March 11 (Bloomberg) --
Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s largest automaker, introduced a revamped Equus luxury sedan, the most expensive vehicle in its lineup, to win customers from Daimler AG and Toyota Motor Corp.
Hyundai aims to sell 13,000 units of the sedan domestically this year and lift sales to 19,000 next year, the Seoul-based carmaker said in an e-mailed statement today. The company plans to export the car to China, the Middle East and other regions in the second half of this year.
Introducing a locally built luxury vehicle may help Chairman
Chung Mong Koo to win customers who otherwise would have opted for more expensive imported models, such as Daimler’s Mercedes and Toyota’s Lexus. The Equus, following last year’s premium sedan Genesis, may also help lift earnings, said
Song Sang Hoon, a Seoul-based analyst at Kyobo Securities Co.
“The introduction of the new model may stop customers from turning to imported vehicles,” Song said.
The Equus, which will be equipped with 3.8-, and 4.6-liter gasoline engines, will sell for between 63.7 million won ($42,800) and 105 million won, the statement said. A 5-liter stretch edition will be added in the second half.
The model is expected to compete with Mercedes-Benz S-class sedans and Toyota’s Lexus 460, it said. The company invested 500 billion won to develop the model over three years.
S-class sedans are priced from 133.9 million won and Lexus460L from 163 million won in Korea, according to the Web site of
Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association, an import car group of the nation.