I see nothing in any Hyundai ads for the Azera. Never. Even when they show the line-up of the Hyundai line, no Azera.

Is the car out of production? Are they phasing out? Did the Genesis take the spot held by Azera?

What gives?

You must have missed the last several years, they never advertised the car. Even when it was new.

No it's not dead, it's still around for 2010 & 2011(I believe)
They never advertised it even after winning major awards that's why resale is so low and why I'll never buy another Hyunday above the sonata level. They are doing the same thing to the genesis sedan, only ads are for the coupe and not all that many. Wait till the equus hits the shore, then you won;t see any ads for any genesis.
What a way to market a car, any car (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/crying.gif)

When the Genesis sedan first hit, they marketed the crap out of it but not anymore. Quite honestly I think the Genesis is doing a fine job of marketing itself as well as word of mouth. Sales figures (21,889 in the US alone this calendar year) and my dealer has NO Genesis sedans right now, not one.

The Azera (I believe) will be history soon. I don't understand why they would keep it around after the new Sonata and Genesis are in the line up.
Take a look below on the sharp Azera drop off

And I don't really think they need to advertise as much with the Genesis sedan due to the accolades (2009 car of the year?) it has received.



" Hyundai Genesis concluded the top five best selling Hyundai cars with an all-time record-high monthly sales of 2.354 units. "

Here is what I found out about the Azera.

I sent a letter to Hyundai USA about a month ago and received a response last week. They claim there are many advertisments about the car by dealers in the USA. Mostly in newspapers by dealers and Hyundai is advertising the Azera in TV ads and magazines.

Not sure where I never see any magazines with Azera advertisements in them. Never see a TV spot for Azera. The Hyundai dealers here in Cincinnati advertise thier cars but never the Azera. Maybe they're advertising the Azera in other parts of the country but not in the midwest. Could be...maybe. ?

Not sure but we do have a car show coming up next month here in town. I will be there just to see what Hyundai is going to showcase. I bet the the Azera will not be on display in any form or advertisement. How can they even sell the car if they don't advertise? I been to the dealer and the Azera's are on display right in front of the dealer. Sometimes they may have five or six right next to the Genesis. So they do have them on the lot and inside the dealership they have some advertising on the Azera. Word of mouth isn't going to sell the Azera.

I think this car is dead in another year. Production and sales of the Azera in the USA will end. They still may sell the car overseas but not here. I hear one of their SUV is going as well here in the USA.

I believe you are correct. My latest visits to my local dealer revealed one Genesis on premises, no Azeras and no Azera literature at all. Azera is probably headed for the dust heap.http://www.hyundai-forums.com/style_images/1/folder_post_icons/icon9.gif

The Genesis sedan on the showroom floor has an interior that is trimmed in a similar manner to the Azera, but with extra comfort goodies. It is a nice car, but more expensive. Time will tell whether it succeeds in the market. I see no television advertisements of the Genesis or the Azera. I do not remember seeing any television ads for the Azera either. If there were any they did not occur often enough to remain in the public's mind as a possible choice which leads to decline in sales and/or lack of sales.

Based on what I've read in the Hyundai Think Tank, read in car magazines and my psychic abilities =) ... My prediction is that Hyundai is going to make a move to create a premium off-shoot (think Lexus/Toyota or Acura/Honda) in the next couple years. I'm betting you can expect to see the Genesis and Veracruz move to the new premium line with the Azera once again becoming the flagship for the Hyundai line. Add to that, the fact that the writing is on the wall that the upcoming Sonata will be only offered with a direct injection four cylinder, and there is a gaping hole in the front-wheel drive V6 category... hellooooo Azera. They may change the name again, but it's spirit will live on.

End premonition. I agree that Hyundai really needs to do better with their advertising... big time.

Historically Hyundai likes to keep a gap of $5K between models. With Azera gone the gap between Sonata & Genesis sedan will be $10K way too much. I don't know what they are going to do (mayby they don't either) perhaps the Azera is not dead, but at the Toronto car show (2009) the Azera was nowhere to be seen and I don't think I'll see one this year.
A car to do well must be supported by advertising, it may do well for a little while on its own, but no ads no sales in the end. As I said before I like my Azera, but Hyundai is so woefully inadequate in marketing cars above the Sonata that I don't really know what to say other than speak with my feet as others have done.

