South Korean car giant Hyundai is planning to bring its luxury division Genesis to India soon. The company is evaluating the possibilities for the Indian market and plans to debut with an SUV. The Genesis brand is likely to attract a different segment of customers and it is being reported that the company has been considering this potentiality for quite some time.
For the opening innings, the brand plans on launching a SUV in the Indian market first because the demand for the segment is greater and more people are inclined towards buying SUVs in the premium segment which will give the company a good way of entering the market and holding its position in the initial years.
Currently, in the international market, the Genesis brand portfolio consists of only sedan cars like the G70, G80 and the G90. However, the company is planning to develop two new SUVs to serve under the Genesis brand which is likely to be the GV80, which will be based on the Hyundai Palisade or the Kia Telluride and the GV70 which will be smaller than the former, derived from the next-generation Tuscon.
The Genesis SUVs are likely to be brought to the country via the CKD route which will help keep the costs in check, the latest SUV the brand has got through CKD is the all-electric Kona and according to reports the brand will be able to better position itself in the market.
For the Indian market, it is being speculated that the smaller GV70 which is based on the Tuscon platform, is likely to be a viable option as the platform is readily available in a right-hand-drive version. The assembly capabilities for the platform also exist in India, unlike the larger GV80 which is not available in the right-hand-drive version.
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The brand could launch the GV80 first in the global market in the year 2020 followed by the smaller GV70 in the Indian market.