On November 4, Hyundai Motor Co. launched its luxury Genesis sedan as a separate standalone premium brand in a bid to enhance the competitiveness of its vehicles in the fast-growing the high-end luxury vehicle market.
The launch of an independent premium brand is a first for Hyundai, which has tenaciously held on to the Hyundai brand since its foundation in 1967. Hyundai, however, chose to go for brand gentrification in order to meet diversified customer needs and compete against the likes of its rival Toyota's premium brand Lexus in the global high-end vehicle market.
While continuously targeting general customers with Hyundai-branded vehicles, the carmaker looks to appeal to deep-pocket consumers by using the Genesis brand name.
To raise brand recognition and maintain brand consistency, the luxury brand Genesis will simply add a subtle luxurious feel to the wing-type emblem of the current second-generation Genesis, rather than coming up with a complete different emblem.
“The launch of the Genesis brand will help improve our response to the fast-growing luxury automobile market and thus help take Hyundai to new heights. By nurturing the new Genesis marque into a prestigious brand representative of South Korea, we will make sure that our cars can compete on a par with other luxury car brands in the global high-end luxury market,” said Hyundai Motor.
Though Hyundai has grown into the world's fifth-largest automaker with over 8 million units in annual sales, the carmaker found it hard to move upmarekt.
“The move can be seen as Hyundai’s attempt to pivot from the mass production of vehicles towards the production of value-added luxury vehicles. Though it can be difficult to catch up with Toyota’s Lexus, Volkswagen’s Audi and other swanky brands, the spinoff came in a very timely manner,” said an auto industry insider.
The carmaker plans to have a full line-up of six models -- the existing two models (the Equus, the Genesis) and four new models -- by 2020 under the Genesis brand. The four new models will include a mid-size sedan, a large sport utility vehicle (SUV), a mid-size SUV and a sports coupe.
The Equus flagship luxury sedan will also be consolidated into the newly launched brand and its new edition, scheduled to be launched next month will be named "EQ900" for the domestic market and G90 for overseas markets, according to Hyundai Motor.
The new models will be named by using a combination of the letter "G" for Genesis and numbers – for example G90, G80 and G70. Just like Mercedes-Benz and Audi cars, Genesis models will be named in an alphanumeric (a combination of alphabetic and numeric characters) fashion. A large SUV, a mid-size SUV and a luxury sports coupe will be rolled out by 2020.
A launch event of Hyundai’s high-end sub-brand was held on November 4 at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul with scores of top Hyundai officials in attendance, including Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun, Vice Chairman Woong-Chul Yang (Head of Hyundai-Kia R&D Center) and Hyundai-Kia chief designer Peter Schreyer.
“What our new Genesis brand seeks is human-centered luxury. Safety, convenience comfort and dynamic driving performance will set Genesis-branded cars apart from other competing brands,” said Vice Chairman Chung.
