Genesis CEO Talks EVs, Growing Product Line

For a five-year old, the luxury Genesis brand is looking to grow up very quickly while cultivating its own demographic of youthful customers it calls “Generation Genesis.” That was the message, Tuesday, from Genesis CEO Mark Del Rosso.

During a webcast presentation for the Automotive Press Association Del Rosso announced Genesis plans to double its product portfolio by next year, including the introduction of the brand’s first battery electric vehicle as well as the GV70, a compact luxury SUV. 

Genesis was created five years ago as the luxury marque within the Korean Hyundai Motor Group and was spun off as an independent division in 2017. Del Rosso was named Genesis CEO last October. 

In his quick, energetic presentation and in answering reporter questions, Del Rosso hammers home some key catch phrases and buzz words Genesis is using to try to separate itself from its luxury competition while attempting to capture an elusive demographic. 

Indeed, Del Rosso isn’t satisfied with simply describing Genesis as a luxury brand but as a “luxury consumer mobility provider.” What’s that? “We believe at Genesis luxury is personal. We believe in a highly personal client experience,” Del Rosso explained. “We want clients to experience Genesis luxury on their terms” 

Who are these “clients?” Standby for another catchphrase—the Genesis Generation. Pepsi declared its own generation back in the 1960’s but Del Rosso describes his brand’s demo as not so much sipping the fizz, but creating its own buzz.

“They are sophisticated marketers in their own right and they’re creating content as well as many other brands and they absolutely value cache as much as they value cash,” Del Rosso declared. 

Genesis, he said, intends to grab these “sophisticated marketers” by playing the game the way they do, explaining, “These customers are curating their own experiences, whether they’re curating their own vacation, curating their own dating experience, they’re able to create. I think that’s really cool. We want to co-create and curate with them their own personalized luxury and mobility experience.” 

The brand will eventually be able to provide a separate sales experience. Now co-located in Hyundai dealerships, Del Rosso said the first freestanding Genesis stores will begin appearing “in the next 12 to 18 months.” While describing the investment in separate Genesis showrooms as “optional” Del Rosso intimated at some point building a dedicated showroom will be a condition for selling the brand as the product line grows.

Make no mistake, the Genesis product is growing. Along with the GV70 and battery electric vehicle next year, the GV80 will arrive shortly. Since its introduction during the 2020 NFL Super Bowl, more than 19,000 reservations have come in for the SUV. More than 3,000 consumer reservations have been placed for the G80 sedan, Del Rosso said. 

By bolstering its product line with both SUVs and sedans, Genesis is bucking the trend against passenger cars, but Del Rosso contends it only reflects the brand’s sales results.

“SUVs give us great promise as do sedans,” he said. “While the sedan segment continues to contract, we’re gaining share which means we’re earning Generation Genesis loyalty and bringing them into the brand.”

Looking ahead both in the near and longer terms, Del Rosso believes the fourth quarter of this year will end up being “not a terrible market, not supremely excellent, but a very good market.” Where will Genesis be in five years? 

“In 2025 we believe at Genesis you’ll discover us as the most disruptive and dominant within luxury consumer mobility,” predicted Del Rosso. 

But will Genesis ever move production to North America from South Korea? The answer to that is another catch phrase often falling from Del Rosso’s lips, “anything’s possible.”