[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by Bbb34

Luxury buyer is a tricky one, it takes very long for a brand to be established as luxury and be "desirable".

Not entirely true. In automobile-dom, Lexus is a great example; it took on you-know-who and beat them pretty much out of the gate. An even better and more current example: Tesla. No pedigree and no prior experience in the market, and it's KILLING among the wealthy -- and not just the tech-savvy, either.

Originally Posted by Bbb34

Bottom line, we'll all vote with our money. Question to ask is, would I change what I drive today for comparable performance and features given same or slightly less expensive offering from Hyundai ? My guess is, not many German or Japanese luxury owners would, but I might very well be wrong.

In this case, as I've stated before in this thread, I think the fact that Hyundai has established the Genesis brand already will actually hurt its chances considerably. The common thread among the two examples above is a dedicated dealer network that innovated immediately to make a potential buyer feel 'special' compared to the status quo in the target market. That, I believe, is the key: Genesis will need to be distanced from Hyundai as far as possible for the initiative to work well. So far, there are no signs that is in Hyundai's plans.

[csu87]

the end goal is to have stand alone genesis dealerships by 2020 iirc, along with a fuller production line including multiple sedans/coupes and potentially an SUV.

At launch of the Genesis brand, only select Hyundai Dealerships will get to carry it, and they have to keep them completely separate from the rest of the inventory. Most of these dealerships are building/buying additional buildings to house the Genesis Brand, but it isnt a requirement yet.

The biggest hurdle is going to be getting over the Hyundai stigma though. And they need to start producing cars that stand up to the other luxury brands in terms of quality, look/feel and reliability. The current Genesis is getting there, but I dont think it is quite there yet. It still feels and drives like a nice, supped up Hyundai IMO.