Genesis Ready To Pounce On 3-Series With New G70

I suspect the 3-series is still safe, even though the Genesis is a respectable car.

Actually - It is the new Buick Regal that this car will likely compete with - and - well - there really aren't that many sales to go around. The Genesis still does not have the Pedigree of a true premium sports sedan - and will sell to those who can be fooled into believing it is a Cheaper BMW competitor - which it is not.

Sort of the like the First Ford Granada - "Its a lot like Mercedes for a whole lot less" ad slogan. Sorry - even Lexus never really competed with BMW at the 3 series level.

Am I missing something? The G70 competes with the 3-er? Why? ...pricing? performance? I don't get it.

Not to worry. It will appeal to Honda Accord and Camry drivers who are looking to move up.

Move up to what? An overpriced, 3 series wannabe? No thanks.

Not so fast! My wife drives a new Honda Accord Touring and she dislikes it and is very disappointed in the Asian style of engineering. First off, she dislikes the front wheel drive. The transmission is clueless and the engine is gutless. The noise of the A/C compressor always cycling on and off irritates her greatly. Rattles in the cabin are numerous. Even the rear window suffers from major distortion and is very hazy to look through. So this Honda drivers will NEVER upgrade to a Honda or any Asian auto.

But c'mon...both Honda & Toyota don't have descent "sporty sedans" above the Accord/Camry in either of their lineups. They have "sporty trims" for both models but not a dedicated model. It's nice to get that sporty up-level trim, but wouldn't be even better to get a 4-door car that was made to be "sporti(er)" than just some different wheels, fog lamps, & a rear lip. Chevy HAD the SS but let that idea die - right-sized RWD mid-size sedan hosting the na V-6 or optional tt V-6 or sc V-8. I haven't seen any plans for an Impala SS return (tt V-6 & awd this time)...which would be crazy cool. But anyhoo...

@dumpsty... in the minds of the Koreans it does.

The G70 should do well with buyers cross shopping a Buick, Lincoln, or Acura.

Exactly and I predict it will kill the G80 completely.

And you're still a moron.

PS you have to pay to see the story.

Well, it there's a moment to go after the 3 that's now.

For the life of me I cannot understand why Genesis continues to prioritize sedans over SUVs/Crossovers. The Crossover market has been hot for 5 years and continues to be, yet Genesis has 2 sedans in production, and now this vehicle which appears to be near production. I know they have shown concepts of one SUV earlier this year, but that is a concept still, and not a production vehicle.

@bnilhome Are you that dense? Do you not realize that a new car is the process over several YEARS of build up to launch? When the G80, G90, and G70 were put on the drawing boards, sedans were going gangbusters. When the market dropped in the last year to a year and a half, the G70 was too far along to cancel in favor of a crossover that was not on the drawing board.

@bnilhome agreed

@MD Hyuandai / Kia have been riding the crossover wave for a long time now, I think it's fair to say they made a miscalculation here, especially since the main market for the brand is currently the US. The swing towards SUVs and crossovers started more than a decade ago, especially in the premium segment, and has only proliferated since then, not appeared from no wwhere.

@Firewombat You're just as dense. Refendering (sic) the Santa Fe and Tuscon would not result in a premium product. Moreover, Hyundai-Kia has had an on-again-off-again-on-again plan for premium products and that directly impact Genesis premium crossovers.

@MD

1) Resorting to name-calling is the first sign that an individual doesn't have the intelligence or wherewithal to put forward an argument or point properly.

2) Using the same platform as those crossovers to create a premium product is exactly what most other mainstream premium car manufacturers do. Audi / Infiniti / Lexus / Acura etc. And Genesis isn't even close to those brands in terms of sales. Not sure why I should have to explain that to someone like you? Someone who claims to know so much about the industry.

3) Even if they didn't use the same platform as the cars from the parent company, they had enough time to create one from scratch years ago when cooked up this Genesis plan and the success of cars like the ML/GLE / X5 / RX etc. were already established.

4) From an objective standpoint having an "on-again-off-again-on-again plan for premium products and that directly impact Genesis premium crossovers" doesn't sound like a great strategy does it? Which is probably where this miscalculation about bringing a SUV / Crossover to market stems from.

@Firewombat So, let me get this straight. When a company launches a premium division it is supposed to instantly have the sales of Mercedes?

No of course not but if we're critiquing the product planning of a brand like Genesis then I think it would have been smarter to go after lower hanging fruit.

For instance, where would Lincoln and Cadillac be without the Navigator and Escalade? I'm guessing either dead or close to dead. Although the latest versions of those cars are improved they have traditionally been pretty terrible in terms of quality, performance, etc. But they sold. A lot. Still do.

So if we look at Lexus targeting the S-class with the original LS at a time when vehicles like the Grand Cherokee and Explorer were becoming popular, but not necessarily a threat to large premium luxury sedans then, in my opinion, the best thing for Genesis to do post 2010 would be to build a large SUV, especially if the brand was going to focus on America first.

The G90 / G80 are not as good as the best European luxury sedans but with a SUV I think that would have mattered less. And they would of sold more. The history of that market shows that. If you look at the success that certain brands have had with average or even inferior products simply because they were attracting people who wanted SUVs then it makes sense to compete there first.

Benilhome you are partially correct the CUV market was growing steadily in the non-luxury market since 2008 or 2009 but in the luxury market the large scale move to CUVs over sedans occurred over the last 2 or so years. Hyundai did misread the market shift as did others (for example BMW dealers are complaining that they have too many sedans/not enough CUVs). I'm sure there will be Genesis SUVs but it will take some time as most decisions on car designs and production numbers are made 3-5 years out.
Regardless of the reasons behind it, the lack of CUV's is a big problem for Genesis that I'm sure they are trying to fix ASAP. Another issue is the lack of a dedicated dealer network.
The main competition for this car at the outset will be the Infiniti Q50...it will take some Generations of great product and building the prestige of the brand until they take significant sales from the German 3 or even Lexus. Buyers in the compact executive class are largely moved by brand prestige...the vast majority of 3 series/C class/A4 sales are solely based on prestige and lease numbers.

Mdarringer-You are definitely consistent at calling names when you are put on the defensive. Just admit that your favorite car brand has screwed up in trying to roll out Genesis. It certainly does take a few years before a new car idea gets to production, but it takes (or should take) even longer to launch an entirely new luxury brand. Hyundai has been talking about creating a luxury brand for nearly at least 7 years if not more, and during that entire time they never thought that it would be wise to launch a CUV near the same time as a sedan? And this would have been a time when the Acura MDX and Lexus RX were selling extremely well and had proven that consumers were willing to pay for Luxury CUVs.