Hyundai Will Have to Rebrand Genesis or Fail

[wallymn]

If they have not passed it, I think Hyundai is close in North America to getting to the point where they are know as good car, good value.

Getting close, My neighbor just bought a 2009 Sonata based on his view of my genesis. He hadn't considered Hyundai prior as he assumed they were "cheap" cars....

 

[ImInPA]

It would be interesting if Hyundai were to purchase one of the ailing GM brands, such as Hummer. This would provide them a fairly decent dealer location network and a line of established SUVs. Most Hummer Dealerships are fairly upscale already. Just a thought.

 

[wallymn]

I don't think Hummer has a lot of brand value left....

Why not move Kia down market and Hyundai up market?

Hyundai...

Drop the Accent (or keep the name and move to Kia brand)
Drop the lowest end Sonatas (keep mid and high level trims for 4 and v6)
Drop the GLS elantra
Drop the Tuscan
Keep the Genesis (duh)
Keep the Equis (when it arrives)

Trim up the remaining Elantra,Sonata and SUV lines and you have the beginnings of a premium brand. (If BMW can call a 328i a premium car Hyundai can call an Elantra a premium car if trimmed correctly)

Kia
Drop the Amati (and planned Genesis based sedan)
Drop the Borrego (this would compete with the uptrimmed veracruz)
Replace the Rio with the Accent (better name recognition)


Why couldn't this work over a product lifecycle? 5-7 years.

 

[ajls09873]

I don't think Hummer has a lot of brand value left....

Why not move Kia down market and Hyundai up market?

Hyundai...

Drop the Accent (or keep the name and move to Kia brand)
Drop the lowest end Sonatas (keep mid and high level trims for 4 and v6)
Drop the GLS elantra
Drop the Tuscan
Keep the Genesis (duh)
Keep the Equis (when it arrives)

Trim up the remaining Elantra,Sonata and SUV lines and you have the beginnings of a premium brand. (If BMW can call a 328i a premium car Hyundai can call an Elantra a premium car if trimmed correctly)

Kia
Drop the Amati (and planned Genesis based sedan)
Drop the Borrego (this would compete with the uptrimmed veracruz)
Replace the Rio with the Accent (better name recognition)


Why couldn't this work over a product lifecycle? 5-7 years.

What?
Drop the Tucson, Elantra, Accent, Sonata??
If i am a Hyundai, I keep Tucson, Elantra, Accent, Sonata till the end of day.
Hyundai need new luxury brand. There is no need kill volume seller models.

 

[genesismuse]

I don't think Hummer has a lot of brand value left....

Why not move Kia down market and Hyundai up market? .... Why couldn't this work over a product lifecycle? 5-7 years.

It's an interesting idea and there are a lot of moving parts here. Let's assume that it can be done pragmatically (a big assumption), the question to me is, would it accomplish the goal of elevating the brand and targeting the luxury market? Others could not. It's the reason why we have Lexus, Acura, Inifiniti and for that matter, Lincoln and Cadillac (although the latter two came about in very different ways). I think it would be an uphill battle during good times.

Given today's news Hyundai Chief Sentenced to Prison for Embezzling] it could be a really big challenge. I don't see this re-branding plan executing any time soon.

For the record, the Kia/Hyundai relationship is fairly complex and opaque. Basically, it's a massive family run business. From Wikipedia:

The Hyundai Kia Automotive Group (Korean: 현대-기아 자동차 그&#47353 is South Korea's largest automobile manufacturer, the second largest automaker in Asia and one of the world's top four automakers, after overtaking Ford Motor Company in 2009.[1] It was formed through the purchase of 51% of South Korea's second-largest car company, Kia Motors, by the larger, Hyundai Motor Company, in 1998. Subsequently the company divested itself of a part of its ownership in Kia Motors[2] , and currently owns only 38.67% of that company[3].

Kia Motors is South Korea's second largest automobile manufacturer with headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, 38.67% owned by the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group.[1] Its CEO is Chung Eui-sun.

Chung Eui-sun (born October 18, 1970), also spelled Chung Eui-son, is a South Korean businessman. He is the president of Kia Motors and Hyundai Mobis, and the only son of Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Mong-koo.
In March 2006, Chung and his father were banned from leaving the country, although his father was able to leave shortly thereafter. The bans were imposed in the process of a wide-ranging investigation into fraud and bribery committed by various Hyundai companies.

 

[ImInPA]

I don't think Hummer has a lot of brand value left....

I was not so much thinking about them keeping the Hummer brand or vehicles, but purchasing the dealerships. They are pretty nice, at least the ones I have been in. This would likely be cheaper than building a new dealership network and parts supply locations from scratch.

 

[Gold Z]

I dearly love my Genesis but my buying experience and my service experiences have been horrible. I do not want a repeat of this when it's time to replace my car. BMW is looking better all the time.

