Genesis opens its first showroom

Hyundai's new Genesis luxury brand will open its first showroom this week, but the inaugural Genesis Studio in South Korea won't have an Australian equivalent for the foreseeable future.

The world's first dedicated Genesis brand space will open this Friday (September 9) in the newly-built Starfield cultural complex in Hanam, 30km east of Seoul, and Genesis says it will be followed by similar stories in other major cities.

Designed "to stimulate customers’ curiosity about the brand", Hyundai says the exclusive Genesis Studio – situated in a high-traffic area that's expected to attract lots of visitors -- "embodies the brand directions of Genesis and its core characteristics".

“We are very excited to open the Genesis brand’s first dedicated brand space, Genesis Studio," said the Head of the Genesis brand, Manfred Fitzgerald.

"Visitors can easily drop by the Studio, and get a chance to know about Genesis. This space, located in a busy area, will serve to introduce our brand, and to raise visitors’ curiosity around it. We have also developed diverse concepts of brand spaces that fit for different objectives, so you will see more exciting brand spaces to come in the near future."

In a press release that made no mention of Hyundai today, the company said its first dedicated Genesis showroom aims to showcase the design focus of its vehicles, with hands-on exhibits highlighting the attention to detail of the materials and technologies in its vehicles.

It said the first Genesis Studio will be a one-stop shop where customers will be offered brand experience, consultation, purchases and even test drives, despite the fact it's situated on the second floor of the complex.

"Visitors can also experience the comfortable yet dynamic driving performance of the Genesis range by test driving the vehicles, even at high speeds, on a range of specially-planned routes," it said.

Apart from the large G80 sedan and G90 limousine, visitors will also be able to view the new Genesis G80 Sport, which was revealed in June and powered by a 270kW/510Nm 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6, ahead of its Korean launch later this year.

The standard G80 -- powered by a version of the 232kW/397Nm 3.8-litre V6 seen in Hyundai's existing Genesis large sedan, on which the G80 is based -- will be Australia's first Genesis-branded model when it arrives here in the first half of next year.

Like the left-hand drive G90 limo, the G80 Sport won't be sold in Australia, but its force-fed V6 will be available here in the smaller G70, the mid-size luxury sedan that will aim directly at BMW's 3 Series when it arrives in local showrooms in the second half of next year.

It will be followed from 2018 by mid-size and large Genesis SUVs and potentially a G70-based Genesis coupe, although this vehicle is not among the six models confirmed by Genesis so far.

Hyundai Australia, which has appointed former Toyota and Lexus Australia executive Peter Evans to the newly-created position of general manager of Genesis in Australia, has repeatedly said it will not establish stand-alone Genesis showrooms Down Under, where Genesis vehicles will be sold alongside Hyundais for the foreseeable future.