#Genesis

Korea’s answer to the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class earned accolades upon its launch, with some kudos reserved for the availability of a six-speed manual transmission paired with the base 2.0-liter turbo four.

You know what’s coming next. Due for a refresh for the 2022 model year, the G70 is in line for an automatic-only future.

The G70 has thus far proven to be the most popular model in the Genesis lineup, attracting new buyers in the premium compact passenger car space since its late-2018 introduction.

Last year, the brand drew 56 percent of its volume from the G70. Through the first half of 2020, the G70 boasted more than double the sales of the next closest model, the G80. With quality awards adorning its trophy shelf, a pleasing design that fits its role as a rear-drive sports-luxury sedan, a window sticker capable of luring customers from German and Japanese brands, and power to spare, the G70 has a lot going for it.

But perhaps there’s a way for Genesis to boost its margins…

Commenter Chocolatedeath is absolutely adamant we talk about today’s trio of unpopular sedans. They’ve all got V8s, rear-drive, and found few buyers in their day, but that won’t stop us from choosing one among them to take home.

So, without further adieu, let’s take a look at Chocolatedeath’s car comparison, shall we?

The man behind the expressive designs rolling out of Hyundai and the newly sporty elegance of the fledgling Genesis brand is leaving the company. As reported by Automotive News, Luc Donckerwolke, who joined the automaker in 2015 after a prestigious career at Volkswagen Group, is stepping down as chief designer.

The automaker cites “personal reasons” for the resignation.

Gazing at the next-generation Genesis G80, it’s not hard to believe that the fledgling brand’s design boss once penned the lines of Bentley models.

All-new for 2021, Genesis’ midsize sedan aims to lure premium shoppers out of their German machines and into a Korean conveyance. The brand obviously doesn’t see this as a step down. Far from it.

Lexus has the spindle grille, BMW has kidneys, and Genesis now has twin horizontal streaks as its signature styling cue. Front and back and even on the sides, illuminated parallel lines are the next-generation G80 sedan’s defining design flourish.

Revealed late Wednesday on Instagram (a coronavirus-free but still virulent venue), the upcoming midsize sedan looks to its larger siblings for inspiration.

Our speculation was at least half correct. The upcoming Genesis GV80 crossover will indeed boast an uplevel four-cylinder base engine, the premium marque revealed Tuesday night, but the most potent of the anticipated powerplants will see a boost in displacement.

Genesis filled in the blanks at an event in Miami, saying its first crossover model will make use of an engine bound for the Hyundai Sonata N-Line and an upgrade mill with more horsepower than before.

Sure, we weren’t hankering for a high-riding Genesis model, but the brand was. And many buyers might, too, or so the fledgling marque hopes.

After teasing the upcoming midsizer since 2017, Hyundai’s premium brand pulled the wraps off the GV80 in Seoul, South Korea on Wednesday. In doing so, it raised the brand’s complement to four vehicles: three sedans, and this CUV. So, how does the GV80 stand apart in an overcrowded segment?

A near-future of rapidly rising sales is a vision Genesis brand chief William Lee wants to see come true. It has to, if Hyundai’s premium marque wants to stick around.

With its American dealer strategy now up and running and the public debut of the brand’s first crossover vehicle just days away, Lee claims he’s confident great things lie ahead. Is it bad luck for a fledgling marque to issue sales predictions? If it is, Lee isn’t aware.

The dawn of a new decade brings a new chapter for the fledgling Genesis brand.

After four years spent slowly growing its lineup to three sedans and crafting a standalone dealer network aimed at instilling some prestige to the brand, Hyundai’s premium division will greet its long-awaited GV80 crossover on January 16th. About time.

Introduced last year, Genesis’ third — and newest — model is the G70, a value-packed rear- or all-wheel-drive sports sedan aimed at BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class intenders. We could throw the Jaguar XE in there, too, but no one buys that car.

Like its Kia Stinger platform mate, the G70 kicks up its feet with the help of a base 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four or uplevel 3.3-liter twin-turbo V6. However, on the horizon looms a larger, more potent entry-level powerplant.

Not in the way Genesis would have liked, however. While the fledgling Genesis brand’s first utility vehicle isn’t expected to debut until early in the new year, a pair of images posted to Instagram gives us a pretty good impression of what to expect.

That said, the brand’s 2017 GV80 concept vehicle (seen above) took us a good part of the way there. Clearly, Genesis’ designers didn’t stray too far from the camp.

Noise-canceling technologies have become a handy little tool wedged inside the belt of many automakers. Aimed at reducing unpleasant road noise, most systems invert incoming sound waves to produce an exact negative of the ambient sound you don’t want to hear. They work best when you don’t notice them, which is pretty much always, but Hyundai Group claims there’s more work to be done before the tech is perfect.

As a result, the Korean manufacturer has developed an upgraded version of its current active noise control setup (ANC), one it calls “the world’s first Road Noise Active Noise Control.” Rather than simply piping in sounds designed to offset road noise, the new system (referred to as “RANC” by the automaker) also analyses in-cabin sound to make adjustments to help nullify unpalatable engine and road drone.

Have we mentioned that Genesis needs a crossover? Surely we have, again and again. It’s still true, and the fledgling brand is well aware of it.

While parent Hyundai has managed to climb back from a recent sales slump with the addition of new product, its three-model premium brand faces a harder task: growing sales while simultaneously adopting a new dealer strategy and selling just passenger cars. With this burden on its shoulders, getting back to where it was two years ago — a year after its inception — is a victory… for now.

A mainstream brand in 2019 without a crossover? It’s almost unthinkable, though not in the context of a fledgling marque and a rapidly changing automotive landscape.

Genesis Motors, the luxury ying to Hyundai’s everyman yang, is still recovering from a tumultuous 2018 in which its confused dealer strategy gradually became clearer. And it’s still taking shape, with some 318 U.S. dealers at last count amid rising, albeit modest, sales volumes. With more standalone stores on the way and a trio of models now in the stable, Genesis’ work has only just begun. It next needs to break into the all-too-important crossover market.

It looks like the first CUV salvo is almost ready to fire.