The new Hyundai Genesis is not just a car, it's a brand of its own.
Hyundai announced its intention to dabble into the luxury car segment with the Genesis brand, set to take on the Toyota's Lexus, Honda's Acura or even Nissan's Infiniti.
As reported by Uber Gizmo, with a growing demand in the high-end vehicle market, Hyundai saw this as the company's next area of growth prompting it to announce the Genesis brand.
Starting next month, expect Hyundai to unveil half a dozen models of its line up from the Genesis brand, which will be aimed at customers who want something new with a luxurious edge.
The company cited "human-centered" luxury as the experience, which will be a hallmark of the new models and as expected, it will boast only the highest standards of performance, design and innovation.
According to Automobile, the Genesis would be a separate and independent brand akin to the relationship between Toyota and Lexus.
Furthermore, reports are indicating that Hyundai creating a luxury brand was inevitable. A couple of years back, the company declared its aspirations that included propelling the brand into the top 10 automakers based on global sales, in addition to its intention to go to the upmarket segment.
And now, Hyundai is the fourth-largest automaker after Toyota, the Volkswagen Group and General Motors. It's interesting to see it grow because relatively, the company is relatively new on the automotive industry.
The Korean-based car manufacturer is also notable for its preference to build big mid-size cars, compared to Japan's approach of compact vehicles.
And when the 2009 Genesis arrived, it was an engineering breakthrough for the company. It features Hyundai's first in-house V8 engine, and its first rear-wheel drive platform, which it previously borrowed from Ford Motors.
But as much as Hyundai's growth is fast, Forbes noted that the Genesis brand will still need time to grow. So far, the Korean car brand is taking conservative and measured steps on how it will approach the luxury segment. Afterall, this particular market has a reputation of being hard to please.
Building a luxury brand requires tremendous amount of patience and a lot of perseverance to maintain it once it's there.
Forbes noted BMW, Cadillac, Lincoln and even Acura and Infiniti as just some of the most successful and consistent brands in terms of sales and image. It would not hurt Hyundai to borrow some pages from those brands to create and perfect its upcoming luxury brand.