This post has been edited by Pelican: Jan 21 2010, 03:27 PM

I just went and dug in the Think Tank... some notes below from a recent chat session that included the Hyundai USA CEO, John Krafcik


- Next-gen Azera design has recently been finalized. John says it looks "hot" and will run circles around the new Taurus SHO and Nissan Maxima.
- Next-gen Azera features Hyundai's new "fluidic sculpture" design language
-Facelifted Azera will come to the U.S. for model year 2011 (All-new Azera for 2012/13??)


I'm not sure about running those circles around the SHO, but I'm just reporting what is on there...

I participated in a ThinkTank forum last May about the Azera. At that time the Hyundai guy, I think VP, in charge of Azera, asked us what we thought about the Azera being a Sonata. None of us liked that. However, with what is being said now and what the new Sonata is enginewise, it is only going to be offered in a 4 cylinder, and since both the Sonata and the Azera are very similiar in size I can see the Azera being a car using the Sonata frame, new metal, some reuse of Sonata parts, and being the 6 cylinder offering. Depending on how the car looks, what the interior looks like, how much different it is from the Sonata, and with it offering the 6 cylinder I could live with that. The new Sonata looks very cool as does the new Tucson.
Regarding advertisment, when we got ours in September of '07, one of the things that made us even think about the Azera were all of the ads that we were seeing on TV and in print. Since then no ads at all except on the web, but how many Avalon ads do we see. When they do, and I think they will, come out with the new Azera we will probably see a bunch of ads just like we did with Genesis and the new Tucson. At the 2009 Dallas car show the Azera was there. What is interesting is at the HyundiaUSA web page, no Tiburon.

I saw some Azeras at the LA Auto show last month. There were brochures also.

Charlie

I spoke to the Hyundai people at the Houston Auto Show, and I was told that the Azera is about to get a major re-deisgn such as the Sonata had in 2006 and is having again for the 2011 model. We got to see the 2011 Sonata at the auto show, and the one on display was a new color: Indigo Blue Pearl. The Hyundai website does not do this color justice--it is beautiful, with a great amount of metal flakes in the paint. I have never been really big on blue as a car color--have had a green 2000 Sonata GLS and currently drive a beige 2006 LX, but I may have to get a 2011 in the Indigo Blue. I had said that my next vehicle was going to be red, but I am not that enamored with the Venetian Red, which to me looks more orange than red. By the way, there were no Azeras at the Houston Auto Show.

Steve
TravelSteveR

There was an Azera at the Portland Auto Show at the end of last month.

www.Autoblog.com is showing spy shot that is supposed to be a 2011 Azera

The Azera is very much alive:


(IMG:http://images.thecarconnection.com/med/2012-hyundai-azera-grandeur-spy-shots_100305674_m.jpg)

(IMG:http://images.thecarconnection.com/med/2012-hyundai-azera-grandeur-spy-shots_100305675_m.jpg)

(IMG:http://www.yflove.net/data/file/26/1982400202_ae48d228_national12617250195B15D.jpg)

VERRRYY nice!!!!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif)

Can't wait to see it unmasked!

Rumored to be available with AWD as well:

http://www.hyundaibuzz.com/2010/02/the-fir...-azeragrandure/

Looks very much like the Dodge Intrepid I just traded for my Azera.

If the Azera will be all-wheel drive and still only have the 263 hp rating than it will be slower than it is currently due to the extra weight. However, the 6 speed AT instead of the current 5 speed AT may help. I think that the current Azera can do 0-60 in about 6 seconds so it may be once again close to this or off by a second (7 seconds). I don't think that any current and unmodified Hyundai can do circles around the new Ford SHO as that car can do 0-60 in about 5.3 seconds. Not even the 3.8 L Genesis Coupe can touch that with its 0-60 time of 5.5 seconds (at best).

This post has been edited by petergun: Feb 10 2010, 04:27 PM