The Hyundai Genesis has been spied in Delhi undisguised. We can expect Hyundai to launch the premium luxury sedan in India this year, being brought in via the CBU route.
The Hyundai Genesis is a premium luxury sedan loaded with high-tech equipment and luxury embellishments. The premium Korean sedan belongs to a segment that doesn’t exist in the Indian market. However, the Genesis competes globally with the Mercedes E-Class, BMW 5-Series, Audi A6 and the likes but the concept of having a luxury car without a premium badge is unknown in India. It seems like Hyundai is keen to introduce the Genesis in India, experimenting with a new segment. We caught the luxury saloon undisguised running on Delhi roads with Tamil Nadu registration.
If launched in India, the Hyundai Genesis would have to face many challenges. One of them being the Hyundai badge, which is largely known for mass market hatchbacks and small sedans in India. The other big challenge is the petrol engine. The Genesis doesn’t have a diesel engine on offer and comes with four petrol engines globally – 3.0-litre, 3.3-litre, 3.8-litre and 5.0-litre. The particular model that we spotted was the 3.8 Lambda GDi with a 3778cc V6 petrol engine producing 315 PS of power and 397 Nm of torque, mated to a 8-speed automatic transmission.
The amount of equipment offered on the Hyundai Genesis is impeccable, making it one of the safest cars of recent times. It has traction control, all-wheel drive system, rear cross-traffic alert, blind spot detection, lane departure warning with lane keep assist, automatic emergency braking, smart cruise control with stop & go, active bonnet, heads-up display, HID headlights with high beam assist, tyre pressure monitoring and continuous damping control.
Most of these features are not even offered on the luxury German cars. At first glance, it looks like the Elantra from the rear but the overall design is quite smart and elegant with a hint of the BMW 7-Series at the front. The biggest challenge is the pricing, which is expected to be around Rs. 50 lakhs and at that price, Indian buyers blindly prefer the German trios. The Hyundai Genesis seems like an exciting product to us but it would be interesting to see how the Indian market responds to a car like the Genesis.
