(first posted 12/19/2017) Recent years have seen Hyundai grow from the bottom of the barrel value brand it once was to a confident full-line mainstream brand on the same level as Honda and Toyota. Its luxury offerings which have spawned the separate Genesis brand are rather competitive too, even if they lack the same character and prestige as established luxury brands. The same, however, could not be said about Hyundai’s first luxury offering for the North American market, the XG (known as the Grandeur in its home market). While a step in the right direction, it was merely that and little more.
Before delving into any of the bad, let’s start with the good. First and foremost, Hyundai should be applauded for ditching the rebadge bandwagon, investing in an entirely in-house flagship, and daring to sell it in other markets, among them the very brand-whore U.S. market. The list of standard equipment was long, its price was low, and its bumper-to-bumper and powertrain warranties were among the best in the business. With that in mind however, the XG simply did not have what it takes to break through the strong barriers of acceptance within the crowded luxury class.
Exterior and interior styling were inoffensive, but very conservative and anonymous, the latter fact only strengthened by a lack of front logo anywhere. The exterior boasted clean, elegant lines, with chrome trim in the right places, though the design carried with it an ever-dated look, especially by this car’s final 2005 model year. Owing a strong resemblance to larger Lexus and Infiniti products from a few years prior, the XG had the odd tendency to look significantly more compact than it really was.
Like the exterior, the interior seemed very mid-1990s, with inspiration coming from cars like the Lexus ES 300 and Infiniti I30. Material quality and fit-and-finish were acceptable for its class, but hardly exuded any confident sense of luxury. Loads of fake wood trim, switchgear and controls shared with lesser Hyundais, and the lack of technology features such as navigation only engrained this further.
Despite weighing more, its 3.5L V6 offered less power than its premium competitors (194 hp/216 lb-ft), as well as the V6s in cars including the Accord and Altima, making for mediocre acceleration and passing power. Contemporary reviews also found handling and ride quality compromised by its excessive under-steer, poor grip from its small standard tires, pronounced body lean, and overly bouncy front end over bumps.
Though ultimately an unsuccessful vehicle, largely forgotten today, the XG was a significant first step into the luxury world for Hyundai, and a sign of much better things to come.
Photographed: Hingham, Massachusetts – January 2017
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My tastes for unappreciated automotive underdogs makes me kind of want one of these. But “kind of want” is a different category from “am willing to actually spend money”. Still, they are intriguing.
The early 2000s was a time of major changes at Hyundai and the American market as a whole. While this was not revolutionary, it was evolutionary for Hyundai and was a positive, albeit baby step in the right direction. When the Hyundai brand hit the market in the 80s, it was Yugo cheap and less reliable. By the early 2000s, it had enough confidence in itself to offer the 5 year bumper to bumper warranty (10 years on powertrain) and still was priced lower with more options than any similar models across the entire line offered by Hyundai. That put more butts in their seats, leading to better brand acceptance. Now, they are not so much a value proposition, yet they still are doing quite well. Quality, fit, and finish are all pretty much the same or better than most, and still not premium priced for a well optioned car or SUV. If they decide to get into the pickup market, it will be interesting to see what they can do. I personally would love to see them build a small pickup (not the SUV based one in development, a REAL BOF small pickup like the old Courier/LUV/HiLux/Datsun pickups of the 70s) and see what happens.
I remember sitting in one the year they were released at the NAIAS. I liked it quite a bit, the one on the show floor was black with a whole forest of fake wood slathered across it. But at the time I was driving a 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Brougham sedan – not exactly Hyundai’s target customer.
I remember C&D saying that the fake wood only approximated real wood if the trees were being grown on Pluto.
Despite the motor magazines decrying that this car was underpowered, it was not a bad car to drive and it actually performed well on the road. The gearing gave it pretty good acceleration and it was able to pass cars easily.
I have driven several and the sales guy that I hang around, bought one of these off a customer that bought a car from the dealership and was going to trade his 2004 XG350 in.
He had me do a long drive with it because I am anal about things and can pick out any issues.
