Genesis ready for next step in its evolution

Four years ago, Genesis launched into the UK with a pioneering direct-to-consumer model where everything to do with its premium models – from purchasing to servicing – was done directly through its central office.

Plenty has changed since then. No longer the new kid on the block following the influx of numerous newer brands to the UK, Genesis has been undergoing a number of largely behind-the-scenes and organisational changes over the past couple of years to improve its offering.

This has included merging back-office functions with its Hyundai Motor UK sister brand, opening physical dealerships and growing its fleet team.

Over this summer it is launching three refreshed model ranges - the fully-electric GV60, GV70 and G80: the first new vehicles from the manufacturers in two-and-a-half years.

Following later will be a range of hybrids as Genesis becomes an electrified brand, and the manufacturer hopes these models will help it make further inroads into the fleet space.

“We’re very excited, as is the corporate team to get out into the market with the new models,” says Jonny Miller, brand director of Genesis Motor UK.

“They are all benefiting from bigger batteries, upgraded technology and upgraded interiors. We’ve seen some pent-up demand for the GV70 and we received orders for the new model even before it officially went on sale.”

While the new models will undoubtedly help generate an increase in interest in the brand, the work which Genesis has put in away from the new vehicles to increase its brand awareness, presence and back-office operations will arguably have a greater impact.

It will still offer its “Genesis difference” promise of VIP-style customer-focused engagement. Central to this is the Genesis Personal Assistant (GPA) programme that assigns each customer a single point of contact that will support them with test drives, ordering and handover, all the way through to aftersales.

However, the introduction of its dealer network throughout the UK– which it is working with dealer partners such as Arnold Clark, Swansway and Holdcroft for – will give it more opportunities to interact with customers.

Genesis expects to have 15 showrooms – all standalone – open by the end of the year. Previously, its only physical locations were three studios – two in London and one in Edinburgh – but all purchases had to be made online.

‘Opportunity to touch the cars’

“Working with our retail partners will give customers, however they purchase, the opportunity to be be able to come and see the cars, touch them and test drive them from that site,” says Miller.

“With the solely direct-to-consumer model, our ability to get to every customer, whether it was fleet or retail, was held back by capacity.

“We’ve always had corporate demos and utilised them as best we can, but for someone, let’s say on a salsac scheme or even an end-user company car driver, they’re looking at it saying ‘well, I like the look of the Genesis, but I haven’t driven one. So how do I do it?’.

“And it’s kind of ‘well, I go to the website and I can request a test drive. Okay, I’ll do that’.

“We had hundreds of test drive requests but couldn’t get to all of them straightaway, and then when we could get to them we would say ‘the car is available, are you?’.

“And often they would say they’d already bought an x, y or z. With modern day technology, if you don’t get to somebody who shows an interest very quickly, you will likely lose that customer.

“And then some people then said ‘well, I don’t want to waste your time because I’m not going to buy it from you. You’re also going to come to my house, and it feels a bit weird’.

“Ultimately, some people did it, and it worked. But we’re at the point where we’re appointing our retail partners.

“This will create destinations where anybody – fleet or retail – can then come and interact, understand the brand and have a test drive.”

Enhanced aftersales

The new network also provides an enhanced aftersales proposition, with faster turnaround times.

Miller says this will be especially beneficial to fleet customers as service and repair jobs can be performed more quickly.

“Before, in our direct sales model we would come to you, pick your car up, give you a courtesy car and then take your car back for a service to a central servicing location. It could be on the other side of the country; it probably was on the other side of the country.

“But now we can appoint and work with specific Hyundai partners to give us the authorised repairers across the country to allow any customer’s car to be looked after locally.

“We will still offer that we come to you, still offer a pick-up and delivery, but the car doesn’t have to travel as far. This means we can do a service and get the car back to you in a day, whereas before it could be taking us two to three days.”

The development of a retail network is also allowing Genesis to improve its used car offering, allowing it to control residual values when its cars return to the market.

“When we were solely direct to consumer, we were trying to work out how we do used cars,” says Miller.

“Late plate, low mileage, no problem. We were selling them ourselves. But what do we do with the end of lease cars?

“We had the approved website with car stock locator, but we needed the infrastructure of partners who can go and absorb those ex-lease two-, three- or four-year old cars, bring them back into Genesis, get them up to the right standard, and then sell them within the approved used car programme.

Maximising business efficiencies

The integration with Hyundai UK has given Genesis access to a number of shared services, such as logistics, parts supply and finance, which are said to “maximise business efficiencies and synergies”.

In the fleet space, Genesis has focused on building relationships with the UK’s largest leasing firms and larger corporates. It will now work in collaboration with the Hyundai fleet team to expand its reach.

“We pushed our teams together and they’ve grown since then as well,” says Miller.

“We both had one contract hire manager, and they have been joined by a bespoke contract hire manager as well, which is a role which didn’t exist before.

“The combined corporate area sales team has grown by two, and then there are our virtual sales managers, which didn’t exist before.

“Tim White is now head of fleet for Hyundai and Genesis and has built up a good database of customers and clients for Hyundai.

“We are now able to offer Genesis to those customers to complement the vehicles we are already talking to them about.”

All of these measures are expected to lead to an increase in registrations, but Miller is keeping his ambitions in check. “We want to grow naturally,” he says. “We don’t want to grow too quickly, because at the moment we don't have those authorised repairer setups, so we’d be putting huge pressure on our central servicing facility.

“We don't want to stretch that any more than it can naturally grow. We’re not chasing a huge volume. We have our place. We want to grow, but now to the extent that any of our German competitors are at.

“We don’t have aspirations of being an Audi, BMW or Mercedes-Benz. We want people to want to drive a Genesis, not because everyone else in the street has one.

“That’s not the brand message. We want that desire – ‘I’ve heard about it, that’s what I want to drive’.”