2004 Hyundai Centennial Overview

Whether or not the Centennial is dubbed a Hyundai or something else when, and if it debuts in Europe and North America will

If the Centennial does arrive here it will no doubt be offered at a much better price point than its European and Japanese competitors. (Photo: Hyundai Auto Canada)

remain to be seen, but either way it will no doubt be offered at a much better price point than its European and Japanese competitors. Of the current group of rivals, Infiniti's Q45 is priced lowest at $75,500, while the Mercedes-Benz takes top spot for its $97,850 S-Class. Lexus sells a lot of $83,200 LS 430s while Audi doesn't sell very many $97,750 A8 Ls in comparison. BMW's 7 starts at $96,800, also quite popular, while Volkswagen could only rid themselves of 5 $96,500 Phaetons in Canada last month - the best month for this model was 8 units.

If Hyundai is planning to enter the fray, it should pay close attention to rival Volkswagen - at least for a good example of what not to do in this high-end market. While the Phaeton is as good as any of these top-tier cars, and better than some, its near $100,000 entry price is way out of line for luxury buyers used to paying mid $80K for a Lexus - considered to be the most reliable entry with the best initial quality. Infiniti has also fared poorly, despite the Q45's extremely low entry price and

The Centennial shares it's architecture with a car we do currently have in North America, the surprisingly long Kia Amanti (shown). (Photo: Rob Rothwell, Canadian Auto Press)

impressive powertrain. Most analysts believe the problem with the Q is once again styling, with luxury buyers willing to pay much more for a better looking luxury car.

While the Centennial isn't yet available in North America or Europe, its chassis architecture forms this year's luxury entry from Kia, the Amanti. In case you haven't had the chance to see an Amanti in real life, I had one in my garage parked next to Mercedes' G500 SUV a few weeks ago and couldn't believe how long it is. It dwarfed the Mercedes by almost a foot, putting in large car territory with room to spare. Compared to the Centennial the Amanti is only 126 mm (5.0 inches) shorter overall and 20 mm (0.8 inches) narrower, while actually 5.1 mm (0.2 inches) taller. The Kia's wheelbase is merely 40 mm (1.6 inches) shorter than the Centennial, so it's easy to see that the two cars are based on the same architecture.