Only Just Underway, Hyundai's Genesis Motors Boss Already Wants Fewer U.S. Dealers

There’s no denying the strategy behind Hyundai’s Genesis Motors luxury brand is unusual. By its very nature, the contrived launch of a new Korean luxury marque — more than a century after the dawn of America’s favourite luxury brand, Mercedes-Benz — is going to differ in a multitude of ways.

Genesis intends to maximize the possibility for consumers to shop for their cars online, for instance. And Genesis owners won’t need to take cars to dealers for servicing — valets will provide pickup and delivery.

Yet one aspect of a new brand’s U.S. launch is nevertheless set in stone: dealers.

Genesis Motors has 350 dealers inside Hyundai’s U.S. showrooms, Wards Auto reports. Genesis Motors’ general manager Erwin Raphael wants a different number.

A smaller number.

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Genesis Production Bound for Alabama: Report

The newest premium automaker on the block could cozy up to its downmarket parent company in Alabama.

Fledgling Korean luxury brand Genesis is expected to bring production of two models to the U.S. in three years, WardsAuto reports, likely setting up shop at Hyundai’s existing Montgomery plant.

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Genesis G90 Pricing Splits the Difference Between Americans, Germans

As it tries to carve out a foothold in the premium field, Genesis has priced its full-size G90 luxury sedan in an intermediate zone between its established German competition and new American range-toppers.

The G90 comes laden with standard features, so the price range of the four available configurations isn’t wide. With a starting price of $69,050 (including freight) for a rear-wheel-drive twin-turbo V6 model, the son-of-Hyundai hopes its flag bearer has enough value to get noticed.

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Genesis G70 Spied, Opts for a Non-Sporty Profile

A camouflaged Genesis G70 spotted testing in Germany provides a peek at the baby of Hyundai’s new luxury marque.

Photos published by AutoGuide show a compact four-door with traditional luxury sedan proportions, rather than something radical. As the third offering from the automaker’s planned six-vehicle lineup, the Korean G70 has its sights set on a trifecta of Germans — the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Audi A4.

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2017 Genesis G90 First Drive - By Any Other Name

A paranoid person, or maybe just a very cynical one, might have suspected the man of being a covert OEM plant.

“Is that a Bentley?” asked a well-to-do looking gentleman outside our Kelowna, British Columbia hotel, where a line of Genesis G90s rested after our drive up from Vancouver. Had they been within earshot, the automaker’s PR reps might have broken out into guarded, nervous smiles.

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Genesis Scores Big, Hires Bentley's Exterior Designer

Hyundai Motor Company wants its flagship Genesis brand to ooze luxury, and it just added another top industry talent to its dream team to make sure that happens.

The South Korean automaker now has the expertise of former Bentley exterior designer Sangyup Lee, who just jumped ship from the British luxury automaker, Reuters reports.

Lee will serve as vice-president in charge of Hyundai and Genesis design, joining Bentley alumnus Luc Donckerwolke, Hyundai Motor’s new Prestige Design Division head.

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Genesis Will Offer Plug-ins ASAP, Hyundai CEO Says

The newest luxury marque is already pursuing an electrification strategy to compete with the Germans.

Genesis, the upstart luxury division of Hyundai, rolls out its first vehicles this year, and plug-in hybrid models will soon follow, reports Automotive News.

The effort is all about battling competitors BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche on their own turf. Those luxury automakers are planning to increase their hybrid offerings in a market seen as more receptive to plug-ins.

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NYIAS: Genesis is the Real Deal

It was the end of the first day at the New York International Auto Show, a time when most “journalists” would normally have stopped doing anything that resembled work. Yet there we all were, assembled out in the hallway of Javits Convention Center, of all places, holding our glass bottles of Voss water and waiting to see what was hiding underneath the long blanket on the right side of the stage.

It’s at this point that most of the articles you’ve already read about the Genesis New York Concept start giving you the entire historical background of Hyundai, and the Genesis models, blah blah blah. I give you more credit than that. I know that you already know that the Hyundai Genesis sedan was a legitimate contender in its segment (especially you, BTSR).

The difference now is that everybody else seems to know that not only does the Genesis brand seem to be able to survive, they’re prepared to hit some towering home runs.

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NYIAS: Genesis Hybrid Sports Sedan Concept - To New Beginnings

Genesis is on path to preview its design language going forward with the reveal of the Hybrid Sports Sedan New York Concept. The styling is synonymous with the Vision G concept, while the powertrain and interior receive further enhancements.

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TTAC News Round-up: 2016 Detroit Auto Show Preview, VW's Mller to Attend NAIAS, and Dealers Force Infiniti QX30 Name Change

This Saturday is the calm before the storm.

While the Los Angeles Auto Show is the opening act of the North American auto show season, Detroit is the main event. Here’s what to expect at the 2016 North American International Auto Show, which begins this Monday.

That, Herr Müller is planning on visiting Detroit and U.S. regulators, and the Infiniti QX30 name change was forced by dealers … after the break!

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TTAC News Round-Up: Mazda's Crossover Mania, Hyundai Lands a Lambo Man, Toyota is Just The Tops

Newly promoted, high-priced executives at Mazda seem to think there’s something to this crossover fad.

That, Hyundai’s landed a Benjamin Button to lead Genesis and I wish I would have known how cheap I could have purchased an F1 team … after the break.

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Genesis G90 No Longer of Equus Genus (At Least, Not in North America)

Hyundai revealed Tuesday renderings of the first brand-new model to wear the Genesis nameplate as a marque. The new top-of-the-range Genesis will replace the Equus in the North American market next year, dropping its equine name for something more palatable to our tastes: alphanumerics.

On the other side of the Pacific, horse meat is a delicacy, so it should come as no surprise that the new Genesis G90 keeps its Equus lineage with the EQ900 model designation.

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Hyundai Officially Announces Genesis Luxury Brand, Six Model Lineup

Hyundai officially announced late Tuesday night the launch of the Genesis luxury sub-brand and outlined what’s to come from the new marque.

The announcement comes after the possible launch was reported by Reuters on Tuesday.

According to Hyundai, the new brand will eventually sell six distinct models, starting with the Hyundai Genesis sedan and Equus which will be renamed Genesis G80 and G90, respectively, going into the 2017 model year. Those models will debut in Korea in December and in North America next spring, reported Automotive News.

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  • Ronin It's one thing to stay tried and true to loyal past customers; you'll ensure a stream of revenue from your installed base- maybe every several years or so.It's another to attract net-new customers, who are dazzled by so many other attractive offerings that have more cargo capacity than that high-floored 4-Runner bed, and are not so scrunched in scrunchy front seats.Like with the FJ Cruiser: don't bother to update it, thereby saving money while explaining customers like it that way, all the way into oblivion. Not recognizing some customers like to actually have right rear visibility in their SUVs.
  • MaintenanceCosts It's not a Benz or a Jag / it's a 5-0 with a rag /And I don't wanna brag / but I could never be stag
  • 3-On-The-Tree Son has a 2016 Mustang GT 5.0 and I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 6spd. And on paper they are pretty close.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Same as the Land Cruiser, emissions. I have a 1985 FJ60 Land Cruiser and it’s a beast off-roading.
  • CanadaCraig I would like for this anniversary special to be a bare-bones Plain-Jane model offered in Dynasty Green and Vintage Burgundy.