First look: Hyundai’s Genesis sprung in Europe

HERE is the car that is poised to propel Hyundai into the Australian large-car market, possibly as early as next year.

The second-generation Genesis sedan was photographed during filming in Europe ahead of its upcoming unveiling in South Korea before the end of the year and formal launch at the Detroit motor show in January.

The photo is believed to have been published first on a South Korean website, thesouthkoreancarblog. com, before going viral around the world.

Officially, Hyundai Motor Co Australia (HMCA) says it is still considering the business case for the big rear-drive car, but former Hyundai Australia chief executive Edward Lee – now vice-president in charge of international sales – was recently quoted in Wheels as saying the four-door luxury sedan is bound for our shores.

HMCA has already announced it is taking the Genesis coupe, and it now seems a formality that the sedan will follow.

The sedan and coupe will both be built in right-hand drive for the first time, throwing open the prospect of sales in Australia, Britain and other right-hook markets.

Hyundai has already announced the Genesis will go on sale in Europe this time, apparently confident that the new model has the sophistication to go head to head with Europe’s best executive sedans, including the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and BMW 5 Series.

In Australia, the Genesis is also likely to be aimed not only at luxury imports but also top-end locally built cars such as the Holden Calais and Caprice and Ford Falcon G6E, as well as performance spin-offs such as Holden Special Vehicles’ Senator.

Interestingly, Hyundai’s chief operating officer John Elsworth is a former Holden sales and marketing executive director with intimate knowledge of the Australian big-car scene.

The current model offers a range of 3.8-litre six-cylinder and 5.0-litre V8 powertrains producing up to 316kW of power, but the new line-up is yet to be revealed.

However, the Genesis in the photos shows a “G380” badge on the back, indicating that a 3.8-litre engine will do duty again this time.

The car also has an “HTRAC” badge, confirming what Hyundai has already stated, that the new model will get its HTRAC all-wheel-drive system, at least on some models.

The next-gen Genesis sedan and coupe have both been shown in concept form, with the four-door concept, the HCD-14, appearing at the Detroit show in January, followed by the HCD-9 coupe concept at the Seoul show in March.

In October, Hyundai released official renderings of the sedan’s exterior, but so far has kept the lid on the production coupe design.