The nascent Genesis brand has been through rather a lot in its short time in the UK.
Launched in the middle of the Covid pandemic as a stand-alone entity that planned to offer only direct sales online, Hyundai Motor Group’s premium arm was subsequently rolled into the UK mothership at the back end of last year under the leadership of Ashley Andrew and started to partner with traditional retailers for sales at a similar time.
Genesis's sales have fallen backwards in 2024 as it adjusts to those changes, which operationally effectively amount to a relaunch, although not in the eyes of the consumer because the cars have remained the same. So far in 2024, it has registered 556 cars in the UK, a 31% drop year on year and a similar number to DS.
Even so, Genesis remains one of the more interesting entrants to the UK car market because of where it has come from. Sired out of the Hyundai Motor Group, probably the most remarkable growth story in the global car industry in the past two decades, the creation of Genesis and desire to establish it as a premium player is surely the toughest challenge yet taken on by the Korean giant.
Given the jobs done with both Hyundai and Kia, Genesis’s future success cannot be dismissed, however slow a start it has made in the UK and mainland Europe. Indeed, any notion that Genesis is another Infiniti - Nissan’s premium arm that didn’t last long in Europe, because it always felt like an ego play from then-boss Carlos Ghosn - is instantly dismissed by officials.
They point out that failure or wavering are simply not in Korean culture and Genesis will be established as a credible premium player as a result. Yet the yardstick of how that success is measured within Hyundai is very different from that of the likes of BMW and Audi, which have effectively become volume players.
In the UK, Genesis’s plan remains to have a network of around 12-15 dealers in order to keep the personal service of the brand. Europe boss Lawrence Hamilton told me that personal service remains the company’s main point of difference and a network of this size allows that to be achieved.
The main part of that service is through the Genesis Personal Assistant programme, a dedicated point of contact for each owner to channel any queries or issues with their car through. It was fascinating to speak to one such personal assistant recently, who said that customers are given their mobile number and they are on hand to help with whatever is needed with the car.
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Problem seems to be the quality of the offering. I had a tangential interst in the launch so read reviews with interest. Mainly underwhelmed seemed to be the response. The only "premium" brand that seems to have made any headway is Lexus. They entered the market with a product that was obviously superior at the price point to any rival. In fact at pretty much any price point. Yet still they struggle maybe 20 years later. I can see no hope for Genesis until they dramatically up their game - as they have the resources to do. Taking a Kia or Hyundai base and changing the body and adding bits and bobs at a higher price is not a convincing strategy. They need genuine stand alones with improved attributes to convince customers - and probably protected depreciation. All good luck to them but it is a chaotic maret just now!