Is That Enough? Genesis To Take On The Germans With Three New SUVs

Genesis is taking a steady-as-she-goes approach and it is working. During July in the large, premium sedan category, the G90 outsold the A8, XJ, and Quattroporte, In some months recently it has also outdone the Lexus LS.

Their plan is to make sure that the people who buy a Genesis are kept very happy and to use that to build the brand when the crossovers are reasy.

@Asspy11 wrong

Um, outselling the A8, XJ, and Quattroporte isn't a huge feat. "Steady as she goes" is apparently dealer talk for "terrible sales" and wandering brand recognition

Genesis can compete with OPEL and VW to "Take on the Germans" (In Germany of course)- however - it is not going to just come into our market like Lexus did - but more like Infiniti did. By the time Toyota created Lexus - it had already established a reputation for making good quality reliable vehicles - and still Lexus never rose to the high premium level - it remains at the mid-premium level as Audi - Infiniti - Volvo -Buick - DS - - and once Chrysler.

Initially - there will be some buying from the people who can convince themselves that is is a lot like "Lexus" for a lot (at the dealer price) less. But True premium cars maintain their "panache" by not being something you had to settle on - and Genesis will need a decade or two - and a separation from Hyundai sales - to get recognized as a mid-luxury brand. THe advertising for the first Ford Granada said "It was a lot like Mercedes for whole lot less" - giving a cheap car a little class - but no real Luxury car buyer EVER mistook the Granada for a real Mercedes unless they were blind. The same will be said for the Genesis - if you have to Justify the purchase by saying it is a lot like something - it isn't there. After all - the Miata is a LOT like an old TVR - isn't it?

Meh, they chose the worst period to attempt to stand-up a luxury brand...starting with only sedans. Total uphill battle for Genesis of course made even harder b/c their typical consumer is really only paying attention to SUV/CUVs in similar price ranges. Hyundai was steadily pushing the Sorento/Santa Fe upmarket but failed to update the larger Borrego & clearly had no foresight to offer a version of it as a "premium-level" SUV for the Genesis brand.

Right, this is probably one of their the brand's largest misfires. They're still trying to sell luxury Genesis cars from a "dedicated" corner in the Hyundai showroom. A shopper has to prove they can afford the car, then they'll get a little more attention from the sales staff....from Hyundai.

Genesis competes with Acura, Lincoln and Buick.

If your brand can't or is unable to offer uber-high-end & powerful trim versions of most vehicles in the lineup - to compete with M-B, BMW, Audi...then you're pushed down to this 2nd-tier level of luxury brands that basically offer luxury to the mainstream masses only. Acura, Buick, Lincoln, Infiniti.

Seems like Cadillac & Lexus sit b/t the 2 groups somewhere...as they're both fully capable of being the best but just don't fully compete like they're expected to.

I think I understand this site now:

Basically, anything Tesla does sucks despite any positive press or glowing reports from actual owners.

Audi is super boring.

No Alfa Romeo has ever run more than 500 yards without breaking down.

Hyundai and Genesis make superior automobiles that everyone loves, even though I've seen a grand total of 6 of them on the road around here in the last year.

Also, Lincoln is totally dominating everything by selling a rebadged comatose Ford fleet car for a premium price.

Carry on.

You forgot one thing: I'm the cat's meow in bed and better than the Mooch.

@Bob (ahem) may I offer you a whistling sound...

Not a good sign. The market is heavily leaning towards crossovers/SUVs and has been for years now and it's only increasing. Yet Genesis is launched in early 2017 and they won't have a crossover/SUV for 4 more years? An SUV should have been planned for immediate launch when the brand was premiered to get that 1-2-3 punch with the G90/G80 and an SUV. And, frankly, they should have had the G70 ready for launch and waited on adding the G80 until it was ready for a complete redesign.

Is this the type of product planning we should expect from Genesis?

The info to dealers is that the first crossover will be a 2019.

Genesis is the new Audi, let's talk more about cars arriving in 2039

If the Genesis brand is serious about carving out a spot in luxury market, their R&D is looking 5-10 years ahead. They already know - as a startup - they're going to face a huge amount of opposition from competition & low levels of recognition from consumers. They knew that their initial vehicles had to be "good" but the next wave of vehicles have to match the benchmarks & carry the brand's message forward. We typically refer back to Acura, Lexus, Audi experiences in the US to get a good picture of what Genesis will need to prepare for.

However, the market is vastly different than it was 20 years ago. There were plenty of car sales to spread around. Very little SUV excitement. And truck sales were merely for commercial or farm sales.

It took almost 10 years for most automakers to finally look at the Infiniti FX CUV formula - share a platform with a midsize or large car, throw in a good AWD system, use a good engine with "socially acceptable" levels of power/torque.

So Genesis launched its first "premium" vehicle in 2009 or 2010, and its going to take over 10 years before they actually offer an SUV. No wonder the brand is not taken seriously. While Genesis execs have some weird fantasy they are out to take on German brands, their core value proposition is much closer aligned to Lexus and Acura, both of which have had top-selling SUVs (RX and MDX) from the time Hyundai made the decision to launch Genesis, so it was proven that luxury SUVs could sell well even when gas prices were higher in 2010 to 2015. There is really no excuse for Genesis to wait until 2020 to have an SUV.