 

[mongo]

Of the three Hyundai dealerships in CT and the one in NY that I visited, one in CT was "nice", one in CT was "okay" and the other two were pretty much dives. Dirty floors. Seats with torn covering in the waiting areas. One actually told me they didn't have a restroom for the public. One that did have a restroom, my wife went in to use it and came right back out. There were dead roaches on the floor, crumpled tissue paper on the floor, and the toilet seat was broken. I went into the mens room to check t out for her. The toilet seat was off the toilet and leaning against the wall.

The "nice" dealership in CT had one car, a V6, they were going to get a V8 in "sometime in the future". I took the V6 out for a test drive. It pulled hard to the left, so at the first intersection I turned around and went back to the dealership and asked if they could check the tire pressure. "There's no one here to do it" turned into "we have a mechanic here, but he's busy". I went to my car to get the pressure gauge out of my glove box and was told "please don't touch the tires, they have special fill caps."

I bought from the dealership in NY. The sales kid was very nice. Very polite, very accommodating. He could have worked the floor in a Jag, BMW, or Lexus dealership. He knew the cars, he was great. The middleman/finance guys? They were a hoot. They were the epitome of every old-school car salesman cliche. Lying snakes. When they were caught in a lie they just wouldn't stop talking. Numbers that didn't add up. It was a hoot buying through them and just pissing them off in the process. Especially handing them a cashiers check for the full amount when I bought. "Uh, no one pays cash. How do we know this check is good?" I called the owner over and told him I was taking another $100 off the purchase price for being insulted.

So to the OP, I don't hang out in dealerships to be waited upon and coddled to. I spent a year in Korea, I was up the road from you in Suwon. Loved the country, loved the people. And now I love this car. When I was at the dealership there was a Korean couple from corporate Hyundai there the day was negotiating price. I went over and spoke a little Korean to them, their faces lit up.

The Genesis? It's a nice car. It's a great car, as a matter-of-fact. Find a dealership and buy on price. Then find a dealership to do your service. I think I've found one about 30 minutes from me to handle the service side, if I ever need it.

Again, it's a great car and it's a great value. Don't let a few knuckleheads get in the way of you enjoying your ride.

 

[dataguy]

I would love for them to make it a premium brand, as I am not receiving the same level of service that I received from my Lexus I traded in. What nobody seemed to mention was the fact that once a premium brand is established, then a lot of the great priced we are getting will be a thing of the past. A premium dealership costs the dealer lots of money...and right now we are all enjoying the dealership cost spread across every Hyundai that is sold. So while I'd love to have my cake and eat it too, the $4K+ that I saved will be a thing of the past.

This pretty much hits the issue on the head. Although you can argue that now that the premium brands have established their reputation and brand cachet that some of the sticker is undoubtedly markup, the cost of maintaining the high level of service, support, and amenities is why you spend $10-20k more for versus what Hyundai is charging for the Genesis.

When you don't have the reputation or brand appeal, you can either sell to the economy market or you can sell premium cars at deeply discounted prices. But the closer they come on the high end to matching the sticker of a lux brand, the less compelling the Hyundai purchase is.

I think it's pretty clear that Hyundai recognizes that sales and service are important, which is why they are going to either change the model or pre-qualify dealers to sell the Equus. That will pave the way for a new nameplate in the future, undoubtedly raising prices over time. In 10-15 years, I see their stickers comparable to the others (as it's unlikely that the others will lower theirs to match Hyundai's)

But today, they still have a long way to go to being able to afford to sell cars with the front- and back-end experience that luxury owners expect. So they've gone with the value angle. It may alienate some, but it does pick up a demographic that can't or won't pay for a German or Japanese lux nameplate.

 

[batman]

I think Hyundai should really be more aggressive on the dealer dimension. The car is great, but there are a lot of great cars. The Genesis is without doubt the best car at the price point, but the American car companies also offer a great price-value package. e.g. a fully loaded awd Lincoln MKS with Ecoboost is price comparable and feature comparable to a 4.6 Genesis fully loaded.

Lincoln and Hyundai both have the same challenge, the car is a premium experience and the dealer is not.

Switching from BMW to Lexus as I did last year, the one thing that really struck me is how good the experience is in the Lexus dealerships.
My local Lexus dealer in Florida for instance has the following nice features:
1) Gorgeous receptionist, service counter assistants, and cafe lady
2) Cafe offering beverages, pastries, and other nice snacks for free
3) Lexus IS, ES, GS or RX loaner car every time you car is in even if for an oil change
4) Full-service spa, with free massage, manicure, pedicure or hairstyling if you choose to wait for your service
5) Surround sound large screen theater room
6) The nicest people you will meet in the car industry
7) Lots of showroom cars if you want to browse
8) They do a lot of things for free that other brands charge for, e.g. refilling your tires with pure nitrogen, replacing batteries in the smartkey, programming additional smartkeys.

