New flagships ready to take Oz by storm

It may sound far-fetched, but Genesis is hoping to compete with the upper-echelon of bespoke luxury SUVs when its all-new GV90 arrives.. But while the idea of the GV90 rivalling the likes of the Bentley Bentayga and Rolls-Royce Cullinan, there is one key reason why the brand should be taken seriously - the man in charge.. Luc Donkerwolke is now the Chief Creative Officer for Genesis, but previously he was the man responsible for designing the Bentayga..

He actually left the British brand before the SUV was done, so officially the design credit for the Bentayga is given to SungYup Lee - who is now the design boss for Hyundai.. So either way, Genesis and Hyundai have all the skills and experience to design a genuinely luxurious SUV.. There is a big difference between designing a premium SUV and being able to sell it..

The GV90, which is based on the Neolun concept from 2024, will be an all-electric flagship for the brand and is expected to cost more than $200,000 when it arrives in Australia next year.. Given Genesis' slow sales growth trajectory in Australia since it arrived in 2019, pushing so far upmarket is a risk, but one the brand is actually looking forward to..  "I think our brand actually needs a halo like that right now," said Tim Rodgers, Product Planning and Development Manager for Genesis Australia..

"We haven't quite showcased our full capability in that regard and just how high we can stretch the levels of luxury in a car.. The flagship SUV that you mentioned, I think that's ready to turn some heads and opinions about [the] Genesis brand, and I think it's the right time now." Given the premium nature and price tag, Genesis Australia is most likely to offer the GV90 on a strict order-only basis, which means there will be limited stock in showrooms and customers will be able to order them to their personalised preferences.. Again, Rodgers believes this is advantageous for the brand and claims it will actually play to its strengths..

" We do a lot of build-to-order anyway, so it's not really anything new for us.. So in that sense actually, we're set up in an ideal situation to leverage that kind of car," he said.  The arrival of the GV90 as a flagship luxury SUV will follow the launch of the new Magma performance sub-brand.. Globally the company has committed to introducing a Magma variant of every model in the range and has begun with the GV60 Magma small SUV..

Justin Douglass, Head of Genesis Australia, explained the impact of Magma has already been felt.. " I think when you look at the amount of goodwill towards a brand from the moment that we announced that Magma was coming to life there's been a lot of interest for a couple of years now," he said.. "I think when the production version was shown in November last year, it created an immediate influx of register-your-interests here in Australia..

"I think for any brand to have a true performance luxury variant added to their range is always gonna be beneficial and exciting and attract a new customer base, and as I said, create some real emotion and energy around the brand as well.. So yeah it's absolutely an exciting addition for the brand." While the GV90 will act as the flagship for the brand in terms of luxury, the Magma GT is expected to be the halo sports car.. The mid-engined coupe was revealed as a concept at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June and Hyundai Motor Group's global CEO, Jose Munoz, made it clear he wants to put it into production as soon as possible.  Without being confirmed for production it's difficult for Douglass and Rodgers to commit to Magma GT plans for Australia, but they are both adament it will come here if it's built in right-hand drive..

" If it was made available to us, absolutely," Douglass said.. Without confirming the Magma GT would be available here, Rodgers suggested right-hand drive production is likely..  "We act like a global car company because we are," he said..

"There's plenty of models in right-hand drive that we've developed that, maybe on paper don't really make sense, but we've done it because that's what a global car company does, right?".