Why Upstart Luxury Automaker Genesis Says It’s ‘Never Thinking About Competitors’

That’s a bold strategy, Cotton, but it seems to be working out for luxury startup automaker Genesis thus far.

I just spent a week in South Korea with a host of Genesis executives to find out what the future for the brand is. There was Head of Genesis CMF (Color, Material and Finish) Development Team, Taeksung Nam, and Chief Designer Luc Donckerwolke. I also got to chat with Genesis Global Product Officer Marc Choi. The goal was to gain insight into where and how the automaker views itself in the marketplace, and where it’s going with immediate and future expansions.

Consumers impressed with what Genesis has done as a standalone brand in just a decade have only seen a warm-up act. What’s to come, and the pace at which it’s coming, could be a shock to the entire marketplace. Tesla shook the complacency of premium automakers when it showed that luxury can mean more than one thing. Now Genesis is coming for the spaces those brands abandoned in their aggressive swing into electrification.

[Full Disclosure: Genesis paid for travel and lodging and made me the Master of the Soju bomb for me so that I could bring you this first-hand report.]

Mercedes Who?

Posed with the question of where Genesis sees itself in relation to the competition, like Infiniti and Lexus or Mercedes-Benz and the Germans, Nam didn’t pause to even blink: “We are never thinking about the competitors,” he said.

Nam, who is the man in charge of the finest of details on Genesis vehicles, followed with, “We don’t focus too much on what others are doing,” noting that when you look at competitors, it narrows the focal point. Nam mentioned the German competition seems to put dynamic performance at the center of its attention.

Genesis’s priority is on Korean ideas and, in particular, craftsmanship, so that’s what his team of about 12 is working on, according to Nam. “Someday, maybe, we’ll put some hammering patterns into the theme,” Tam said while laughing. The Japanese competition, both Infiniti and Lexus, put an overall emphasis on craftsmanship rather than performance as well, so how much the company can use to differentiate themselves is still to be seen.

South Korea has a focus on the environment, recycling, and curbing CO2 emissions in the name of sustainability. Tam said the team is working to incorporate recycled tires and rubber into new finishes under development. Mercedes engineers revealed the German automaker was working on similar concepts back in November.

The luxury space has become so crowded with buzzwords about craftsmanship and sustainability, all in the name of producing overlapping crossovers, it’s hard to see how a luxury car that’s barely a decade old can distinguish itself on these ideas alone.

Finding White Space

On Thursday, at the 2025 Seoul Mobility Show in South Korea, Genesis unveiled the X Gran Coupe Concept and X Gran Convertible Concept. Choi and Donckerwolke stopped short of confirming the gorgeous luxury cars for production, with the former noting the automaker is currently discussing feasibility and business cases for the concepts. Both concepts looked production-ready with seat belts in the rear, finished door seals, and part number QR code stickers on the rear suspension parts.

The concepts share the same wheelbase, length, width, and most of the interior parts and some body parts with the G90. These concepts are a full-size coupe and convertible with full-size sedan legroom in the rear. The coupe’s roof was lowered 1.5 inches compared to the G90 sedan for better proportions. The removal of the B-pillar allowed the doors to be 1.2 inches longer than the G90’s front doors, enabling easy access to the rear seat. Both concepts were powered by the G90’s 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6 with an e-supercharger system, but Donckerwolke said if the cars were to go into production they would feature an iteration of this powertrain that’s been further developed. Perhaps a hybrid?

It’s extremely bold for the company to enter a space that was essentially abandoned by its competitors.

Mercedes-Benz left this segment with the death of the S-Class Coupe and Cabriolet. Rolls-Royce and Bentley are both punching in with vehicles that are both smaller and at price points likely twice as much as these concepts would cost. One could even argue that the Genesis twins look more elegant than anything else playing in this area.

Genesis Is Planning To Go Dark

Genesis spokesperson Jarred Pellat confirmed to The Autopian that the new Genesis Prestige Black trim rolling out in South Korea will be coming to the U.S. later this year in a staggered launch for the G90, G80, GV80, and GV80 Coupe. The Prestige Black name in the automaker’s home market isn’t final for America, but it will be the top trim for these models when it arrives. Final packaging isn’t set yet, but in Korea these cars are blacked out with all chrome swapped for shiny black plastic trim that’s as dark as a black hole. Inside the black quilted leather is augmented with Korean black ash open pore wood with brushed brass accents. It’s gorgeous.

Tam noted that even the Prestige Black packaging is different from how competitors execute blackout packages. Whereas a Rolls-Royce Black Badge goes dark with black chrome trim on the exterior and bright-colored piping on the leather, Genesis just goes dark. It’s the less-is-more approach

‘Don’t Put Makeup On A Pig’

“I am adamant that a good design is a reduction and concentration of as few design elements as possible,” Donckerwolke said during a roundtable with various journalists. The executive noted, “This is something that needs to be seen much more in these times.”

Donckerwolke said vehicles need one design element and everything else in the design supports that element. “Don’t put makeup on a pig,” the lead designer said.

Korean culture is about minimalism, according to the company. There’s a saying that nothing is something. More than just less-is-more, it’s the idea that nothing can have its own presence. Open white space. Traditional Korean houses, known as Hanoks, were typically filled with open, reconfigurable spaces, low-set furniture, with a focus on ventilation.

As Donckerwolke explained the beauty of white space, both inside and out of a vehicle, the connection to traditional Hanok’s suddenly became clear, loosely, in the company’s ethos. Unlike many modern Mercedes-Benz vehicles, all Genesis models have a low-set horizontal dashboard, tall side glass for the greenhouse, and a functional amount of buttons without overwhelming the interior with massive screens.

Hanoks feature radiant heat from the floors, as most of the time is spent down low on the floor. In March of 2024, Genesis unveiled the Neolun concept, which is a full-size electric SUV. It had radiant heat from the floors, dashboard, door trim, seatbacks, and consoles via heating films.

Choi confirmed to the media during a round table that the GV90 full-size SUV will debut this year. The GV90 will be the production version of the Neolun concept, but it’s unclear if the radiant heating system will make it into production. Genesis’ parent company, Hyundai, unveiled a radiant heating system in August that is said to lead to efficiency gains in future EVs. The GV90 is an EV based on the same E-GMP platform as the electric GV60, albeit stretched in every direction.

Korean culture is also centered around service and ensuring everyone is comfortable. To that end, Genesis has quietly been building one-of-one cars for certain customers in the Middle East. Choi joked that a few customers actually built two-of-two cars so they could have a spare. The process is limited, and for the most part has been about custom paint colors, custom finishes, or custom details. A few requests have been made when it comes to actual design, and while limited, Genesis has tried to accommodate, according to Choi, but safety concerns arise when design changes start being requested.

The future of this level of customization could expand, according to both Choi and Nam. Hand-wrapped leather interior parts, custom finishes, and personalization are all on the table. The Korean market is probably next in line for this level of personalization and experience, as the U.S. market isn’t as developed for the brand, according to Choi.

Choi told the media during the round table that “nobody needs another luxury brand, so it’s about how you treat the customer.”

Genesis may be moving at hyperspeed with its lineup, but it’s certainly not paying attention to hyperscreens. It may even be about to incorporate an old way of doing things in the march towards a more efficient, luxurious, and warmer future… at least for your feet.

All photos by the authors unless otherwise noted