This aspect of the ownership experience is important.

Now if the Genesis was way better than say a Lexus GS or a 2011 BMW 535i then you could say fine it doesn't matter. But when I looked at the car, while it way exceeded my expectations, I could see areas of cost-cutting that I didn't see in well Lexus GS and BMW 5 cars (e.g. 6 speed transmission instead of 8 speed in Lexus).

I hope they nail the dealer thing. And ideally make Genesis a brand not a sub brand. I look forward to buying one once their luxury transformation is complete.

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[dataguy]

Paying $5-10K+ more for a car for each and every owner likely has something to do with the "premium experience." Unless you're a volume dealer, you're not going to be able to afford that without some sort of subsidy. I wonder how many Genesis or Equus the #1 selling dealer would expect to sell in a year?

 

[scottdk]

Switching from BMW to Lexus as I did last year, the one thing that really struck me is how good the experience is in the Lexus dealerships.
My local Lexus dealer in Florida for instance has the following nice features:
1) Gorgeous receptionist, service counter assistants, and cafe lady
2) Cafe offering beverages, pastries, and other nice snacks for free
3) Lexus IS, ES, GS or RX loaner car every time you car is in even if for an oil change
4) Full-service spa, with free massage, manicure, pedicure or hairstyling if you choose to wait for your service
5) Surround sound large screen theater room
6) The nicest people you will meet in the car industry
7) Lots of showroom cars if you want to browse
8) They do a lot of things for free that other brands charge for, e.g. refilling your tires with pure nitrogen, replacing batteries in the smartkey, programming additional smartkeys.

I could see areas of cost-cutting that I didn't see in well Lexus GS and BMW 5 cars (e.g. 6 speed transmission instead of 8 speed in Lexus).QUOTE]

Well my dealer has everything except #4 thank God.

An 8 speed tranny isn't an "upgrade" imo. Cars with the 7 or 8 speed tranny or well known for being and getting confused when driving enthusiastically. Upshift, downshift, back and forth because the tranny has too many gears for performance and gets confused.

 

[GripperDon]

BATMAN ! Now that's a Dealership, WOW

 

[mongo]

While there are a fair number of Hyundai commercials on TV, they don't even mention the Genesis. That's a bit of a head-scratcher.

I think the last time I saw a Gennie specifically named in a commercial was in last year's Super Bowl.

I went to a dealership about 3 or 4 weeks ago to buy a few oil filters, on a TV they ran Hyundai commercials. Started talking to a few of the boys and they wish Hyundai was marketing the car.

Not "marketing it more", they want them to START marketing it. They feel the Genesis is getting minimal push from Hyundai, and the only "marketing" is coming from the hype generated from magazine reviews; Car and Driver, etc.

 

[Mark_888]

I know I am repeating myself, but the purpose of selling the Genesis and Equus in the US is to improve the Hyundai brand image so they can sell more Sonatas, etc. Hyundai will live or die based on the sales of their smaller and mid-size cars like the Accent, Elantra, and Sonata (not necessarily referring to EPA size classifications). The percentage of car shoppers who test drive an Accord or Camry who will even look at a Sonata has improved quite a bit recently, but still has a ways to go (it is still less than 50%).

Build the brand. Build the brand. Build the brand.

Believe it or not, Hyundai might not be real happy if they starting selling boatloads of Genesis or Equus, because that would lower their CAFE numbers (corporate average fuel economy). Hyundai is now claiming the lead in CAFE (mostly because they don't sell pickup trucks in the US like Honda and Toyota), and they could even have problems meeting government CAFE targets several years from now if they started selling too many Genesis/Equus given the number of SUV's they also sell.

 

[GripperDon]

Build the brand. Build the brand. Build the brand.

Listen to and suport the customer, Listen to and support the customer, ....

 

[kaberle]

I think Hyundai should really be more aggressive on the dealer dimension. The car is great, but there are a lot of great cars. The Genesis is without doubt the best car at the price point, but the American car companies also offer a great price-value package. e.g. a fully loaded awd Lincoln MKS with Ecoboost is price comparable and feature comparable to a 4.6 Genesis fully loaded.

Lincoln and Hyundai both have the same challenge, the car is a premium experience and the dealer is not.

