[TusharK]

Hyundai is gearing up to introduce its luxury brand Genesis in India. The carmaker hopes to take on the likes of Mercedes-Benz and BMW, but in order to offer its products at competitive prices, it is looking to assemble Genesis cars locally.



According to Unsoo Kim, MD & CEO of Hyundai India, the company has been studying the Genesis brand for India for a while. He added that local assembly would be favoured as imports would make it unviable.

Kim also stated that Genesis has a unique style when compared to the traditional luxury makers that sell in India, and thus is likely to attract good interest. "Genesis is a relatively new luxury brand and offers a different type of luxury. The company plans to develop that concept in the country with design and electrification", Kim added.

Hyundai’s plans to introduce the Genesis brand in India had got delayed due to post-Covid market uncertainties, among other factors. Now though, sales of luxury products are on the rise and the market for luxury cars in India is set to reach record levels in 2023.

Source: ET Auto

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[fourwheels]

This could be a serious gamechanger for the luxury segment. With appropriate pricing, they have the ability to snatch market share away from the Germans. Having said that, i doubt the market will be willing to pay anything close (for a Genesis) to what they would pay for the Germans. An example would be Lexus; they're finding it difficult to hold their own against the Germans. Local manufacturing would enable more competitive pricing but just how much margin they are willing to give up will be the telling factor.

[RMN]

Wow. If built locally and even if prices are just on par with the Germans, this is going to be a success!

[clementw]

This will be interesting to see if Indians are willing too pay German pricing for the cars in India. Best wishes for Hyundai after all that segment is niche and profitable

[prajwalmr62]

Originally Posted by clementw

This will be interesting to see if Indians are willing too pay German pricing for the cars in India.

Indians do love value for money. Considering Lexus's entry, bookings of Ioniq/EV6, and current crop of luxury cars, I'm positive they can make a good number of sales.

Especially now, since the prices of entry cars like A series, 3 series etc have gone through the roof, but the features have hit the bottom. Maybe Hyundai can bring back some sense into this segment.

[Maky]

A CKD Genesis?
The most exciting car news I've read this year thusfar!

A friend owns one of their SUVs in Canada and is very satisfied with the product. Don't know much about this brand at all but, presumably, being South Korean will also make it reliable alongside their luxury pitch. Something the Germans have always lacked.
I sincerely hope they go for cut-throat pricing and lay havoc to the establishment ; )

[d3mon]

The latest breed of Genesis vehicles has pretty fantastic reviews in international markets. While they do not have the brand pull of Mercedes, nor the sporty dynamics of BMW (except the FWD models), I feel they can still pull many customers from Audi, Jaguar, Lexus & Volvo, especially if the pricing is on point.

Another factor is that Genesis sometimes offers crazy warranties like 10yr / 160k km - both existing luxury car owners who've been bitten by the high maintenance costs & first time luxury car buyers who are simply too afraid of the maintenance costs will really appreciate this!

[GTO]

Whoever owns a Genesis is generally happy with their purchase. The current model range is very competent, comfortable & luxurious. We're living in a time when people are paying 50-lakhs for a Fortuner, 50-lakhs for a Camry, 45-lakhs for a Superb and 70-lakhs for a C-Class.

There is definitely an opportunity and dare I say, because of CKD, Genesis is already starting off correctly as opposed to Lexus and their exorbitantly priced CBUs (except the ES). Even Volvo does CKDs, so Lexus' strategy is confusing.

Genesis should follow their international practice of giving "more for less", undercutting the Germans and making it a value-luxury brand. They have diesels, they have top equipment & they have EVs. Hyundai's commitment to EVs is full on, just see what they have managed with the Ioniq 5.

SUVs & Crossovers is what they should start with. As competent as the German luxury sedans are, I find too many holes in the German SUV & Crossover offerings (either in terms of price, product or engine range).

Fuss-free ownership, top service quality, long warranties & good reliability could be definitive advantages over the Germans (just like Lexus).

[46TheDoctor]

I have never gone through reviews of Genesis cars so don't know much about them. But, there definitely is large window for VFM Luxury cars which are reliable, qualities that Germans definitely lack. So, I feel very excited with this news!

[GKR9900]

This is some great news for the Indian market. If the Indian public is open to lapping up a competitive 35 lakh rupee Chinese EV like the BYD Atto 3, there's no reason why a South Korean luxury brand under the Hyundai umbrella can falter in the 'value luxury ' segment.

