After introducing the Kia brand in India, now Hyundai Motor Group will launch its luxury marque Genesis with an SUV, says a new report from Autocar India.
The 'Genesis' brand came into existence not long ago in 2017 when the company decided to rename the Hyundai Genesis sedan as the G80, and the former name gave birth to a whole new luxury division altogether named 'Genesis'. Its current global product portfolio comprises only of sedans such as the G70, G80 and the G90, but there are two SUVs in the pipeline to join the list. Speaking of which, the first SUV will be based on the Kia Telluride/Hyundai Palisade and is said to be named the GV80, while the second in the list will be the Hyundai Tucson based GV70 SUV.
Since the Indian market has a sweet tooth for SUVs, and Indian buyers have a tendency to pay a higher premium for the same, Hyundai wants to cash in this opportunity with luxury SUV offerings from Genesis. The reports say that these products will be brought to the Indian market via the CKD route. This option seems most feasible for the brand in order to avoid hefty import taxes on its vehicles and hence it will avoid the prices of Genesis products to go sky high as in the case of CBU imports.
Rumour has it GV70 will be the launch vehicle for India considering that it is based on the Tucson platform and will be available in RHD, also its assembly facility is already present in India. On the other hand, the GV80 doesn't have a RHD option as of yet which makes it a difficult choice for a market like ours.
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The international launch of the Genesis GV80 is slated for the next year, and the GV70 will follow soon after. You can expect the brand to be launched in India in 2021.
[Source - Autocar India]
