than 10 percent lighter than the Equus since it uses more advanced high-strength sheet steel. It has also been fitted with nine airbags.

It comes in 3.8-liter and 5-liter versions as well as a 3.3-liter V6 turbo model. The mileage and engine output put it roughly on a par with rival models by Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

According to Hyundai, the 3.8-liter version can travel 8.7 km on a liter of gasoline, while the turbo runs 8.5 km and the 5.0-liter version 7.3 km. Similar models from Mercedes-Benz and BMW get a little more than 9 km per liter.

The EQ900 costs between 73 million and W111 million depending on models and options. Pre-orders already totaled 10,700 by Wednesday.

Hyundai said some 1,200 staff knocked their heads together to study all the existing models and sign technology-sharing deals with suppliers to come up with the new Genesis.

It will be the first Korean model with the highway driving assist system, which enables it to remain on course and maintain a safe distance with the vehicle in front, making it be capable of partially autonomous driving.

The rear seats recline up to 36 degrees, or 42 degrees in the limousine model. Engineers studied the first-class seats of a passenger plane to develop them.

Hyundai executive vice president Albert Biermann, who joined the automaker early this year, said, "I'm 193 cm tall and still feel comfortable sitting in the back seat."

The EQ900 will be sold around the world next year. Lee Hang-koo at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade said, "The success of the premium Genesis badge will be determined by the sales of the EQ900 and the G80."

The Genesis G70 and G80, which will be new versions of the current Hyundai Genesis, will be not be launched until 2017.