Do you know the relationship between Hyundai Grandeur and Hyundai Azera? Simply speaking, Hyundai Grandeur was also called as Hyundai Azera in some countries since the 4th generation Hyundai Grandeur released in 2005.
In 1986, the 1st generation Hyundai Grandeur was launched in South Korea on the base of Mitsubishi Debonair. In 1992, the 2nd generation Hyundai Grandeur jointly developed and produced by Hyundai and Mitsubishi was launched. Mitsubishi is mainly responsible for the powertrain while Hyundai is mainly responsible for the body and trim design, therefore the 2nd generation Hyundai Grandeur is also considered as the 3rd generation Mitsubishi Debonair. As an earlier Hyundai model, the Grandeur was the flagship of Hyundai between 1986 to 1996.
In 1998, the 3rd generation Hyundai Grandeur with codename XG was launched. Different with the previous two generations Hyundai Grandeur, the new generation Hyundai Grandeur was fully developed and produced by Hyundai and Hyundai was no longer cooperated with Mitsubishi from this generation. In some countries, the 3rd generation Hyundai Grandeur was also known as Hyundai XG or Hyundai XG with internal development code.
In 2005, the 4th generation Hyundai Grandeur, which shared the same platform with Hyundai Sonata, was launched. It was called as Hyundai Grandeur in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and European countries except France. However, in North America, China, Taiwan, the Philippines and other countries, it was called as Hyundai Azera, and this was the first time the name has appeared. From 2005 to 2008, the Hyundai Azera was Hyundai’s flagship model in both the U.S. and Canada markets.
In 2011, the 5th generation Hyundai Grandeur with codename HG was released. In Hyundai’s lineup, it is between Hyundai Sonata and Hyundai Genesis.
In Hyundai diecast model market, we can find a 1/18 scale model which is the replica model of the 5th generation Hyundai Azera for collectors, two different colors, silver and white, were released to meet different buyers’ needs. In recent years, the price of this 1/18 scale Hyundai Azera diecast model is getting higher and higher, because only a few Hyundai Azera diecast models were produced, if you like this Azera diecast model, please don’t miss the opportunity to collect it.
In 2016, the 6th generation Hyundai Grandeur with codename IG was released, and then, Hyundai Azera was discontinued in both the U.S. and Canadian markets starting in 2017,
In 2022, the 7th generation Hyundai Grandeur with codename GN7 was launched, and its main market is South Korea and the Middle East.
As the Hyundai flagship model, it is a pity that there is only one 1/18 Hyundai Azera diecast model released, however, it is worthy of being collected by Hyundai Grandeur owners and diecast car collectors because of its rarity.