Genesis will continue to sell a full range of models through its own-brand dealer network despite an operational merger with parent company Hyundai.
Genesis Motor UK will no longer exist as a standalone company from January 2024, as first reported by Car Dealer magazine, its operations being rolled fully into Hyundai Motor UK.
However, for customers, there will be effectively no change. A full range of Genesis models will be offered and sales will be fulfilled through the Genesis range of dealers.
A statement from Genesis UK read: “The strategic integration of Genesis Motor UK and Hyundai Motor UK represents a forward-thinking approach to business optimisation and synergy creation.
“This move will harness Hyundai’s established and robust business network and sales infrastructure in the UK, enabling Genesis to broaden its market reach and enhance its presence in the luxury segment.
“The change will ensure that Genesis’s distinct, luxury experience is accessible to our UK customers.”
The president and CEO of Hyundai Motor UK, Ashley Andrew, will lead both companies. The previous MD of Genesis Motor UK, Andrew Pilkington, left the company in October 2023.
In February 2023, Genesis confirmed plans to pivot from online-only sales to working with dealer partners in order to fulfil orders for an agency model.
Autocar understands this new network, which will launch next year, will continue as planned.
In Genesis’s other European markets, Germany and Switzerland, it will continue to operate independently of Hyundai as a standalone company.
Genesis still plans to launch in other European markets; whether as a standalone brand or through Hyundai isn’t yet clear.
All 83 staff at Genesis Motor UK are now on redundancy consultation and will remain employees there until January 2024.
Autocar understands that roles will exist for some of those staff within Hyundai Motor UK in a new structure, but it isn’t yet known how many.
As of October 2023, Genesis had sold just 1188 cars in the UK, giving it a market share of around 0.05%. Lexus has a market share roughly ten times that size.
Genesis’s UK launch was hampered and delayed by the Covid pandemic. It opened with ICE models before moving onto electric cars – a different strategy to that undertaken by other new brands to launch in the UK lately, including Polestar and BYD.