I took it out on 95/495 and it had a surprisingly brisk acceleration and seemed to be its happiest at 70mph.
It also has a comfortable and well laid out cabin area in which there was next to no road noise.
The owner of this car is an avid golfer so there is always a golf bag or two in the trunk and there is still ample room in it for other items.
I actually like the rear end of this car, the way the decklid is shaped gives it a vintage vibe.
It is(in my opinion) a well built car and is a better looking car then its cousin the Kia Amanti
The decklid reminds me of the 1977-79 Cadillac.
My Wife’s 2013 Sonata Was Nothing but Junk.I Would Say They Still Can’t Compete With Toyota.
Nice looking car, and that’s the best I can say about it.
It’s a non-sequitur, but… it reminds me that the Daewoo Leganza existed!
An XG! I’d forgotten about these. My sister’s good friend had a black one, and she was the designated driver a couple of times when I went out with sis. At the time, I wasn’t really keen on Hyundais, but no joke this car was nice. Super smooth ride, good stereo, plenty roomy backseat, quiet. All that plasti-wood was gross, but considering the other merits I could see, I’d let that slide. I also thought the exterior styling was tastefully conservative in a good way. Thanks for bringing us this, Brendan.
I don’t know why they even bothered with this since they already had a flagship model – the Sonata, that just needed to be moved more upscale.
I don’t think the case for the 2003 revival of Maybach was helped by the car’s faint resemblance to the XG350.
still seems to be a lot of these around my area and not too rusty either considering their age and salt belt locale. always thought the design to be tasteful mix of conservative luxury marred only by a too aggressive or mean looking grille. i like this MY that had the full chrome surround for the rear license plate vs the straight chrome bar.
a memory sticks in my head of seeing one of these in a shade of light blue metallic ahead of me on the road on an overcast drizzly day with the rain beading on it as if freshly waxed and thinking it to be very classy looking.
You can’t help but admire how far Hyundai has come. This car, though utterly forgettable in so many ways, was another step along the way toward shedding its economy crapbox roots. Luxury league? No way! But I’d have one of these over most of the junk GM was barfing out at the time.
Considering the crap boxes that Mercedes was making in those years (rusty Benz E-Class W210, unreliable first gen ML series etc) I think the XG350 was more in the luxury league then Benz in those years. The Hyundai gave a good driving experience and was reliable. The ML class gave you comfy seats to sit in while the tow truck was coming to get you.
As a steppingstone to better things, this one gets a little respect from me. I will say the final facelifted ones looked decent (without that horizontal, ’70s Ford LTD-esque bar on the trunk lid of the earlier ones), but the grille still looked a bit generic.
Reminds me of a Lincoln LS from the front, vaguely Lincoln (Town Car? something else?) from the rear.
I’ve been a fairly regular reader of the British magazine CAR for nearly 45 years. The magazine had developed a reputation for being quite brutal to cars built in Asia, to the point that Toyota and Nissan would not allow ANY of their cars to be tested by the magazine.
They didn’t do a full road test of the Hyundai XG, but did a 1 or 2 page write-up in which the author said it was a fairly good car, considering the country of origin. However, as good a car as it was, the market for it was going to be small and it was expected that the car would wind up as a taxicab.
yeah…and I can imagine how any comparo would be won by the Jaguar XJ…even against hot hatches.
hehe!
I’m going to call this car more of a breakthrough model for Hyundai than anything else. With the XG, Hyundai served notice that they could produce and market a comfortable, reliable, and extremely well equipped midsized sedan for a competitive price. The car wasn’t a failure- it sold 17-18K units/yr during it’s time on showrooms, and paved the way for the future Azera and Genesis. At roughly $25K a pop new, it sold against the higher end Altima and Camry market, with I’m sure a few crossover domestic buyers thrown in. As far as the car itself, Car and Driver was fairly kind in a ’02 review. Comfortable, quiet, generously equipped, aggressively priced, but not anything enthusiasts would get excited about.
These totally remind me of the concurrent Elantra – except that the larger car wore the looks much less well. Plus the interior was pretty chintzy.
