Hyundai Announces New Genesis Luxury vehicle Brand

The vice chairman, the heir apparent of Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Mong-koo, has led the company’s luxury brand development project since 2004 for the company’s future growth.

The lineup will include a midsized model, luxury SUV and sports coupe models. Genesis won’t be limited to certain markets, however – Hyundai fully intends to offer it globally. “Every Genesis model will be created with the needs of our customers in mind, so the resulting auto will perfectly meet their needs without any unnecessary burden or excess”.

The announcement comes two weeks after the company posted a seventh consecutive quarter of profit declines as a slump in deliveries to China, Russian Federation and Brazil overshadowed gains in SUV sales in the United States, Europe and South Korea.

It is likely that, at least initially, Genesis models will be sold through existing select Hyundai dealerships, albeit from a section of the showroom made more upmarket and set apart from the regular models.

The Genesis brand will consist of six models, including the G80 and G90, an upgraded version of Hyundai Motor’s flagship full-size sedan, the Equus. “Hyundai, with its lower [luxury] sales volume, should be able to do something unique and different for customers, which is what will differentiate Genesis from other brands”.

“This is a smart strategy of launching a luxury brand based on the success of Genesis sedans, unlike Lexus and Infiniti which came out of nowhere”, Kim Jin-woo, industry analyst at Korea Investment & Securities. Hyundai Chief Executive David Zuchowski will oversee operations of the new line from the automaker’s North American headquarters here.

Of course, Hyundai has created a new logo for its new brand. “If you’re saying “Hyundai Genesis” and ‘Hyundai Equus, ‘ people are going to associate those cars with the Elantra, and that’s tough to dissociate yourself from when you want a buyer to spend $60,000 or $70,000″. Yet, at the same time, the Genesis cars will be fitted with the latest proactive safety technologies, intuitive convenience features, and IT connectivity. Six new Genesis models are scheduled to debut by 2020, with the first of these arriving this December.

Heard said “there will be a transition period where vehicles will straddle both brands”, which means we can expect a few confusion on top of what yet another uncreative alphanumeric naming convention will cause on its own.

At that time, external advisers cautioned Hyundai wasn’t ready to move to a standalone luxury brand, and should concentrate first on strengthening the core Hyundai brand.