Hyundai Motor scion ventures into luxury cars with Genesis brand

Seoul

HYUNDAI Motor Co chairman Chung Mong-koo proved the South Korean carmaker can build reliable, value-for-money cars by beating Toyota Motor Corp and Volkswagen AG in benchmark US quality surveys. His son now wants to show Hyundai can be synonymous with luxury, too.

Hyundai will start sales of its new G80 mid-sized sedan in South Korea next month, the second of a six-model line-up planned for its burgeoning premium marque called Genesis. Vice-chairman Chung Eui-sun, the son of the chairman, has been fronting the brand, introducing it in Seoul in November, then announcing plans to spin it off into a standalone division at the Detroit car show two months later.

The stakes are high for Hyundai, which faces competition in the low-end of the market from Chinese brands after missing its sales target last year for the first time since the global financial crisis. While luxury cars command a premium and are typically more profitable, the field is crowded and dominated by the German duo BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Among Hyundai's Japanese rivals competing in the segment, only Toyota Motor Corp's Lexus has given the Germans…