$50kCDN = just under $39kUS That sounds about right, at least what I would expect looking at the G80 pricing.
If those numbers hold, then with sport trim, the G70 should come in at roughly the high 40's to low 50's. That would make it competitive and well might get people who have been looking at more established brands in the sports sedan sector to start looking at Genesis as an alternative. I still feel that a lot is riding on the price point, quality, and performance that these cars have when they first hit the US. If they can offer the car in good performance trim (for street, not track) at an attractive price, I think they'll sell a lot of product. If the car doesn't have good performance in its sport version or is priced too close to more established sports sedans, there will be little reason for people to check it out. Some other cars in this segment (like
Infiniti) are pricing very aggressively these days. I've heard of prices 10K off of MSRP for the Red Sport 400 model, for example. On paper, with some tweaks for the US market, the G70 can go toe-to-toe with that
Infiniti. But it has to come in at a better price (better than selling price, not just MSRP) and with similar or better performance to attract
Infiniti customers.
I've had two Infinitis and the ownership experience has been excellent. I was pretty much sold on getting the RS400 with its 400 HP turbo V6 until I caught wind of the G70. I found it because I'd admired the earlier Genesis coupe, which I knew was discontinued. So I was specifically looking at Genesis as a possible alternative, at least on an exploratory basis. But most owners of existing cars in the premium sports sedan segment will gravitate back to what they're familiar with unless word-of-mouth takes them down a different path. Ads alone won't do it. Every company will have ads that tout the superiority of their cars. But if the motoring press and actual drivers have a great experience with the new G70, and it has competitive performance at an attractive price, then people will pay attention.
My brother sold Mercedes for years and has owned a variety of luxury sedans and SUVs over the years. He stumbled onto the Hyundai Genesis several years ago and almost bought one because the dealers were so willing to price aggressively. But his current car at the time was still serving him well and he wasn't ready for a new purchase quite yet. About a year ago, he was ready for a new car and looked at the Hyundai Genesis but found that the aggressive pricing of a few years past had ended. He wound up buying something else. In his case (and many others, I suspect), his perception of the Hyundai Genesis was a car that was working to offer what more established brands did. Aggressive pricing offset the perceived risk that the company may not have figured out how to build cars in this segment to the extent that the established players had. Absent that aggressive pricing, the pull just wasn't strong enough to get him to buy a Genesis.
When I bought my present
Infiniti, the salesman subtly suggested that the (then-Hyundai) Genesis was working at matching the quality of more established brands but still didn't have their breadth of experience. He didn't say the quality was lacking but merely that their well of experience was much shallower, which is true. So, my point is, there's a well-worn path to BMW, Audi, Mercedes,
Infiniti, and other marques for potential purchasers to tread. To get them to deviate from that path and try the Genesis, something needs to stand out. Being "as good" isn't enough, despite that being a bit unfair. The car needs to be a substantially better value. It looks like that will be the case. But old habits and prejudices die hard. If the car has similar performance specs to something like the
Infiniti but looks like it will cost only a bit less, that may not be enough to divert most customers. Snob appeal, which still exerts some force, will be greater with the established brands. But if the G70's performance is noticeably better or its price is substantially less, then that may be enough to break people out of their established buying habits.
We at forums like this are the opinion leaders. We go to the trouble to find out which cars are truly the most appealing. I, and most of you, have become aware of all the great things that Genesis -- and the G70 in particular -- has to offer the sports sedan enthusiast. But most buyers don't do that much research. They'll wander back to the dealership where they last bought a car, see what the new models have to offer, find features that weren't in their last car, and probably just buy what they see. I almost did this, as I've stated. I discovered the
Infiniti RS400 at my local dealership, was impressed with the concept, checked out its performance attributes, and was pretty much sold. Fortunately, I decided to see what was happening on the Genesis front and found out about the upcoming G70. What I saw was enough for me to hold off on a purchase until I can actually see what Genesis delivers once it reaches our shores. But I'm a lot more inquisitive about these things than the average buyer. Genesis will have to make a big splash -- and I think they can if they play their cards right -- if they're going to succeed in luring people away from the more established brands and into the G70. I sure hope they pull it off. I hope that they can convince me, and a whole lot of other people, that what they offer is really the best choice in this segment.
