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No High-Performance Genesis G70 to Rival BMW M3, Says Genesis Boss

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Hyundai's luxury marque, Genesis, has ruled out the possibility of a high-performance G70 variant to compete with the BMW M3.

Genesis president Manfred Fitzgerald had already dismissed the idea in 2017, a year following the launch of the Genesis brand in the United States.

But with the birth of Hyundai's N division, headed by none other than BMW M executive Albert Biermann, rumors have surfaced of the possibility of a high-performance model of the G70.
Even though in-house upgrades haven't been completely ruled out, Fitzgerald told Car and Driver that a motorsports-derived program a la BMW M is beyond consideration for the current Genesis brand.

"We're trying to set our base," says Fitzgerald. "We have to get the basics."

The basics that he mentions include growing the current Genesis lineup by launching more crossovers and establishing a dealership network while establishing its own identity separate from Hyundai (and its parts bin).

"This brand is evolving day by day," he said.

There is little doubt that Fitzgerald enjoys being in the presence of fast cars, but the former Lamborghini design director who is now based in Seoul now has bigger fish to fry.

Currently, sales and brand recognition are the biggest priorities for this relatively new player in the premium segment.
Between 300-350 dealerships, many of which also own Hyundai franchises, are expected to construct dedicated Genesis showrooms, according to Fitzgerald.
There are still a lot of kinks to iron out before the dealership network is finalized, which can take years.

"We're looking for partners who believe in this brand," Fitzgerald said. "This should not be a sprint to the finish line."

Based on this current reality, it doesn't really make sense for Genesis to be pump out high-performance sports sedans, and Genesis' priorities and resources will be put elsewhere, at least for now.


Source: Car and Driver

[mkoesel]

Unfortunately, it's simply too late in the game for them to start developing high performance ICE powertrains. In the time it would take to iterate and perfect everything over a couple generations (fifteen years or so) in order to build up a legitimate performance name for themselves, everything they worked so hard on would be on the verge of obsolescence.

Fitzgerald's comments back in 2017 (which C&D mentions) basically reflect his opinion on the situation:

"Performance will not be on the same forefront of differentiator as it is today for ICEs [internal combustion engines]. Everybody is capable of doing an electric motor and putting it in a car, so the performance values will almost be the same. Nobody’s going to be interested in ‘A’ or ‘B’, so I think that will come down to a level playing field."

"If you look at the performance value of an electric vehicle today, there are a lot of ICEs that really struggle to keep up with that."

https://www.motoring.com.au/no-n-per...enesis-109048/

It is clear the Fitzgerald is biding time until the Genesis brand starts building electric vehicles before turning up the performance. We will see eventually if his thoughts and approach are validated.

In the meantime, they've got that crusty old Tau V8 from yester-year in the G80 and G90, easily bested by today's turbocharged six cylinder engines, and it's a shame if they don't do something to rectify that situation. If they are done with V8 development, that's fine - a modern development of their Lambda V6, such as turbocharging the 3.8L version up to 450hp+ would be better than just letting everything languish until they start building competitive PHEVs or EVs (who knows when that'll be feasible).

Not chasing the existing ultra high performance players is a reasonable approach when you are just trying get a foothold with the brand. Being woefully behind the competition's performance and powertrain technology with your flagship sedans is less understandable.

[Delta0311]

So I take it what they mean is Hyundai will hire a bunch of German engineers to design their M3 competitor.

[SteveinArizona]

Originally Posted by Delta0311

So I take it what they mean is Hyundai will hire a bunch of German engineers to design their M3 competitor.

Jealous? I give Hyundai credit for stealing the executives. I also wish Hyundai the best of luck in competing with the Germans. Someone has to and it is not going to be Ford, GM or Chrysler (whatever little piece is left of Chrysler).

[Delta0311]

Originally Posted by SteveinArizona

Jealous? I give Hyundai credit for stealing the executives. I also wish Hyundai the best of luck in competing with the Germans. Someone has to and it is not going to be Ford, GM or Chrysler (whatever little piece is left of Chrysler).

LOL no because I don't own stock in either company.

[Germanauto]

No point as their dealership network has been poorly launched and they have to launch their SUVs. Those are the priorities.

Don't mismanage the Genesis division like GM consistently does with Cadillac.

[Darth One]

Chickens!! Bawk-bawk-baaawwwk!