The Genesis G70 is a new brand that evokes the luxury of the old school

For Genesis, being a three year car brand is a blessing and a curse. The automaker, currently leading the first reports on the all-new 2019 Genesis G70, is Hyundai's game to compete with some of the most respected names in the automotive industry: Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. However, to have a chance, it takes more than just a better quality leather and a sharper style to recommend it.

Among the difficult decisions came an emancipation of all kinds of his parents. In 2017, Genesis separated from Hyundai and began the process to become a separate brand. As of next month, there will be new Genesis dealers only online in the United States. They will not only be renamed Hyundai centers, but also with new renown architects for locations that would look as much like brilliant design magazines as they are selling a car. In the first quarter of 2019, the automaker expects to have sold all of its remaining 2018 vehicles and to only sell new cars from 2019 to its own dealers.

This will happen at the same time as a relative stream of new Genesis cars. We may be only in the middle of the year, but the automaker has already completed design launches for 2019. It will include three sedans and SUVs, confirms global design manager Luc Donckerwolke, without forget "some surprises".

With its frustrating habit of referring to Genesis' production ambitions for the Essentia concept very well received, the seductive coupe that the automaker revealed earlier this year, it's not hard to stand out. enthuse for the unexpected products that the former head of Lamborghini design on. Yet for Genesis, creativity is not just about individual cars. Instead, it must accelerate not only brand awareness, but also the respect of potential buyers rather jaded by the modern definition of luxury vehicles.

"We want to achieve something that goes beyond the mere production of vehicles, which goes beyond the mere fact of being a car manufacturer," said Manfred Fitzgerald, Global Head of Genesis Brand . "Our team is made up of talented people all over the world, and they really, really have talent.The ingredients to create something special with this brand are really there."

"We feel that there is has a lack, there is a delta in terms of what people are looking for with their products … that all their experience has been underestimated in recent years, "said Fitzgerald. "What we are looking for is creating a positive difference in the lives of our customers."

Although it may seem hyperbolic, Genesis has some quantifiable and well-defined ways of putting into practice the ethics that people like. On the one hand, there are cars themselves. The 2019 G70, as we found in our first driving report, is a surprisingly capable sports sedan that does not hesitate to rely on the "sport" part of this category. While Genesis could be badociated more with luxury than with performance right now, the G70 is a good way to reverse these preconceptions.

Equally important, however, are the packaging and experimenting decisions that Genesis has made, alongside cars like the new G70. Despite the aggressive price, which will start at just $ 35,000 and reach around $ 50,000 for a maximum G70, each model will have an impressive selection of active safety technologies. Blind spot monitoring, help in front collision prevention and rear collision warnings are all standard. Intelligent cruise control with stop & go and badistance in maintaining the trajectory are also standard.

This is an irresistible package, especially if it is considered that some of the best known rivals – the reference cars in the segment, indeed – will charge additional fees for such technology. Genesis is not the only one to make them standard, no, but its approach is nonetheless refreshing if we consider that the base price of an entry-level Series 3 or D & B A Clbad C is usually only the starting point of a spectacular spiral.

Genesis does not stop there. It is essential to his argument to describe what the automaker calls "The Genesis Experience," a combination of tangible and experiential benefits.

In short, it is to maximize your feeling when you choose to put a Genesis on your input. The cynic among us might suggest that it is the South Korean automaker's attempt to artificially fill the space where a more established luxury brand would have already satisfied the owners that they are part of something Special". Everyone will probably be too busy doing most of the bundled features.

All scheduled maintenance for the first three years (or 36 km) is included, and Genesis will send a valet to pick up the car, replace it with a loaned vehicle, and then exchange them again when l & # 39; interview will be completed. The navigation mapping data is updated annually for three years as well, and there is SiriusXM Traffic and Travel Link for the same period. Genesis Connected Services, which provides access to features such as remote unlocking, the location of the car and much more from your smartphone, is offered for three years, as will the badistance 24/7 and concierge services.

All in all, it's a tacit – and sensible – admission that a solid vehicle will not by itself be enough to take Genesis out of its current market and allow it to play with the big names. In segments where prestige is as much about badge recognition as anything else, South Koreans are at a disadvantage from the start. Elevating from this relative darkness is not impossible, but there are ways to get it moving in ways that reduce the time it takes.

This is a strategy that Lexus has adopted, at least in part, when Toyota's luxury division was launched almost 30 years ago. At the time, the expectations of a "high-end Toyota" were not really high, but a combination of well-polished products and scrupulous attention to detail around the dealership, Procurement and the follow-up process have frustrated the skeptics. In the process, he created both Lexus Loyalists and vocal brand advocates.

Thirty years later, Genesis is facing a modern version of this challenge. Convenience and identity are the key words: the growth of car ownership by subscription, automakers are increasingly completing their models with niche models ever more specific to meet every whim of potential buyers. but what he says about you as the owner, it's the playground on which the G70 has to fight.

Without nostalgia, Genesis must look for more tangible ways to communicate what it means to be the owner of one's cars. "We are rather lucky because we have no legacy behind us," says Fitzgerald, "it's up to us to paint this picture." If the 2019 G70 and its full set of services and standard technology is anything to do Genesis leaves nothing to chance, and it could – and should – get its German rivals to take it very seriously.