The front-wheel drive AG luxury sedan revealed in prototype form at the Busan motor show in May is to be named ‘Aslan’ in production form, Hyundai has announced.
This additional model is intended to take on the likes of the Audi A4 sedan in Hyundai’s home market, sitting in the range between the Grandeur and Genesis. Import brand vehicles are on course to take 15% of the Korean market in 2014, a major concern for Hyundai. The company has struggled to vanquish the likes of BMW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz and even Volkswagen in premium price segments and hopes the Aslan will give its image a boost with a new, younger generation of buyers.
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“Equipped with a luxurious and prestigious exterior, comfortable driving and the best of class quietness, Aslan has a similar image of a lion, which maintains composure looking down the savanna but turns into a beast when hunting prey,” a statement claims, noting that the model name is Turkish for lion.
The Aslan is due to become available from early in the fourth quarter. South Korea is expected to be the mane market.
