[NJSPEEDER]

Seeing all these commercials for the Genesis has gotten me thinking about it. I got to see it up close for the first time in Philly. It really is a nice looking little car. The lines are all smooth and complete, nothing about it really looks out of place, yet nothing about it really stands out.

They had a sedan open for the public to sit in and of course I had to take a turn after all the hype. The interior was a bit surprising, much nicer than I expected. Not that there was anything spectacular in it, just that it was nicely laid out and clean.

The seats were comfortable, no big bolsters or anything, but still supportive, basically what one would expect to find in a good sports sedan. Once again, they were not anything that would stand out in the market, but still nice.

The one gripe I can say I have with the way the car is being delivered to market is the transmission. According to the info plaque they had next to the car there is no manual transmission available in the sedan and in the coupe a manual will only be available with the higher output engine.

For a Hyundai, I think it is a great achievement to even get such a vehicle to market considering their image in America. I do not know if the world is ready for them though.

The car is very middle of the road, which would be fine if it was brought forward by a brand with vehicles traditional priced in that range or a history or sports vehicles. Coming from a company that is known for building little, reliable, econo boxes, I think it needs something to make it stand out a lot more than it currently does. It needs something radical enough to convince a lot of people to change their perception of the brand and in the product I saw at the Philly Auto Show doesn't seem to have that.