The Hyundai Genesis is a full-size four-door, five passenger, rear-wheel-drive luxury sedan manufactured and marketed by Hyundai since 2008 and now in its second generation.
It was introduced in concept form at the 2007 New York International Auto Show and was internally designated as the BH model. It was expected to cost $533 million to develop. Hyundai began marketing the first generation Genesis worldwide (with the exception of Europe) in 2008, as a "premium sports sedan".
The second generation Genesis (internally designated as model DH) debuted in Seoul, Korea in November 2013 followed by the 2014 North American International and Toronto auto shows. It is marketed worldwide.
The name Genesis reflects Hyundai's first entry into the luxury market segment.
On November 4, 2015, Hyundai officially announced the Genesis brand will be spun off into Genesis Motors, the new luxury vehicle division for Hyundai. The leap into a stand-alone, luxury brand comes on the heels of marked success in the luxury market, paired with consumer demand for the Genesis name. The Hyundai Genesis would be rebranded as Genesis G80.
Development and design
Introduced in March 2007 as the "Concept Genesis", the sedan was designed by Hyundai as a "progressive interpretation of the modern rear-wheel drive sports sedan". Hyundai conceived the idea for the Genesis in 2003. The body design took three years and the total cost of the program was $500 million over a development period of 23 months. Reliability testing ran for 800,000 miles.
Hyundai reportedly benchmarked the BMW 5-Series (E60) sedan during the Genesis' development; the company's press release indicates the Genesis body in white exceeds the BMW in torsional rigidity by 14%. The production Genesis sedan received a five-star crash rating in every category from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Hyundai markets the Genesis as offering "the performance of a BMW 5-Series and the interior packaging of a 7-Series at the price of a 3-Series."
Reviewing the Genesis 4.6 at its US introduction, automotive journalist Dan Neil called the absence of brand emblems at the front of the Genesis "a move that subverts the grammar of luxury."
Marketing
As part of the US product launch, Hyundai Motor America and Carbonfund.org unveiled the Genesis Forest Project at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show, to offset the entire first year of emissions for all 2009 Hyundai Genesis sedans sold in the United States. The Genesis Forest Project was retroactively applied to all 2009 Genesis sedan sales, which began in June, and continue through the end of the year.
No comments:
Post a Comment