Hyundai teases their HCD-14 Concept coming to the Detroit Auto Show

The Hyundai HCD-14 Concept Vehicle that will debut next week at the 2013 NAIAS in Detroit is said to “give the automotive world a glimpse into future Hyundai premium vehicle design, advanced 3D gesture-based technology controls, and spirited driving dynamics.” Beyond that, no information is offered by the rapidly growing Korean automaker but based on rumors, spyshots and some available information we can make a few assumptions as what the HCD-14 might be.

We should first address the fact that there have been spyshots captured showing what many believe to be the next generation of the Hyundai Genesis Sedan. These spyshots show a car with a very long front end with a greenhouse area that stretches nearly all of the way to the back end of the car ending with a sedan version of a fastback design – which is pretty much exactly what we see here. While the details showed in the official company image shown here don’t seem to exactly match the lines and proportions of the test mules caught in action, perhaps the HCD-14 Concept is an evolution of those Genesis test mules.

The Genesis was introduced in the US in 2009 for the 2010 model year so the current iteration is coming up on being three years old, making a refresh likely but why call it the HCD-14?. The 2013 Genesis Sedan is on sale now so provided that this is our first look at the new Genesis, perhaps the “14” portion of the name refers to the expected model year of 2014 but if that is the case - why not use the Genesis name rather than HCD-14? Could it be that the HCD-14 debuting in Detroit is actually a larger vehicle that will become the evolutionary replacement for the range topping Equus?

The Hyundai HCD-14 Concept also looks quite a bit like the Kia Quoris so we are left wondering whether this Detroit-bound concept would be the successor to the Genesis sedan or the larger and more luxurious Equus. Hyundai’s short verbiage that came with this shadowy image of the HCD-14 talks about being the ‘future of Hyundai premium vehicle design’ and the Korean automakers premium vehicle is the incredible Equus. When you add to that the fact that the HCD-14 will include new high tech gesture based controls, this is something that you would expect to see in a top of the line model like the Equus over the next generation Genesis. There is also that part about spirited driving dynamics but having driven both the Genesis and Equus sedan – that could easily apply to either of the high powered Hyundai sport sedans.

There is another possibility that occurred to me about why Hyundai went with the name HCD-14 rather than introducing it as the 2014 Genesis Sedan. Perhaps Hyundai will look to differentiate between the Genesis Sedan and the Genesis Coupe by taking the naming of the next generation Genesis Sedan something other than the Genesis Sedan? Having the midrange large Genesis Sedan share a name with the company Genesis Coupe really doesn’t make a world of sense to the American consumer especially when you add in the fact that the two cars don’t look alike so it isnt like the Genesis Coupe is just a 2-door version of the Genesis Sedan like we see with models like the Nissan Altima coupe and sedan.

The 2013 North American International Auto Show opens to the media next Monday so in a little over a week, we should have a very good look at this sleek new concept.