[Arsenic]

If Hyundai are genuinely serious about building the Genesis brand in India and aren’t just looking at a quick way to boost their margins, here’s what they should do.

- Whatever you do, do NOT brand yourselves as Hyundai’s luxury brand or do obvious part-sharing with mass-market Hyundais. That is where Lexus unfortunately suffered: people were used to Lexus-badged LC100s in India, and the Lexus team were unable to shake off that image. Even today there are genius auto reviewers calling the ES nothing more than a Camry. Audi was smarter: no average consumer will ever associate Audi with VW, and unless you take a closer look it’s unlikely that you’ll find any VW parts in an Audi *at first glance* (I’m well aware Audi and VW do share tons of parts).

- Deliver the knockout price first, then slowly increase it. Again, this is where Lexus failed. All of their initial launches were priced poorly, and it impacted the brand’s image. Hyundai should ideally undercut Benz and BMW by a margin, but also needs to avoid falling into the trap of being *too cheap* where you aren’t considered a luxury brand anymore. They also need to be careful with discounts, mostly because nobody can beat Audi at that but also because Hyundai needs to find a sweet spot in pricing where there isn’t a need for heavy discounts, but the product isn’t overpriced either.

- Bring something different to the table. Lexus actually did reasonably well here: the off-road capability and durability of the LX made it a brilliant offering in the full size luxury SUV space. If I were the Genesis India boss and had to choose a range of products to launch with, I’d launch the following products, with the differentiator being a wide variety of EV options as well as offering more car for less money.

1. GV70 Electrified: The one that I’d aim to create volumes out of. Price it slightly above the EQB and watch the money roll in: the GV70 offers a lot more car for just a little more money, and hence not only will first-time luxury car buyers be more attracted to the GV70, but Genesis can also steal Benz customers at the same time.

2. GV80: Market this as the SUV flagship, and undercut more expensive versions of the GLE and X5. With BMW cutting off its enthusiast-friendly powertrains, the 3.5T version would make sense as an engine option marketed towards those looking for a fun to drive option in this segment.

3. G80 Electrified: The other potential volume-bringer. While it will always be tricky to take away E-class customers, with a well rounded product and the solid differentiator of an electric powertrain, this can be a brilliant competitor to the 5er and A6, and also take away sales of the ES from those who would buy it only for the hybrid powertrain.

[Nilesh5417]

Originally Posted by Arsenic

- Whatever you do, do NOT brand yourselves as Hyundai’s luxury brand..

This is the only point i differ on - or maybe not. Am actually in 2 minds here.

Hyundai has a great reputation in India. Its known to make generally durable, good looking (or polarising), feature rich cars and launch models with more or less the same specs as International ones in India without much delay. Its dealership network is second only to MSIL probably, it's been around like forever and there is no threat of them abandoning the Indian market.

Most may not know Genesis in India and it can be a hardsell to someone who is fixated on badge value.

It could either help them gain acceptability for the brand like it helped Kia - the Genesis products just like Kia are going to be good which then makes it easy for the customer to make a decision.

Or it could really backfire and those who want a badge wouldn't go anywhere near it. Unless like you said, they bring in EVs - though even here, Merc and Audi already have their products available to us. Like I said, am in 2 minds but am positively hopeful!

[Shreyans_Jain]

A very interesting and positive development. Given how obnoxiously overpriced most of the Germans are, an equally competent car at attractive prices can shake things up. Fact is that the premium end of the market is ripe for disruption, with most established makes offering only cosmetic/feature updates over the past 10-15 years, while mechanically regressing and still increasing prices with impunity.

What is reassuring is that Genesis buyers usually have good things to say about their cars.

[SaiSW]

Good decision by Hyundai to not rebrand and launch under their own name here. Genesis is an unknown quantity, so they have the one time opportunity to mould the perception of that brand in India. I do not think people would care much about finding out from somebody that the parent company is Hyundai because this is the same country where I've seen some people claiming they have a better product when I ask them why they went for the Toyota clone (car in question was an Urban Cruiser) - "it's a better product than Brezza because it's made by Toyota".

This has the potential to change the luxury market scene entirely. The tech in these Genesis cars is amazing, and the general quality levels are good too.

[mak.prasada]

Genesis has a clear market. They give more for less and have the wow factor.
The Germans have their brand image which is an important factor and that's why they sometimes get away with selling lower-spec variants. They can undercut the big boys as well and provide more in terms of the latest tech/ expensive feeling cabin etc., and we are also not shy to approach newer brands, just look at BYD. All in all, more power to the buyer!