Yes, you've seen the same stupid headline probably about 6 different times now: "Hyundai's (fill in the blank) to take on America's luxury car market." I think about 3 different Hyundais now (the XG350, Azera and Genesis) have been designated Hyundai's first true luxury car, Those three, along with the Veracruz and Genesis coupe, have all been designated Hyundai luxury cars at different points.

The XG is dead now, thank God. The Azera is alive, very well, and very luxurious, as well as very successful, but the Genesis has stolen its thunder. Nevertheless, if you count Hyundai's luxury lineup (Azera, Genesis, Genesis Coupe, Veracruz) on its own outside of all other Hyundais, it's now creeping up on the size of Infiniti's and Acura's lineups.

Well, now yet another Hyundai luxury car is almost here: the Equus. Take a look at this baby:

It's... well, okay, it's not sexy, sleek or outlandish looking. But then, neither is anything else Hyundai makes, and that hasn't hurt them one iota - the Genesis sedan's conservative design, combined with its size, make for a car with a lot of road presence, actually.

Everybody's waiting for Hyundai to start their own luxury marque. The Genesis sedan and coupe were supposed to be the opening salvos in a war against Lexus, Mercedes and BMW. But Hyundai's achieving such success with its luxury and premium cars placed in its own marque, that I can't blame them for not being in a hurry to do anything differently.

Just like the Genesis, the Equus gets its own logo - this one not as sexy as the Genesis logo, in my opinion, but it just barely undercuts it, and it complete's the car's look. The LED running lights up front that Audi popularized, are instant road presence, really. The overall look, shape and lines of the car make obvious its Genesis roots, but the sheet metal is completely different, to give the Equus a new look.

The underpinnings are the same as the Genesis, as are the engines: the giant 3.8 liter V6 and the 4.6 liter Lambda V8. No problems there whatsoever - both are great engines. The grille with the horizontal slats is for the V6 models, while the grill with the vertical slats is for the V8 models.

Nothing special about the design of the interior, but the materials are real nice, plush and luxurious. The wood trim is very early-2000s to me, but if you can replace wood trim with leather trim like in the Genesis, that will instantly improve the interior. And after sitting in the spacious, soft, plush Hyundai Genesis and enjoying its sumptuous interior, I'm sure the Equus won't disappoint.

Look for it to drop in America in 2010 or 2011, but in South Korea, the Equus has been in showrooms since March. I'm sure it will release over here, and when it does, look for it to be just as successful as a Genesis. People have already proven they will pay 35-40,000 dollars for a Hyundai, because that Hyundai kicks ass, and gives 70,000 to 90,000 dollar cars a run for their money. I'm sure people will pay 45-50,000 dollars for this Hyundai.

As for that question of if Hyundai will start a luxury marque? Still unknown and unanswered, but as far as I'm concerned, they really don't need to. People know that the Genesis, Azera, Genesis-coupe and Veracruz are great cars, and their sales figures reflect that. Don't change what's working.