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Hyundai Genesis Sedan Killed Off In The UK; Only 50 Cars Sold In Two Years

By Sanjoy Alexander

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - NOVEMBER 26: Hyundai Motor's new luxury sedan all-new 'Genesis' is seen during its unveiling at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on November 26, 2013 in Seoul, South Korea. Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea's largest car maker, today launched its new luxury sedan which features a 3,342cc and 3,778 engine, priced from 46,6 million won ($43,908) to 69,6 million won ($65,582) will be sold in foreign markets starting in 2014. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - NOVEMBER 26: Hyundai Motor's new luxury sedan all-new 'Genesis' is seen during its unveiling at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on November 26, 2013 in Seoul, South Korea. Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea's largest car maker, today launched its new luxury sedan which features a 3,342cc and 3,778 engine, priced from 46,6 million won ($43,908) to 69,6 million won ($65,582) will be sold in foreign markets starting in 2014. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images) /
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After valiantly fighting a losing battle against Mercedes Benz, BMW and Audi, the Hyundai Genesis Sedan has finally fallen in the UK.

Hyundai tried a lot to be taken seriously as a maker of luxury and performance cars. It launched the Hyundai Genesis luxury sedan in Europe with the sole aim of taking on the Germans. Sadly, premium luxury sedan customers couldn’t seem to shake off the Korean manufacturer’s brand identity as a maker of budget sedans and hatchbacks.

At least that’s the case in the United Kingdom where the sedan sold in dismal numbers. So bad was the sales figure that Hyundai had no other option left than to pull the plug.

A report by Autocar says that the Korean carmaker managed to sell an appallingly-low number of 50 units since the Genesis sedan commenced sales in the country from 2015.

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – NOVEMBER 26: Hyundai Motor’s new luxury sedan all-new ‘Genesis’ is seen during its unveiling at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on November 26, 2013 in Seoul, South Korea. Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea’s largest car maker, today launched its new luxury sedan which features a 3,342cc and 3,778 engine, priced from 46,6 million won ($43,908) to 69,6 million won ($65,582) will be sold in foreign markets starting in 2014. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – NOVEMBER 26: Hyundai Motor’s new luxury sedan all-new ‘Genesis’ is seen during its unveiling at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on November 26, 2013 in Seoul, South Korea. Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea’s largest car maker, today launched its new luxury sedan which features a 3,342cc and 3,778 engine, priced from 46,6 million won ($43,908) to 69,6 million won ($65,582) will be sold in foreign markets starting in 2014. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images) /

Hyundai UK Managing Director explained the carmaker’s observation on the poor sales that the car registered in the UK.

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"The Genesis was never built for the European market, it was conceived for the Korean and American market. It shows a saloon car with a 3.8-litre engine is not really what is demanded in Europe, and in particular in the UK. We brought it in as much just to sample it: lots of people told us they’d driven a Genesis in America and liked it. It was also available in Australia and had done well there, so it was engineered in right-hand-drive. So we thought fine, let’s trial it and see how it goes."

The 3.8-liter V6 engine is being marked out by the manufacturer as the reason for the car’s failure. It’s not an argument that many will buy as there are powerful and pricey sedans out there which continue to sell well in the UK. We believe it’s more about Hyundai failing to raise its brand value and image to the same level as the Mercs, Audis and the Bimmers.

Next: Hyundai Motor America Recalls 600,000 Cars

The Hyundai Genesis sedan goes by the name of Hyundai G80 in markets where the carmaker has introduced the Genesis luxury brand already. Hyundai may not introduce the luxury brand in the UK in near future as it is still in the process of studying the premium car segment of that market.

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