Design Car RWD Sedan Hyundai

RWD Sedan Design

Hyundai broke into the luxury market in 2008 with the Genesis sedan, and has since probed the upper echelons of the segment with the new 2011 Equus. Is there any space left for the automaker to explore? Perhaps so new reports suggest the Korean automaker may be looking at readying a small, rear-wheel-drive sedan designed to counter the BMW 3 Series.

“The Genesis Coupe is in the same segment, really, as the 3 Series coupe,” John Krafcik, CEO of Hyundai Motor America, told Automotive News. “One of the things we’re thinking is: Should we do something that’s a sedan version of that.”

RWD Sedan Interior

Krafcik didn’t reveal how seriously the company is considering such a vehicle, or if it’s currently being developed for production. That said, Automotive News says a secretive corporate insider has alleged such a program has been in the product pipeline since 2006, and that the car is known internally as the RK.

According to the trade paper, the small rear-wheel-drive sedan could share some of its architecture with the existing Genesis models, but in order to differentiate it from the current Genesis sedan, the new model would likely share more with the Genesis Coupe. Today’s Genesis sedan is a large, 5 Series-sized vehicle, while the two-door is dimensionally closer to BMW’s 3 Series.

While the Genesis sedan wears an attractive, understated design, the RK may take a different approach. According to Automotive News, the car’s styling may be patterned after the brash lines found on the Genesis Coupe perhaps just the ticket to lure buyers away from the 3 Series, Cadillac CTS, and the Acura TSX.