Meh. Looks like every other sedan out on the road.
My uncle purchased an XG350L brand new in 2004. He said it reminded him of my 2002 Lincoln LS, which he liked, and bragged that it had much more wood inside then my Lincoln (he didn’t know it was faux wood) and it was a top line “Honda” (he actually that it was a Honda, not a Hyundai)..
The car is a strange shade of medium green with a weird dismal looking beige leather interior. The leather is a dead give away for vinyl (in my eyes). Considering the age of the car, it’s basically in very good shape as it’s been garages kept since new.
I’ve driven his “Honda” many times and I can tell you, it was no completion for my Lincoln LS, even though it had more “wood” inside!
Well to date, the car only has 39,000 miles. Where these trouble free miles? I’d say not. But my poor Uncle still loves his Honda XG350L and plans to keep it until it rots away.
I hope all will pardon me for going completely off topic here but I have a question for our talented BMW guru.
Brendan;
I thought I had a basic knowledge of the BMW series from the ones and twos to the incredible 850 coupe. When in Toronto this weekend I saw one that logically fit but had never seen before.
A 440i coupe? I honestly don’t remember a 4 series.
Thanks, Bill
The 3 series coupe and convertible were just turned into the 4 series in 2013. And now there’s a four door coupe too.
Inflation.
Pretty much what Paul said.
BMW has moved to the strategy of designating coupes (2-door, as well as 4-door “Gran Coupes” and “Gran Turismos”) as one number series above their related sedan model.
So in effect, the 4 Series is what was formerly the 3 Series coupe and convertible.
Thank you both. I webbed the technical info which told me it did exist but your explanation makes me understand the why.
Calling the north american car buyer market “brand-whorish” is an interesting statement with regards to the fact that a virtually unknown brand such as Lexus was able to push through in such a big way.
Even the highly image-conscious person with money is usually willing to accept, and in fact, embrace the latest trend.
Lexus was in fact a hot new trend when it was launched. It was offered the perceived quality and reliability of Toyota, which had a high reputation in the U.S. at the time as a mainstream automaker, but distanced itself from the regular Toyota brand under a separate brand sold at separate dealers.
Lexus was directly targeted at key players in the luxury field, and it had the credentials to back its claims. Lexus was effective in marketing its strengths, such as high quality and exceptional dealership experience, and offered significant snob appeal. There was great benefit to “brand-whorish” people in buying a Lexus, and that’s why it was so successful.
Hyundai, on the other hand, did not have a particularly strong reputation in the U.S .at the time of the XG’s launch. It was know for little else than its less than stellar (no pun intended) cheap economy cars. Unlike the LS 400, the XG 300 was sold under the Hyundai badge and not an exclusive luxury brand.
Hyundai made no brazen attempts to compare the XG to established luxury cars. It just kind of introduced it to show that it could make a more premium vehicle. There was no snob appeal to the XG.
I think you´re right.
Toyota´s good reputation on the US market definitely has helped launch the Lexus as a credible luxury brand.
Toyota had not such an impeccable reputation in Europe when the LS400 was introduced. This is probably why the first Lexus was considered not much more than a MB W126 knock-off with a particularly smooth running engine.
Tarted up models usually flop hard. Just think of the many unsuccessful attempts Audi / VW made to launch luxury cars….Audi 200…V8….Phaeton
I remember when I first saw a XG on the streets.
My first thought was: what the hell is this ? And then: What a sad,sad attempt to play with the big boys. It just looked so much like a wanna be in every aspect. And so outdated right from the very beginning.
I was always having a good look at the drivers of these cars, thinking: What drove them to buy this weird concoction?
As a matter of fact it was usually elderly guys who just wanted as much value for their money as possible and couldnt care less if their car wasnt carrying a three pointed star on the hood.
Such an enchanting term.
Indeed.
I actually was first made aware of the term “brand whore” in one of my college anthropology (something I once considered minoring in before business school) courses.
