Geography Lessons

Hyundai goes big with its own luxury subbrand.

- Joe Dematio

L​UXURY GOODS are inextricably tied to geography. You want a timepiece from Geneva, a suit from Naples, a pair of handmade brogues from London. And what do you want from Seoul, other than a Samsung refrigerator? Hyundai thinks you might want a luxury sedan.

Hyundai started down this road eight years ago with the rear-wheel-drive Genesis sedan, which had about it a whiff of the original Lexus LS 400, at least in the way it upended previous notions about how an Asian automaker known for sensible transportation could pivot. That Genesis was successful enough for Hyundai to make the big leap, now establishing Genesis as a luxury subbrand.

If it hadn’t, the G90 would have been the second-generation Hyundai Equus, a cut-rate Mercedes S-class. The G90 is still a cut-rate S-class, but it’s a much better one than the doughy old Equus. The existing Hyundai Genesis, for its part, has been recast as the Genesis G80. The real proof of concept for the Genesis brand, though, will be the G70. This upcoming 3-series and C-class fighter—prescribed by two recent concept cars, the Vision G coupe and the New York Concept hybrid sedan—can’t come soon enough.