Yahoo Autos Genesis Will Not Build a High-Performance G70 to Beat the BMW M3
Genesis president Manfred Fitzgerald has again ruled out the possibility of building an exclusive performance division across its lineup. For at least this generation, cars like the G70 won't attempt to beat the BMW M3.
Fitzgerald dismissed the idea in 2017, a year after the automaker launched its first rebranded Hyundai models in the U.S. market, although that didn't stop Road & Track from insisting last week that Genesis will build a "high performance" G70 in the vein of Hyundai's new N division. While power upgrades aren't out of the question, Fitzgerald told Car and Driver flat out that a motorsports-derived program for the Genesis lineup is off the table.
"We're trying to set our base," he said. "We have to get the basics."
Those basics are pretty clear: Grow the three-car lineup by launching new crossovers, establish a dealership network, and distance itself from Hyundai's parts bin. The GV80 crossover, for example, will be first to use a brand-new infotainment system entirely reskinned for Genesis when it debuts this year.
"This brand is evolving day by day," he said.
There is no doubt Fitzgerald likes fast cars or that he'd like his to beat the most potent opponents from Germany, Britain, and Japan. The 54-year-old executive was design director for Lamborghini following the Audi takeover and worked in Sant'Agata for 12 years. Now based in Seoul, Fitzgerald emphasized that there are more important things on his agenda than creating hot-rod variants.
Sales are the biggest concern for this largely unknown luxury brand. Fitzgerald said he expects between 300 and 350 dealerships, most of which currently own Hyundai franchises, to build stand-alone Genesis showrooms. Originally, executives wanted to restrict sales to about 100 showrooms in urban areas. In May, after Hyundai dealers complained, the company opened applications to all franchisees in the U.S. By September, the number of preapproved dealers rose to 850, although at least half of those dealers that don't want to invest in facility and staff upgrades have accepted buyouts that bar them from future Genesis sales. Finalizing the dealer network could take years.
"We're looking for partners who believe in this brand," he said. "This should not be a sprint to the finish line."
For now, anyway, it also won't be a sprint to mega-horsepower sports sedans.
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