Hyundai has long been looking to bring the Genesis brand to India – we first reported about the automaker evaluating its luxury brand for India in 2019. Last year, our sources even hinted that Genesis could be here by the second half of 2025. While that hasn’t materialised yet, Hyundai India’s chief operating officer (COO) Tarun Garg has now officially reiterated that the company is still looking to bring Genesis to our market.
“We are also strategically evaluating the introduction of Genesis, Hyundai’s global luxury marque. This aligns with our aspiration to serve the evolving expectations of discerning Indian consumers,” said Garg in a statement in the brand’s annual report for FY2025.
- Genesis’ first product in India likely to be an SUV
- GV80 Coupe design has already been patented in India
- Specific launch timeline is still unclear
Genesis India launch details
Last year, Hyundai set up a team to plan the go-to-market strategy for the Genesis brand in India. Although Genesis has an expansive line-up of sedans, the company is understood to predominantly focus on an SUV portfolio for India – it has even trademarked the design of the GV80 coupe here. Genesis also has two smaller SUVs – the GV70 and GV60 EV – which could also be looked at; the former also gets an all-electric version in some markets.
The models are expected to arrive as CBUs in the first phase, and then, the SUVs could eventually be assembled at Hyundai’s factory in Sriperumbudur on the outskirts of Chennai.
Genesis brand positioning in India
If the GV80 is the first product to indeed make it to India, given its size, it will be positioned against the likes of the Mercedes GLE, BMW X5 and Audi Q7 – right in the thick of the midsize luxury SUV segment. What should give the company some confidence is that the luxury car segment is steadily growing in India.
At just over 1 percent of India’s total passenger vehicle market, the luxury car segment is still miniscule but growing at a rate faster than the mainstream category, especially so at the higher end of the spectrum. In FY2025, it grew 3.3 percent compared to 2 percent growth seen in the overall industry. Genesis could, therefore, be well poised to ride this momentum if brought here at the right time with the right product strategy.
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