The product lineup of Genesis, the luxury brand of Hyundai Motor Group, will expand significantly next year. Following the debut of the flagship full-size sport utility vehicle (SUV) GV90, hybrid models will be added to the core products G80 and GV80.
According to a person in the finished car industry on the 10th, Hyundai Motor recently finalized next year's new car launch plan and shared it with related teams such as sales and marketing. The plan for next year includes many Genesis models, whose recent sales performance has been sluggish due to model aging.
Among the Genesis brand models, the first new car to appear will be the GV90, which is scheduled to be released in the first half of next year. The GV90 is the first F-segment full-size SUV to be launched by a domestic finished car brand. In the European vehicle classification system, the F-segment refers to the largest class, with an overall length of 5,000 mm or more.
The GV90 is a model that Hyundai Motor has been developing since 2021, and the concept car "Neolun" was unveiled for the first time at the New York International Auto Show in March last year. Unlike most Genesis vehicles, it will be released only as an electric SUV. Its body length is larger than Hyundai Motor's full-size SUVs such as the Palisade and Ioniq 9, and it is said to be similar in size to General Motors (GM) Traverse.
The finished car industry expects the GV90 to help elevate Genesis' luxury brand image in the global market. Traditional luxury brands such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW have flagship full-size SUVs. The GV90 is expected to compete with the Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV, BMW's iX7, which will debut next year, and the Range Rover Electric.
The hybrid versions of the G80 and GV80 are expected to help lift Genesis' recently weak sales performance. The GV80 hybrid model is scheduled for release in September next year, and the G80 hybrid model in December next year.
The G80, a midsize-large sedan, and the GV80, a midsize-large SUV, are Genesis' main sales models, but as it has been a long time since their launch, sales have recently declined. As of October this year, G80 sales were 34,158 units, down 12% from the same period a year earlier, and GV80 sales were 26,703 units in the same period, down 20.2%.
The hybrid models of the G80 and GV80 are also expected to be popular overseas. While electric vehicle sales continue to slump, demand for hybrids is growing rapidly. In the United States, EV sales plunged after the tax credit for electric vehicles ended at the end of September, while hybrid sales increased sharply.
Hyundai Motor is also said to be planning to roll out a partial change model of the G90, Genesis' flagship full-size sedan, around October next year.
A person in the finished car industry said, "If a hybrid model is added to the midsize SUV GV70 in 2027 following the GV80 next year, it will help increase market share in the United States."