Hyundai Says BH Coming to U.S. by 2008

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New York Int’l Auto Show

Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd. says its new luxury car, codenamed BH, will go on sale in South Korea at the end of this year or in early 2008, with U.S. shipments to follow soon after.

The BH will debut at next month’s New York Auto Show as the Genesis concept car.

A company spokesman tells Ward’s the BH will not replace the current top-of-the-line Equus, as has been widely reported.

“It will be in between the Grandeur/Azera and Equus,” he says. “We’ll still keep our Equus. The BH will replace our former Dynasty, which is no longer in production.”

The premier Dynasty front-wheel-drive sedan was produced from 1996 to 2005.

The Azera sells in the U.S. at a base price of $25,000 for the SE edition and $30,000 for the LTD version.

Hyundai has not said what it will call the U.S. model.

Genesis 4-door concept.

“It’s an all-new platform with rear-wheel drive and it will have a V-8 engine,” the spokesman says. “We’re not saying more than that.”

Published reports identify the engine as one in a new range of V-8s, reportedly available in 4.6L, 5.0L and 5.5L versions. The current Equus is powered by Hyundai’s Omega 4.5L V-8.

The spokesman declines to give sales targets for the new vehicle.

“There have been sales volumes mentioned in various publications, but these are all ‘guessitmates,’” he says. “We have never released any numbers.”