AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)10/30 Report--

Hyundai Motor has announced that it will appoint William Lee, the company's former North American chief executive, as the global head of its high-end brand Gaines. Earlier, the head of Gaines, Manfred Fitzgerald, had announced his departure.

After taking office, Lee will face the challenge of reviving Gaines' sales in the US and pressure for the brand to make progress in Europe and China, where Hyundai's high-end brands face difficulties in both markets. It is understood that Hyundai says it has established a Gaines sales business in China and Europe.

For domestic consumers, the brand Gaines may be a little strange. In fact, this brand is a brand-new brand built by Hyundai for the high-end market, focusing on the Korean local market and the North American market. Hyundai has established its position for a very short time, only 4 years ago. Hyundai introduced its brand to China in 2017, but sales were mediocre, followed by the withdrawal of Hyundai dealerships and the hasty exit of the Gaines brand.

However, for Gaines, the Chinese market has always been a coveted profit place, hoping to regain the market in China. Unlike before, the Chinese name Genesis is familiar to Chinese consumers is "Gaines", and now Hyundai has renamed it Genisse. And in October this year, Hyundai announced the establishment of Genisse Automobile sales (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., with a registered capital of US $50 million. At the same time, Hyundai also plans to set up a sales legal person in other big cities outside Shanghai, with a view to officially launching sales in China by the end of 2019.

According to the plan, Genisse said it would launch a number of cars and SUV products in China, with SUV models including GV80 and GV70 series, while G70, G80, G90 and other full-range cars are expected to be gradually covered in China. And unveiled the new Genisse G90, GV80 concept car and Mint concept car at the second China International Import Expo on November 5.

At the initial stage of sales in the Chinese market, Hyundai plans to produce Genisse-branded cars in South Korean factories and import them to China, and then consider whether to put into production in Chinese factories according to the performance of the products in the market. The head of the Genisseth team also said that Hyundai may gradually consider a semi-domestic model of assembly and production at Hyundai's joint venture in Beijing after parts are imported into China.

For Denises, returning to China can improve Hyundai's high-end image on the one hand and become a profit growth point for the company on the other. Data show that in 2018, the sales volume of China's luxury car market reached 2.87 million (dealer retail caliber statistics), an increase of 10.7% over the same period last year, accounting for 12.5% of the total passenger car retail volume, an increase of 1.7% over the same period last year.

At present, the US is Gaines's largest overseas market, while in South Korea's home market, it accounts for 72 per cent of global sales. But last year, Gaines' sales in the US halved to only 10312 vehicles, and the brand's sales in the US have improved this year.

This return to the domestic market means that Hyundai plans to reduce costs and lower its terminal prices in order to compete with other luxury brands, but in the face of the current highly competitive domestic luxury market, it is not possible to compete for market share by thinking. after all, luxury brands without historical details are not "popular" in China, and the future development of Genisse can only be seen.

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat