Genesis, as a luxury brand, is competing with some strong players with an entire line of hybrid powertrains. Thankfully, Hyundai is hard at work to bring its tech in that arena to Genesis first.
Genesis, as its own brand, hasn’t had much experience with the whole business of building and selling cars much less building technically cutting edge ones. But, being luxury offshoot of Korean automaker Hyundai, it doesn’t matter – it can just ask for the expertise.
What even the industrious South Koreans have had some issues with is with large volume hybrid or electric vehicles, the former of which is quite a competitive edge that Genesis is lacking against other luxury marques such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi – or more likely: Lexus and Infiniti.
That being said, a report by Automotive News recently confirmed Genesis’ commitment to the development of alternative propulsion engines. The technological muscle would, of course, come from Hyundai. Which is why Hyundai Motor America CEO David Zuchowski admission that hybrids and EVs are more important in the luxury market than anywhere else is very indicative of a petrol-electric future for both brands.
"We believe alternative-propulsion engines are going to be really important -- even more important in the luxury market than they are in the mainstream market," he said.
Yes, Kia and Hyundai both offer plug-in hybrid cars, but none at the level of the much larger and electrically demanding Genesis G90, Hyundai Genesis, or the Genesis New York concept. That showcase vehicle debuted as a hybrid but did not yield any concrete information about a large-scale hybrid initiative over at Hyundai beyond a general interest.
Zuchowski did not provide details as to what models Genesis will choose to offer as a hybrid or when we can realistically expect it trickling down to a broader range of common Hyundai vehicles.
