Yes, even though Hyundai doesn’t have minivans or pick-ups, this is the market category with which it decided to work right now. Aslan is the latest result of the company’s efforts to build a decent image among high-luxury-sedan categories, which is basically a different way of saying “making decent competition to German sedans”. While the flagship brother Equus tries to seduce people who buy Audi A8, BMW 7-Series and Mercedes S-Class, Genesis is now fit to fight for A6, 5-Series and E-Class’s customers. Sonata’s current generation is just as young, but its image is still far from the level of those. Improving Azera for its following generation was a valid option all the time, but the Koreans seem to have preferred the harder way.
When it comes to style, you’ve already guessed it: Fluidic Sculpture 2.0. Hyundai’s beloved design language made another appearance here, and the results were just as positive. The front fascia uses a very wide upper grile, which creates an imponent look with vertical chrome bars and the projector headlights by its sides – there are LEDs for both daytime and fog lights right next to them. The sides feature a set of lines which look excellent without causing any kind of surprise: they remind of pretty much all Hyundai sedans in general, not in a “copy-paste” way. The rear, in turn, not only screams Sonata and Azera as its four-door-coupé silhouette also reminds of some Kia models. The LED tail lights are a particularly high point.
Hyundai’s intentions of building a fancy car are easier to notice in the cabin. The whole room took inspiration from Genesis, and uses double glasses so as to improve noise cancellation. The overall style manages to look as modern as discreet, and is enhanced by two-tone leather trim with wooden inserts. As far as equipments are concerned, the new sedan brings nine airbags, adaptive suspension, electronic climate control, tire pressure monitor, beautiful 18” alloy wheels, and the almost-ominpresent array of electronic safety systems. In this case, the latter includes smart cruise control, forward collision warning, lane-departure warning and blind-spot detection. Besides, this is the first Hyundai car with an active hood.
Opening the hood will always reveal a GDi V6 engine, which means Aslan only runs on gasoline. The 3.0L sibling is good for 270 hp and 229 lb-ft, while the 3.3L variation takes those numbers to 294 hp and 255 lb-ft. Aslan will always use a six-speed automatic transmission and front-wheel-drive – Hyundai claims the latter decision makes it roomier than RWD competitors without abandoning price advantages compared to other FWD cars. After reaching 2,200 sales in three weeks of pre-order period, Hyundai is truly confident that it’ll reach the goal of selling 22,000 units of this sedan in 2015. Aslan has officially gone on sale a couple of weeks ago, only in South Korea, and starting at 39.9 million won.