It was regarding the cultural study of Algerians who would go to France and spend everything they had on expensive clothes/accessories/jewelry with designer labels, and bring it back to flaunt around in their home country. They were very much slaves of designer labels.
Lexus was able to break in to the US market because the LS was a attractive car and because of a few well publicized stories about how a few customers that issues with the cars and who lived too far away from a Lexus dealership to drive the car there(or get it towed) to have it serviced, were treated to the experience of Lexus bringing techs to them (including one that lived so far away that a tech was flown in to service the car). Benz was not doing that. Plus shortly after the LS went on sale that first year, Lexus discovered a wiring defect that was present in all the cars sold so far and issued a voluntary recall for all of them and repaired all of them in under a month (not bad for a start up company that probably did not have a huge parts stash built up yet.
Lexus sold well from day one. Toyota worked hard to make Lexus a success and did their homework.
Here is an article on this
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-11-11/travel/9004030258_1_infiniti-models-new-car-business-luxury-japanese-models
Even the well monied status folks, appreciated not having to hope that their car started each morning.
Plus the price of these LS undercut the Benz and BMW models that competed with it by thousands. BMW lost so much business that they tried to get the US Government to investigate Lexus under anti-dumping regulations. In the end it was proven that Lexus was not dumping cars and Lexus made money on each car sold.
Called Grandeur here. “Delusions Of” might have been more honest. Most honest would’ve been the Hyundai “Entirely Adequate.” You really wouldn’t, would you, unless it was very cheap or you easily mistook Hondas for Hyundais (as above); that is, a real non-car person. Turns out they’re perfectly ok, provided you don’t mind driving a thing looks like a cacophony of the upper-aspiring style ideas of others. Hell, tell onlookers it’s a Maybach. No-one knew (or cared) what that was either, but it sounds posh.
They do deserve credit for going under their own name. Now, with the value proposition intact, this thing began the subtle slide upscale, where their current styling and engineering rightly puts them. Cars to be considered because of their brand, instead of despite it.
Anyway, it wasn’t as foolish a name as the Skoda Superb, which just begged for derision.
The name Superb maybe “begged for derision”, but the reviews I’ve read about VW-platform Skodas generally tend to confirm that they are, indeed, superb, often noting they seem to be better-made than their VW siblings despite the marque being positioned downmarket from VW. I rather like their styling as well and wish we got them here in the US.
Yes, give Hyundai credit for offering the Grandeur/XG350 under its own brand. I think they were quite realistic to do so given that they didn’t have the track record of Toyota (when they introduced the Lexus), and knew that it would be a long term prospect to build up their name. Now they have the Genesis, and the offereings are quite good.
The Grandeur in its home market is an executive sedan used to ferry around corporate executives and government officials, so it’s going to have a very conservative look and feel to it.
Having served most of my military career in the Pacific I had a good view of Hyundai from the late 70’s to now – I can remember when they were assembling Ford Cortinas and Grandas from knocked down kits – and not doing it very well. Then came its first indigenous model, the Pony – think of it as an Asian Yugo.
It then tied up with Mitsubishi and though the tie-up was decreasing at this point, you can see some Mitsu influence still in the XG 350.
It fascinates me today to see how these roles have been reversed – with Hyundai (with Kia and Gensis) marketing a series of well built, popular cars while Mitsubishi survives on life support.
I just love my 2005 Hyundai XG350. It is the perfect size and style I needed and I wish
I could find another one with low mileage I’d buy it. My car only has 74,000 miles on it,
but I’m starting to have some problems that are costing me a great deal of money.
Still I love the car !
Hyundai still has some catching up to do.
Hyundai won me over with their warranty, if the factory had that much faith in their cars, then they must be pretty good. It’s not their plan to go broke paying out on warranty claims. This XG350 looked okay, kind of typical Asian upscale look of the period. I always thought that KIA was the more upscale part of the company, but I’ve learned that I was wrong. Kia does let their stylists unleash some pretty “expressive” cars. The latest Genesis models look pretty good inside and out, maybe it’s time for me to try one. Used, of course!