Switching from BMW to Lexus as I did last year, the one thing that really struck me is how good the experience is in the Lexus dealerships.
My local Lexus dealer in Florida for instance has the following nice features:
1) Gorgeous receptionist, service counter assistants, and cafe lady
2) Cafe offering beverages, pastries, and other nice snacks for free
3) Lexus IS, ES, GS or RX loaner car every time you car is in even if for an oil change
4) Full-service spa, with free massage, manicure, pedicure or hairstyling if you choose to wait for your service
5) Surround sound large screen theater room
6) The nicest people you will meet in the car industry
7) Lots of showroom cars if you want to browse
8) They do a lot of things for free that other brands charge for, e.g. refilling your tires with pure nitrogen, replacing batteries in the smartkey, programming additional smartkeys.

This aspect of the ownership experience is important.

Now if the Genesis was way better than say a Lexus GS or a 2011 BMW 535i then you could say fine it doesn't matter. But when I looked at the car, while it way exceeded my expectations, I could see areas of cost-cutting that I didn't see in well Lexus GS and BMW 5 cars (e.g. 6 speed transmission instead of 8 speed in Lexus).

I hope they nail the dealer thing. And ideally make Genesis a brand not a sub brand. I look forward to buying one once their luxury transformation is complete.

Is it any wonder I don't feel comfortable with people who value what is quoted here in a car dealership.......... To each their own but for me....


I have a gorgeous receptionist at my office that I ogle every day ....... don't need one at my car dealer

Coffee and pastries are offered not only at my Hyundai Dealer but also at my Honda dealer...... not exactly a high end offering

I have only been into my dealer three times for oil changes.... each time I was given a Genesis as a loaner


Full service spa?...... what are you kidding me ? .......

Surround sound theater at my house is I'm sure at least on par with the one at the dealer and I get to choose the movie ( 100 " screen with 7.1 surround Harmon Kardon equipment with 950 Watts of listening enjoyment.... and I get to sit and watch with my kids)

The nicest people you will meet in the car industry are not exclusive to Lexus.... what a joke if you believe this .... that is like saying CEO's and Doctors and Lawyers are the nicest people in the world ......

Lot's of show room cars?........ I would think all dealerships have that ......


They do a lot of things for free?........ ummm no ... you just pay for it up front whether you need it or not.....


Amazing to me how much stock some people put in the dealer...... I have been at my dealer for .. gee lets see........ a total of 15 minutes during three visits......... If I want all of these so called perks I am sure the money I saved on my Genesis will pay for them at a much nicer locale than a car dealership....

But hey .... have fun .......knock yourselves out

 

[kaberle]

I know exactly what the original poster means.. And so does Mark.. Most of these Hyundai sales people do NOT know how to deal with the type of customers who buy vehicles like the Genesis. They NEED specialized people to deal with this type of customer. My intelligence is insulted every time I walk into a Hyundai dealership. Maybe I'm an *******. But I buy expensive vehicles - so it shouldn't matter. They need to learn how to deal with *******s like me.

The reason why Hyundai isn't setting up a separate brand is because they really don't care how many Equus cars they sell. They just want to show-off and bring people into dealerships to buy Accents. It's a sad reality that most of us will not want to believe - but it's true. If the Equus sells like hotcakes, they'll likely consider setting up a new brand.

If I were a dealer I know how I would deal with ********'s .... .. BTW I agree with the second paragraph

 

[batman]

I am not surprised that a large percentage of you are claiming the Hyundai dealership experience is as good as Lexus and any other luxury car maker.

However I would point out that you guys are also Genesis owners, so Hyundai doesn't need to do more to convince you. You guys are also value conscious customers and so you would probably trade-off immaterial things for more money in your pocket.

But the luxury market is about paying for things you don't need but which are nice. And to do that, your dealership must offer things which don't make sense economically but which create a premium experience which holistically people will pay more for.

For the guys who did didn't bite the marshmallow so quickly, they need to do more than just offer better value. And as one of these people, I am pointing out that the dealer experience is an area with a gap. Yes you may check the list and say you have those things.

Compare the websites.

This is our Hyundai dealer:
http://www.doralhyundai.com/

This is my Lexus dealer:
http://www.lexusofnorthmiami.com/AboutUs

Just surf around the websites. The Lexus one emphasize their people, their values, etc. The Hyundai one emphasizes coupons. This is not premium.

I am not trying to knock the Hyundai dealers here. I am just saying that luxury products are more than just a spec sheet - they are about an experience, and this is something Hyundai should take seriously because they have built a couple of awesome cars in the Genesis and Equus and it would be a shame if they ended up as low volume brand building exercises like the VW Phaeton. The Genesis should be viewed as this decades LS400 - but to do that the other pieces need work.

 

[Mark_888]

I am not surprised that a large percentage of you are claiming the Hyundai dealership experience is as good as Lexus and any other luxury car maker.

I don't think the Hyundai dealer experience is even as good as Toyota or Honda. Not so much in perks, but in the quality of the people you have deal with. Fortunately, I don't plan on spending a lot of time with my dealer, but every time I talk to an dealer employee I usually cringe.