Hyundai Motor Co. appears set to launch a independent global premium product lineup, to be called Genesis, as it seeks to boost profitability that is being squeezed by a strong won currency.
Hyundai is expected to announce the move in South Korea as early as Wednesday (Tuesday in the U.S.), three people close to the company told Reuters.
The maker of the Sonata midsize sedan and Santa Fe crossover plans to launch Genesis as a separate global brand, though the lineup is likely to be sold through the existing Hyundai-brand distribution channel — at least for now, said one of the knowledgeable individuals.
Hyundai launched a luxury midsize sedan called the Genesis in 2008, as well as a related coupe model. It later added a remodeled Equus as a flagship sedan to that upscale lineup.
Those cars will form the core of the Genesis lineup, with a midsize SUV to be added by around 2019, the three individuals said. The Equus would likely be renamed.
“A small line of upscale products is going to be sold under the Genesis brand name. It’s not a physically separated brand with its own channel,” one of the knowledgeable individuals told Reuters, adding Hyundai, for now, thinks that setting up a separate channel of Genesis stores carries too much risk.
The planned move would go some way to fulfilling Hyundai Chairman Chung Mong-koo’s long-held ambitions to take the automaker more upmarket.
