Hyundai Genesis Coupe Concept

OVERVIEW
This follows a Genesis sedan concept shown earlier this year at the New York show, a production version of which is rumored to arrive some time in 2008. One of the more interesting technical aspects is that this (along with the Genesis sedan) is rear-wheel drive, whereas all generations of the Hyundai Tiburon coupe have all been front-wheel drive. And this looks like a pointer to how the Tiburon’s eventual successor might look.

This is obviously an exaggerated, highly stylized rendition, but it shows a growing confidence on the part of Hyundai, a company known more for budget offerings than bold designs.

OUR TAKE
There’s a whole lot of time -- and space -- for things to go wrong between the optimistic drawing stage and pragmatic, full-blown production, where technical constraints and focus groups reap their inexorable blanding-out processes. So pardon a little cynicism until the real thing hits the real world. But at least Hyundai is starting to play with the big boys.