Things are looking up for Genesis.
The upstart luxury brand from Hyundai Motor Group, after several years of getting by on a sedan-only lineup, is seeing its volume climb after the introductions of its plush GV70 and GV80 utility vehicles.
At the brand's make meeting here Saturday, dealers were assured that the manufacturer will help them keep things moving forward, said Peter Lanzavecchia, the Genesis National Dealer Advisory Council chairman.
"We received some very positive news today at the meeting about anticipated 2022 production levels for Genesis for our market here in the states," said Lanzavecchia, owner of Genesis of Cherry Hill in Marlton, N.J..
"It's a fluid environment. Supply chain and chip availability can change, but from what we learned today, Genesis dealers were very happy about the update we received today."
Lanzavecchia said dealers are going to move every vehicle that gets produced. The only question is how many can they get.
Hyundai Motor Group has helped build momentum by giving Genesis priority for semiconductor chips. The brand's U.S. sales tripled in 2021 to 49,621.
"It was an all-time record," Hyundai Motor North America CEO Jose Muñoz told Automotive News after the make meeting. "Almost every month, we had an all-time record" in 2021, he said.
Genesis has worked for years to develop a retail strategy that would be acceptable to dealers. That's starting to bear fruit, Muñoz reported.
"It was also the first year of implementation of the so-called Keystone [facility] program, and we're very proud of the progress we are making."
The brand has been pulling consumers from other luxury brands, he said. But that means those buyers are coming into dealerships with expectations on how to be treated.
Muñoz said improvements can be made with customer satisfaction, a point that came up during Saturday's meeting.
"We are conquesting from really premium brands in the market and we're very proud of that," Munoz said. "We need to ensure our dealers are able to provide those customers with the level of service that they expect from us, from a luxury brand."
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