I agree, there are a lot of assumptions being made based on pure conjecture. Exactly what date is “from the get-go” and exactly when is “earlier on”. Folks are making assumptions that are just as bad as those they are chastising Genesis for making.
Well, not
pure conjecture.
Genesis, at least through its discussions with members of the press, did suggest that the car would be released at several dates prior to its summer release. Back in April, the word was that the North American release date would be in Spring of 2018. Yes, in retrospect it's possible to say that the Canadian release met that timeline. but "North American" sure sounded like it included the US and I don't think the lack of further clarification back then was an accident. The assumption that the US would see it then wasn't an unreasonable assumption given the announcements Genesis was putting out. Did they really think anyone would understand North America to mean only Canada?
As for the existence of laws regarding how long it takes to get new brands approved, that's been the state of things for decades. As an article in the
Iowa Law Review (Tesla, Dealer Franchise Laws, and the Politics of Crony Capitalism, 2016) states,
"Today, such laws [statutes governing automotive franchise relations] are on the books in all 50
states. Their terms vary, but they commonly include prohibitions on forcing
dealers to accept unwanted cars,
protections against termination of franchise
agreements, and restrictions on granting additional franchises in a franchised
dealer's geographic market area." [Emphasis added]
Nothing new here. As for the tensions that arise when franchisors seek to terminate dealerships, again, nothing new. Here's a paper, titled, State Franchise Laws, Dealer Terminations, and the Auto Crisis, from the
Journal of Economic Perspectives (2010) that lays out some of the tensions that exist between manufacturers and dealerships:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...toCrisis.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1AxqUk7s5K-n-hozhVazWv
A look at the preceding article makes it quite clear that dealerships have enjoyed a long span of legislative protection and a decision to eliminate dealerships so as to benefit the manufacturer wouldn't be an easy feat to accomplish.
As to what they did or didn't do or talk about, we don't really know and that would be speculation. but what we do know is that the discussions that took place weren't able to produce a speedy resolution. And either they didn't care about reaching a speedy resolution or they didn't anticipate the steps necessary to avoid one and take the required actions. Those aren't speculations.
I'm really not trying to beat up on Genesis but I think it's fair to state that they didn't handle this roll-out well. The automotive press have made the same observation.
In April, Automotive News said,
"The time in between will have been a bumpy, tortuous ride for Hyundai dealers, thanks to a strategy they have called
indecisive at best and
maddeningly muddled at worst and despite well-received products that can reasonably claim to compete with the German and Japanese giants.
"Last year,
Genesis leaders jolted the Hyundai network by announcing a retail strategy that would cut loose the vast majority of Hyundai dealers and demand separate buildings to handle all operations for the luxury line. The about-face has
angered dealers who spent years methodically building up the once-paradoxical notion of Korean luxury vehicles, only to find themselves out in the cold now, while also
keeping the brand in limbo as it prepares to launch a critical vehicle" [Emphasis added]
In May, Automotive News said, in an article titled The Long and Painful Birth of Genesis:
"But the birth of Genesis is in some ways as chaotic as it is rapid. The
mixed signals on hammering out an independent U.S. retail channel underscored the
pitfalls of speed. In January, Genesis announced it would launch a separate network of about 100 stores in 48 cities. By May, it had
changed course, saying it would offer franchise agreements to all Hyundai dealers." [Emphasis added]
To me, all this adds up to a foreseeable set of hurdles. No, I don't know the content of the internal conversations that took place at Genesis. Claiming I did would certainly cross into speculation. But I do know that they at least dangled the prospect of a Spring release, ran into a set of angry-dealer issues whose impact they apparently hadn't anticipated, and pushed the release of the car from Spring to Autumn -- a time in which they will be sharing buyers' attentions with a lot of new releases from competitors. I'm sure the people at Genesis are all very nice. I'm sure the car is very nice. I wish the company well. But I'm also pretty confident that the G70 rollout won't ever be used as a shining example for how a new car model should be introduced in the US.