Hyundai to launch its Genesis brand in India with an SUV

Hyundai’s luxury division Genesis is likely to come to India soon. The company is currently in the midst of evaluating its prospects for our market and will launch the brand with an SUV first.

The current global Genesis line-up consists of sedans only – the G70, G80 and the G90 – however, they will soon be joined by two SUVs. The first one is slated to be the GV80, a sister to the G80 sedan based on the Kia Telluride / Hyundai Palisade; and the second, smaller GV70 shall share its underpinnings with the next-gen Tucson.

Sources tell us that the company believes SUVs will serve well as the launch vehicle for Genesis in India, given the current popularity they enjoy here and the propensity for Indian customers to pay a premium for them. With the luxury on offer in addition to the SUV body type, Hyundai will be in a better position to command and justify a decent premium – something the company will need to be able to make a case for Genesis in India and set the tone for upcoming products.

The company is also keen to bring Genesis products to India via the CKD route to avoid the hefty import taxes on fully imported units. Our sources confirm that this would be the ideal option. If it can successfully make a case for CKD operations here, like the Kona EV, it will stand a far better chance of success and will avoid pricing itself out of the market like Toyota did with their Lexus division.

While there is no word on which SUV would come to India, the GV80 looks unlikely, given that so far there exists no right-hand drive version, nor any confirmation of there ever being one. The GV70, on the other hand, is based on the Tucson platform and will thus come with a RHD option; additionally, assembly capability for this platform already exists in India.

If the GV70 is indeed the launch vehicle for Genesis in India, it’s likely to mean a 2020 or even later arrival for Genesis in India, since the company is slated to launch the GV80 next year, followed soon by the GV70, as it rushes to have SUVs in its current sedan-only line-up.

The Hyundai luxury vehicle division was created in 2017 by renaming the ‘Hyundai Genesis’ sedan the G80 and using the model's nomenclature as the marque for the new luxury brand. 

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