Hyundai to Electrify Its Genesis Lineup?
Hyundai Motor Company has trademarked an electric version of every Genesis model in their lineup, according to GVforums.com.
In Korea, the automaker filed trademarks for G70e, G80e, GV70e, GV80e, and GV90e, which would lead Genesis fans to conclude that there’s going to be plug and play variants at a future date to be determined. If Korean trademarks are time-sensitive as they are in the U.S., it would give Hyundai three years to use it or lose it. At that point, they would need to file once again to retain the trademarks.
As we reported on Tuesday, President Biden is planning on using an executive order to replace 645,000 vehicles in the federal fleet with EVs. The question is whether this mandate will define what is American made by American workers, as foreign automakers have manufacturing and assembly plants in the U.S., and one, Stellantis, formerly FCA, is owned by a foreign company.
When you see a procession of large, black SUVs looking officious in the streets of Washington, D.C., will they all be GM, Ford, or Dodge products, or will this include vehicles like the Genesis if they’re assembled in the U.S., with at least 50 percent of their parts produced in America? With as many units as there are in the fleet, this could get political very quickly.
[Images: Hyundai, GVforums.com]
With a father who owned a dealership, I literally grew up in the business. After college, I worked for GM, Nissan and Mazda, writing articles for automotive enthusiast magazines as a side gig. I discovered you could make a living selling ad space at Four Wheeler magazine, before I moved on to selling TV for the National Hot Rod Association. After that, I started Roadhouse, a marketing, advertising and PR firm dedicated to the automotive, outdoor/apparel, and entertainment industries. Through the years, I continued writing, shooting, and editing. It keep things interesting.
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Full electric vehicles work best when they are on a dedicated platform so unless Hyundai had an engineering breakthrough I expect these will be PHEV. Maybe an outside chance at being a conventional hybrid.
Gents, look at VW & Toyota's percentage of EV/hybrids in their lineups. Any company saying they're going to 100% EV will fail miserably. VW & Toyota sell the people what they want. Any other nonsense is corporate wishful thinking or lazy press releases. You decide.