The Beginning of Genesis Luxury: How Hyundai Launched a New Sub-Brand with the g90

In the beginning, Hyundai built the Genesis luxury sedan and it was pretty good. Then, they brought their flagship to America and well, no one really cared. Now, Hyundai is using their redesigned flagship to launch their Genesis luxury sub-brand so they've got a name and now they've got a number.

This Eis replacement is going to be called g90 and the current Genesis will get its own alpha numeric label, making it easier to understand what's new and what's not. Let's make this simple: the g90 goes up against German Heavy Hitters like the BMW 7 Series and the Mercedes-Benz S class. That means it's very big and very plush.

The choice of patriotic South Korean business tycoons who get to sit in the back seat and be driven around is quite evident. The interior is decadent, with lots and lots of space and power-adjustable rear seats that fold down. There are controls for audio and climate, like overhead band mirrors and fancy window shades.

The price of entry in this Uber luxury class is the same as the interior finish – very well done. Almost everything is covered with something soft to touch or wood or Chrome or a button or a screen. One of the hallmarks of the Genesis brand is supposed to be human-centered luxury, which translates into controls that are trying to be approachable and easy enough to use.

There's a mix of regular buttons, a controller knob, a touch screen that only works in certain situations, and an annoyingly counterintuitive shifter. Easy controls are important because in North America most g90 buyers are going to be doing their own driving. Another hallmark of the Genesis brand is to try to build cars that are more engaging to drive than previous big Hyundais.

There's certainly no lack of power in the base engine, which is a 3.3 L twin turbo V6 making an estimated 375 horsepower or you can step up to the 5 L V8, which makes 430 horsepower. Both engines are mated to an 8-speed automatic, unlike the Equis, where you have a choice of rear wheel drive or all-wheel drive.

This makes sense because driving all four wheels has become almost essential for some buyers in this segment. The same goes for advanced Safety gear much like Tesla's autopilot. The g90 can steer itself down a highway keeping itself within its lane. The system insists that the driver keeps a hand on the wheel, which is a good thing even though it won't be caught by Hyundai.

Of course, no matter how good the g90 is, you are going to be giving up some brand prestige compared to those German Heavy Hitters and for some buyers, it's that name on the hood that matters the most. We'll find out if buyers are more likely to spend 70 or so thousand for a car badge Genesis than they were for a car badged Hyundai.

For more electric sedans, check out consumerreports.org

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enin the beginning Hyundai built the Genesis luxury sedan and it was pretty good then Hyundai brought their Eis Flagship to America and well no one really cared now Hyundai is using their redesigned Flagship to launch their Genesis luxury sub brand so they've got a name and now they've got a number this Eis replacement is going to be called g90 and the current Genesis it will get its own alpha numeric gobbly go confused yet let's make this simple the g90 goes up against German Heavy Hitters like the BMW 7 Series and the Mercedes-Benz S class that means it's very big and very plush the choice of patriotic South Korean business tycoons who get to sit in the back seat and be driven around of course it's decadent back here there's lots and lots of space and power adjustable rear seats fold down the Hefty Center armrest and there are controls for audio and climate trinkets like overhead band mirrors and fancy window shades are the price of entry in this Uber luxury class same goes for the interior finish it's very very well done almost everything is covered with something soft to touch or wood or Chrome or a button or a screen one of the Hallmarks of the Genesis brand is supposed to be human- centered luxury now what that marketing speak translates into is that the controls are trying to be approachable and easy enough to use there's a mix of lots of regular buttons a controller knob a touchcreen that only works in certain situations and an annoyingly counterintuitive shifter easy controls are important because in North America most g90 buyers are going to be doing their own driving another Hallmark of the Genesis brand is to try to build cars that are more engaging to drive than previous big Hyundai there's certainly No Lack of power the base engine is a 3.3 L twin turbo V6 making an estimated 375 horsepower or you can step up to the 5 L V8 which makes 430 horsepower both engines are mated to an 8-speed automatic unlike the Equis you have a choice of rear wheel drive or all-wheel drive that makes sense because driving all four wheels has become almost essential for some buyers in this segment same goes for advanced Safety gear much like Tesla's autopilot the g90 can steer itself down a highway keeping itself within its Lane the system insists that the driver keeps a hand on the wheel which is a good thing even though the g90 won't be caught a Hyundai that doesn't mean it won't be an attractively priced value expect this the sticker at tens of thousands of dollars less than rival BMWs and Mercedes of course no matter how good the g90 is you are going to be giving up some brand Prestige compared to those German Heavy Hitters and for some buyers it's that name on the hood that matters the most we'll find out if buyers are more likely to spend 70 or so thousand for a car badge Genesis than they were for a car badged Hyundai for more electric sedans check out consumerreports.orgin the beginning Hyundai built the Genesis luxury sedan and it was pretty good then Hyundai brought their Eis Flagship to America and well no one really cared now Hyundai is using their redesigned Flagship to launch their Genesis luxury sub brand so they've got a name and now they've got a number this Eis replacement is going to be called g90 and the current Genesis it will get its own alpha numeric gobbly go confused yet let's make this simple the g90 goes up against German Heavy Hitters like the BMW 7 Series and the Mercedes-Benz S class that means it's very big and very plush the choice of patriotic South Korean business tycoons who get to sit in the back seat and be driven around of course it's decadent back here there's lots and lots of space and power adjustable rear seats fold down the Hefty Center armrest and there are controls for audio and climate trinkets like overhead band mirrors and fancy window shades are the price of entry in this Uber luxury class same goes for the interior finish it's very very well done almost everything is covered with something soft to touch or wood or Chrome or a button or a screen one of the Hallmarks of the Genesis brand is supposed to be human- centered luxury now what that marketing speak translates into is that the controls are trying to be approachable and easy enough to use there's a mix of lots of regular buttons a controller knob a touchcreen that only works in certain situations and an annoyingly counterintuitive shifter easy controls are important because in North America most g90 buyers are going to be doing their own driving another Hallmark of the Genesis brand is to try to build cars that are more engaging to drive than previous big Hyundai there's certainly No Lack of power the base engine is a 3.3 L twin turbo V6 making an estimated 375 horsepower or you can step up to the 5 L V8 which makes 430 horsepower both engines are mated to an 8-speed automatic unlike the Equis you have a choice of rear wheel drive or all-wheel drive that makes sense because driving all four wheels has become almost essential for some buyers in this segment same goes for advanced Safety gear much like Tesla's autopilot the g90 can steer itself down a highway keeping itself within its Lane the system insists that the driver keeps a hand on the wheel which is a good thing even though the g90 won't be caught a Hyundai that doesn't mean it won't be an attractively priced value expect this the sticker at tens of thousands of dollars less than rival BMWs and Mercedes of course no matter how good the g90 is you are going to be giving up some brand Prestige compared to those German Heavy Hitters and for some buyers it's that name on the hood that matters the most we'll find out if buyers are more likely to spend 70 or so thousand for a car badge Genesis than they were for a car badged Hyundai for more electric sedans check out consumerreports.org\n"