The luxury automotive market is feeling the pressure, but Genesis, the Korean luxury brand owned by Hyundai, is hoping for a turnaround. After experiencing steady growth since its launch in Australia back in 2019, Genesis faced significant challenges last year, invoking strong interest as the industry anticipates the brand's recovery efforts for 2025.
According to VFACTS figures, Genesis saw its deliveries plummet by 26.9% last year, with only 1,400 vehicles reaching customers, sharply down from previous years. This decline was much steeper than competitors like Lexus, which dropped 10.2%, and Audi at 19.5%. Despite the downturn, Genesis managed to surpass brands such as Jaguar, Alfa Romeo, and Maserati, reflecting both resilience and the brand's unique market positioning.
Leading the charge for Genesis is Justin Douglass, the brand's local boss, who is optimistic about growth opportunities for 2025. He conveyed confidence during recent statements, expecting deliveries to rise compared to last year. Douglass elaborated, "We just want to build the relationship... we successfully built over 5000 relationships with the Australian customers, and each one of these customers is very important to our business." His approach emphasizes customer retention and relationship-building over strictly hitting sales targets—an ideology echoed by Genesis' global CEO, Mike Song.
Song underscored the importance of maintaining customer connections rather than fixated sales goals, stating, "At Genesis we really try to avoid setting sales goals. If we just set any figures, then we become the slave of these." This philosophy seems to resonate within the company’s short-term strategy of delighting existing customers rather than aggressively pursuing new clientele.
One of the major hurdles Genesis faced was brand awareness. Highlighting this challenge, Andrew Tuitahi, director of marketing and product for Hyundai Motor Company Australia, remarked, "Awareness of the brand is slow... brand awareness is probably the biggest challenge we have." While Tuitahi indicated progress was made to improve brand consideration, he acknowledged, "We do have some other brand marketing assets... going live throughout the course of 2025." This commitment to heightened marketing efforts aims to shed light on the brand, making it more recognizable to potential buyers.
Reflecting on the causes behind the decline, Douglass noted, "We had our sales potential disrupted... what we found is we had a high number of customer orders coming through, but we also had our sales potential disrupted through obviously the Showcase developments." These disruptions were largely attributed to COVID-related supply chain issues, particularly concerning semiconductor shortages, which took their toll during 2023 and 2024. Douglass pointed out the loss was particularly painful for Genesis with fewer than 10 retail locations across the nation, making any outages critically impactful.
Despite the drop last year, the outlook appears cautiously optimistic. Douglass shared statistics indicative of future potential: "We had a very positive year... our order rate actually grew 17 per cent year-on-year." With several new product releases set to arrive—namely the updated Electrified GV70 and Electrified G80—there’s talk of fresh offerings revitalizing customer interest. The facelifted GV60 is also expected to launch later this year, with whispers of the brand's high-performance line debuting early next year.
Genesis maintains its distinctive fixed pricing sales model, which may shift slightly as plans to collaborate with agency partners are introduced. Douglass mentioned the objective is to expand their geographic footprint. These transitions will align with Genesis' existing sales and aftersales standards to provide existing customers with more accessible options.
Enticing potential buyers, Genesis is currently running promotional campaigns including "deposit contribution" offers, which could be beneficial for potential buyers who are hesitant about pricing. Douglass explained, "The deposit contribution has been quite successful for us since we implemented it." The brand is providing $8,000 off the model year 2025 (MY25) GV80 vehicles and $10,000 off MY25 GV80 Coupe vehicles until February 28, 2025. This substantial discount aims to spur interest and drive sales as Genesis navigates its way back to growth.
Douglass added, "I think we’re still very well positioned... we aim to have a healthy mix of vehicles on the ground for customers who don’t want to wait two to four months for built-to-order vehicles." The significance of these efforts highlights Genesis's commitment to improve customer acquisition and sales performance.
With widespread changing dynamics as the automotive industry evolves, Genesis seems poised to diminish challenges surrounding brand awareness, supply chain recovery, and broaden its reach across the Australian market. The increasing consumer interest and unique customer relationships established offer encouragement for Genesis as it embarks on its new chapter heading toward 2025.