It seems that Hyundai is about to invade the automotive markets even more. Like the Japanese before them, they aren't happy with just building economy cars. They want to build higher profit luxury cars. That means that they intend to not only compete with the Americans and Japanese, but with the Germans too. But specifically what do they really intend to target?

It is interesting to see what target a manufacturer sets when they decide to build a new model. Sometimes it is very clear and sometimes not. Often the press gets it all wrong too. I remember the introduction of the Lexus LS400. The press was going crazy that Toyota had imitated a BMW. I drove one just after the introduction and thought immediately that it was simply the world's best Cadillac. In fact, today I think that the LS is still the world's best Cadillac. It simply doesn't have the driving precision of a Mercedes, and nowhere near the sportiness of a BMW.

Another interesting thing that Hyundai has not imitated from the Japanese and Germans -- and recently the Americans -- is the selection of model names from a dart board full of letters. They seem to be choosing from Southwest city names (like Santa Fe) for their SUVs and the newest of them comes a bit further south, and east. How about a coastal Mexico city north of Cancun? The new SUV (I dislike SUV, but like "crossover" even less). Let's call it a tall station wagon, and the name is Veracruz. To me that is far more catchy and rememberable than ZFL or the like.

So what is the target for the 2007 Veracruz? It should be pretty obvious by just looking at it. It sure looks like a copy of a Lexus RX. That isn't a bad target at all since it is the biggest seller of all Lexus models. But why not copy a Mercedes ML or BMW X5? Well, the Mercedes is already pretty close to the RX and the RX sells lots more than the Mercedes or the BMW. On the other hand, Hyundai states that they consider their competition to be the RX as well as the Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander, and the Subaru Tribeca. The Germans aren't mentioned.

How well did they do? According to the press reviews, they did very well indeed. I find a clone of an RX at a five to ten thousand dollar discount very attractive. Of course Hyundai needs to shed that "we build cheap economy cars" image and that will be a big problem.

The car itself seems to really be a copy of the RX, inside and out -- except that it is bigger. It seats seven real people unlike the RX's five. It uses a 3.8-liter V-6 with 260 horsepower. The engine likely isn't as refined as the Toyota, but it is connected to a 6-speed automatic from Aisin. That is a first for Hyundai. Of course it has the standard safety features of six air bags, active front-seat headrests, stability and traction control, and ABS.

That is the most immediate target for Hyundai. The Veracruz should be at dealers now. The next target is a more ambitious one, but then this time the real target isn't so clear. The car was shown in "concept" form at the New York Auto Show last month. It was called the Genesis, and is a sport-luxury 4-door sedan roughly the size of a BMW 5-series. Would BMW be the real target? I doubt it. Most BMW buyers don't want a real BMW anyway. They just want other people to think they want it (and know what it is) and for the emblem to show up in their driveway. The problem with letting the press think that your target is a BMW is that it will be compared to one, probably negatively.

Lexus made that mistake when they originally introduced the GS. It sure wasn't a BMW, but instead a perfectly competent copy of a Mercedes with the looks of a Japanese car. It never has been a big success for Toyota. Next up for Lexus was the introduction of the IS. This time they seemed to want to copy BMW more, but missed the target. I find that hard to believe for a company like Toyota, but they really did miss. Why did they put that stupid watch-like instrument panel in the car? The instruments are supposed to be easy to read in a driver's car. The exterior design was kind of Japanese, but that shouldn't have been a problem. The lack of a manual transmission when they introduced the car was sure to turn off the press.

What the Hyundai will have that will be important for credibility is both a V-6 and V-8 engine when it is introduced. The V-6 will be a 3.8-liter with nearly 300 horsepower and the V-8 will be a 4.6-liter. Those should be competitive. I've read that this will be Hyundai's first V-8, which isn't true. They have been making a V-8 Grandeur executive car in Korea for years. For the record, Toyota has been making a V-12 Century for Japan-only for years as well. The transmission selection at introduction time is a 6-speed automatic. It will be from ZF for the V-8s. Here Hyundai is using the best from Germany. They could have used the Aisin 6-speed that VW and Porsche uses in their SUVs that has been criticized for its harsh shifts. There will be paddle shifters too. Alas, the V-6 gets an Aisin unit.

If you look at the pictures of the outside, it looks more Japanese than German, though it does have the Bangle-butt that seems to be mandatory on new cars these days wherever they are made. There are no interior pictures. Of course the interior is a significant piece of the puzzle of whether the car will be accepted as a BMW competitor. Hyundai says that the interior will be very upscale with blends of leather, wood, and aluminum. Standard equipment will include all the necessary safety items including eight air bags, traction and stability control, and ABS. Navigation and satellite radio will be standard. Even heated and cooled front seats will be standard.

While it doesn't look it in the pictures, the car will be longer, taller, and wider than a BMW 5-series (or Lexus GS). Hyundai claims that the space in the rear seat area will be nearly the same as a Mercedes S-class. We'll have to wait and see about that. While it is big, it is a breakthrough for Hyundai because they claim that it will be lighter than the 5-series or GS while maintaining more than a ten percent increase in torsional rigidity. It will not, however, maintain the BMW 50-50 religion when it comes to weight distribution and come in more like 53/47. Of course it will have independent suspension front and rear like the competition, but not McPherson struts like BMW in the front.

The standard tires will be 18-inchers, not the 20s on the show car. Optional will be 19-inch and maybe even those 20s. The size is a nicely meaty 235/50R-18. Will they be summer rated for handling -- optional perhaps? Will they be run-flats? I hope not.

What about the bottom line? Hyundai says that the V-6 version will start with a base price of less than $30,000. Wowsers!!! That is less than a 3-series by a pretty good amount, and close to an Infiniti G35. The comparable in size M35 is much more. Speculation puts the base price for the V-8 at five to eight thousand more. This is serious bargain territory with all that standard equipment. So it seems that we will be offered a large, fast, sport-luxury sedan for even a little less money than a 3-series or Lexus IS 350.

The remaining question is who will buy one. There still are people out there who remember that about 12 years ago Hyundai was still a cheap car joke and finishing dead last in J.D. Power quality surveys. Now they are aiming at BMW and Lexus. The real shock is that nobody is laughing this time. There are serious waves in the luxury car pond.

The issue still is who will buy one, though, here in Los Angeles. I would say that initially there will not be a long line at the dealers unless the press reviews are really good. The buyer of a Lexus, BMW, or Mercedes in Los Angeles is looking for a car with that emblem on the hood, not some "cheap" Korean imitation. Just look at how well the German cheap imitation of a luxury sedan did when it was called a Volkswagen Phaeton.

But then there still are people who buy a sporty sedan for how it drives, not how they look behind the wheel. This is how BMW started in the U.S. in the late 1960s. I would say that if the car really does drive like a sporty sedan, those people will buy the Hyundai over a BMW. Why not and save serious money? If it does deliver on the promise, could there be a smaller 3-series sized Hyundai in the future -- priced in the low $20,000 range? I'd place a bet on it.

Alas, I will also bet that this initial try from Hyundai will miss the enthusiast BMW target and it will take a new next-generation try. This is because I will bet that Hyundai management will mandate that the car be weighted more toward luxury than sport. That will doom it both for the press and for the enthusiast. They could… maybe… have two different suspension calibrations. Nope. They wouldn't be that smart.