The North American introduction to Hyundai cars began in 1983, when the incredibly low-cost Pony appeared in Canada to do battle with the Soviet-built Lada Signet on the extreme-low-end region of the new-car price spectrum. For the 1986 model 12 months, the somewhat more sophisticated Hyundai Excel showed up in the US, undercut on price only by the wretched Yugo GV. Progressively, Hyundais here shook off their status as nothing greater than low-cost transportation appliances, and a giant step forward in that process was the Hyundai XG luxury sedan. Here’s one in every of the later XGs, present in a Colorado self-service yard recently.
Hyundai began selling the Sonata in the US as a 1989 model, and it was quite a bit greater and nicer than the Excel but still seen as a lowly cut-rate Accord competitor. Fast-forward 12 years, and Hyundai felt sufficiently entrenched within the North American market to bring the Grandeur XG across the Pacific. That automobile was called the XG300 over here, and it went on sale as a 2001 model.
The XG got an engine upgrade for the 2002 model 12 months and have become the XG350. Sales continued through the 2005 model 12 months, after which the next-generation Grandeur TG became the Hyundai Azera. The earliest Grandeurs were license-built Mitsubishi Debonairs, however the XG300 and XG350 were developed entirely by Hyundai (though some Mitsubishi DNA continues to be apparent).
For instance, the three.5-liter Sigma V6 engine within the XG350 — rated at 194 horsepower and 216 pound-feet — traces its ancestry back to the Mitsubishi 6G engine present in every little thing from the Montero to the LeBaron.
That is the top-level L version, so its MSRP was $25,999 (about $47,083 in 2023 dollars). The Mitsubishi Diamante, then in its final model 12 months here, listed at $26,557 ($48,094 in today’s money), however the XG350 also needed to compete against its Kia-badged sibling, the Amanti, and its price of $24,995 ($45,265 now).
The XG350 offered a variety of luxury for the worth, nevertheless it wasn’t quite as much as the swank level of later big Hyundai sedans.
The XG has turn into a rare sight today, on the road or elsewhere, nevertheless it’s a very important piece of automotive history.
Throughout the grasp of the up-and-coming businessman in 2004 … and smashing his face in a parking garage.
It was pitched to the genuinely wealthy in its homeland.
Why not shoot SKDM TV commercials in Europe?
This Article First Appeared At www.autoblog.com
