Is the pricing too aggressive or the brand lost in an indifferent marketplace?
Not everyone can claim to be able to regain admittance to the semi-exclusive Global Luxury vehicle club as failed Chrysler, Lincoln and Cadillac comebacks can attest. Nor is it easier to launch a new luxury brand as stumbling between the rocks and trees Infiniti learned. And Acura still is learning, while Toyota’s Lexus triumphed beating the scoffing Germans, with price, performance and value.
This brings a travel-weary AutoInformed to the Los Angeles auto show this week – an event steeped in a history of exotic cars for the Hollywood set, but now one that is chasing an ill-defined and vague mobility future that mirrors – in a fun-house sort of way – the new clean mobility purveyor image that all automakers are pursuing.
It’s time to look at Hyundai’s wannabe luxury-brand Genesis, three years after its less than stellar debut. On paper it seemed a good idea – albeit untried – at the time. Hyundai plucked one of its existing cars and re-badged it as the debut model for its new brand. Genesis was stillborn without its own DNA or unique selling proposition just an unheard we’re here pronouncement. (Hyundai Reorganizes with Executive Shakeups)
“Two years after its debut, Genesis is gone from the European market,” observes the LMC Korean Analytics Team. “The response to its product line was distinctly lackluster – perhaps unsurprisingly, given that its vehicles were originally designed to appeal to American consumers,” they say.
The U.S. is only slightly better. Sales are declining, which observers attribute to forcing Genesis to share showrooms with Hyundai. “This has left the brand having to re-franchise its US dealerships in a bid to trim numbers, thus allowing for standalone showrooms to be set up,” concludes LMC.
In its protected home market of Korea, Genesis is okay, but the original target of grabbing buyers away from BMW and Mercedes-Benz has failed. German sales are untouched.
The premise that having a premium brands or brands ala VW Group is a good and profitable venture remains alluring. Again, look at how Toyota has profited from Lexus. So, we won’t be surprised if Hyundai now doubles down on its original bet.
AutoInformed on Genesis
AutoInformed on Lexus
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, publisher (kzhw@aol.com), is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
Zino is at home on test tracks, knows his way around U.S. Congressional hearing rooms, auto company headquarters, plant floors, as well as industry research and development labs where the real mobility work is done. He can quote from court decisions, refer to instrumented road tests, analyze financial results, and profile executive personalities and corporate cultures.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Hyundai Genesis – a Rebadging Flop?
Is the pricing too aggressive or the brand lost in an indifferent marketplace?
Not everyone can claim to be able to regain admittance to the semi-exclusive Global Luxury vehicle club as failed Chrysler, Lincoln and Cadillac comebacks can attest. Nor is it easier to launch a new luxury brand as stumbling between the rocks and trees Infiniti learned. And Acura still is learning, while Toyota’s Lexus triumphed beating the scoffing Germans, with price, performance and value.
This brings a travel-weary AutoInformed to the Los Angeles auto show this week – an event steeped in a history of exotic cars for the Hollywood set, but now one that is chasing an ill-defined and vague mobility future that mirrors – in a fun-house sort of way – the new clean mobility purveyor image that all automakers are pursuing.
It’s time to look at Hyundai’s wannabe luxury-brand Genesis, three years after its less than stellar debut. On paper it seemed a good idea – albeit untried – at the time. Hyundai plucked one of its existing cars and re-badged it as the debut model for its new brand. Genesis was stillborn without its own DNA or unique selling proposition just an unheard we’re here pronouncement. (Hyundai Reorganizes with Executive Shakeups)
“Two years after its debut, Genesis is gone from the European market,” observes the LMC Korean Analytics Team. “The response to its product line was distinctly lackluster – perhaps unsurprisingly, given that its vehicles were originally designed to appeal to American consumers,” they say.
The U.S. is only slightly better. Sales are declining, which observers attribute to forcing Genesis to share showrooms with Hyundai. “This has left the brand having to re-franchise its US dealerships in a bid to trim numbers, thus allowing for standalone showrooms to be set up,” concludes LMC.
In its protected home market of Korea, Genesis is okay, but the original target of grabbing buyers away from BMW and Mercedes-Benz has failed. German sales are untouched.
The premise that having a premium brands or brands ala VW Group is a good and profitable venture remains alluring. Again, look at how Toyota has profited from Lexus. So, we won’t be surprised if Hyundai now doubles down on its original bet.
AutoInformed on Genesis
AutoInformed on Lexus
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, publisher (kzhw@aol.com), is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. Zino is at home on test tracks, knows his way around U.S. Congressional hearing rooms, auto company headquarters, plant floors, as well as industry research and development labs where the real mobility work is done. He can quote from court decisions, refer to instrumented road tests, analyze financial results, and profile executive personalities and corporate cultures. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.