What is Hyundai Doing with Genesis Overseas?

[News Man]

Hyundai’s luxury arm, Genesis, has gotten off to a good start in this country. But what’s going on with it elsewhere?

Well, in the U.K., the Genesis sedan, which we call the Genesis G80 here, is being killed off. Why?
“The Genesis was never built for the European market,” Hyundai U.K.director Tony Whitehorn said to AutoCar. “It was conceived for the Korean and American markets.”
Genesis Sedan Built for America, Korea
That’s a reference to the second-generation Hyundai Genesis sedan, not the Genesis brand, which Hyundai plans to launch in the U.K. at some point in the future. It was once rumored that the brand would launch there in 2018, but now the target date is unclear.





What is Hyundai Doing with Genesis Overseas?

 

[dougmcp]

This was posted in Jalopnik this morning:
For the past few years, Genesis has been Hyundai’s venture into luxury sedans. The company slapped a new logo on the car, attempting to put it on the same level as the Lexuses of the world. But while Lexuses are selling by the thousands in the U.K., Hyundai’s killing the car off after only selling 50 since 2015.
In case math isn’t your thing, 50 cars in two years is not a lot. There are almost 66 million people living in the U.K., and in two years, Autocar reports that 50 of those people have decided to mosey on over to a dealership and pay $65,000 at current exchange rates for a Genesis. We reached out to the company to confirm that number, and will update when we hear back.
The Genesis came with a 3.8-liter V6 only in the U.K., and here’s what Hyundai U.K. told Autocar about its sales:
“The Genesis was never built for the European market, it was conceived for the Korean and American markets,” Hyundai UK managing director Tony Whitehorn told Autocar. “It shows a saloon car with a 3.8-litre engine is not really what is demanded in Europe, and in particular in the UK.
“we brought it in as much just to sample it: lots of people told us they’d driven a Genesis in America and liked it. It was also available in Australia and had done well there, so it was engineered in right-hand-drive. So we thought fine, let’s trial it and see how it goes.”
But it’s not like luxury sedans with a lot of power are totally ignored over there, since the four-door $94,500 Lexus GS F sales numbers were at 1,351 during that time frame. That’s 1,301 more than the Genesis.
Well, Genesis, it was a good run. Just think—at that rate, you’d catch up to the GS F’s numbers in a mere 52 years.

 

[Mark_888]

Due to narrow roads, small parking spaces, and traffic congestion, very few people in the UK purchase cars as large as the G80 sedan (not to mention the even larger G90). Maybe if they had a the G70 and a small SUV buyers may be interested, but that may not be enough to justify a Genesis Motors entry into the UK.

 

[News Man]

Genesis is not selling well in UK?

 

[dougmcp]

Due to narrow roads, small parking spaces, and traffic congestion, very few people in the UK purchase cars as large as the G80 sedan (not to mention the even larger G90). Maybe if they had a the G70 and a small SUV buyers may be interested, but that may not be enough to justify a Genesis Motors entry into the UK.

Even though a lot of cars in the UK are small and diesel powered I'm not sure it's because the parking spaces are small or congestion.
The big cost of a car is road tax and fuel where average costs of running a car about 10K per year is around $1.50 per mile, more than double the US costs.
I also think they likely still consider Genesis to still be a higher end Hyundai as opposed to higher quality Jaguar, Mercedes, Audi and BMW.
I do agree the G70 will be a better fit for that market.

 

[Mark_888]

I also think they likely still consider Genesis to still be a higher end Hyundai as opposed to higher quality Jaguar, Mercedes, Audi and BMW.

Everyone thinks the Genesis is a high-end Hyundai. The reason people buy a Genesis is because a comparable vehicle of the other brands you mentioned is usually about $15-$20 higher than a Genesis.

 

[dougmcp]

Everyone thinks the Genesis is a high-end Hyundai. The reason people buy a Genesis is because a comparable vehicle of the other brands you mentioned is usually about $15-$20 higher than a Genesis.

I totally agree, Genesis would not be making the inroads/sales without the pricing structure they have.

 

[YEH]

The Genesis/G80 was simply the wrong vehicle/model to make inroads in the European market.

First off, the European market favors smaller vehicles and for larger sedans, the majority of sales are to corporate fleet which requires diesel, a turbo 4 or hybrid/PHEV due to taxes.

The G70 and its equivalent CUV would be much better bets for the European market (but still need would need a T4 and hybrid/PHEV variants; diesels are starting to fall out of favor), but even then, the Genesis brand would still need a smaller sedan and CUV - which probably would mean FWD-based models).

Regardless, Europe is a tough nut to crack and Hyundai is better off focusing on other markets until they have the proper line-up to tackle Europe.

So that leaves NA (not sure about Mexico), Korea, Australia, China, Russia and the Middle East.

The Genesis sedan outsells the GS and Q70 in Australia as it does here (albeit, not a big seller).

The Genesis brand will be launched in Australia with the G80 Sport and the G70.

Australia is a market that is more favorable to what the Genesis brand has to offer currently (or in the near future) - larger sedans with powerful petrol engines.

The Kia Stinger has generated a lot of excitement and already has more pre-orders than total Infiniti sales for 2016 (and all but 1 pre-order is for the GT with the 3.3TT).

 

[javierdos]

Hello everyone
I own a Genesis 3.8 ultimate G90 here in Spain for two years
The information that I have is that they have sold about 20 units in each country, Germany, Uk, Italy and some more
No problem for size and power, I have enjoyed many models like the Sl, Cls, Mercedes, BMW series 5, 6 and 7 and if you travel frequently is not no problem with these cars round thousands of kms.

The genesis, is an authentic wonder with all the extras that it incorporates as a series and that are equivalent to save a significant amount of money, if we compare it with the Europeans

The quality is high, but perhaps the finishes do not reach the detail of the big brands here

I had a small accident, and here my genesis became a real nightmare for the total lack of spare parts, everything had to come from Korea and a simple repair turned into a nightmare and two months without a car

The repair was done well, it is fair to recognize it, but it is also true that if Hyundai does not change policy will never be a brand of cars of prestige in Europe

For your information I have enjoyed more than 115 cars, and this situation has NEVER experienced with other brands

Gretings to all, and sorry my bad English