[El Cid]

I certainly hope not, but I have been considering one and the only dealership for me is one hour away - if traffic on interstate is not bad. Have to pass trough a large city and South Carolina's second largest and wealthiest city before the dealership. Not to mention each of these cities have Hyundai dealerships.
The sole dealer has one white G80.
Neither cars.com nor Autotrader could locate more 2018's. Googled Atlanta GA and found three.
I think it is time for Hyundai Corp. to recognize they need to partner Genesis with Hyundai dealerships, at least for the next several years.
Even if cars are available, do you want to pay the service costs for a dealership that services a couple of dozen Genesis per year? Even if included initially, maintenance will become a big cost. And if dealer cannot make profit, he closes.

 

[El Cid]

Got a response from an email I sent Genesis. They anticipate having 400-450 Genesis dealers soon. Apparently they are reaching out to Hyundai dealers to see if they are willing to set up separate showrooms and "facilities." I know that the Lexus and Toyota dealerships in one of the largest cities in S.C. are located beside each other and owned by the same company. I believe they actually shared service facilities for a long time. Which makes sense. Volume in sales and service leads to lower costs for consumers. It also means you have more technicians available. Ironically the Acura and Infiniti dealerships were also side by side until this year and you checked your car in at different ends of the same service center, depending on brand.
Genesis hopes to have it all sorted out and the brand doing well by 2022. I will need a new car before then.
Oh, my post above has an error. I have to drive through three cities with Hyundai dealerships before I get to the one where the same company owns both the Hyundai and Genesis dealerships. The one that only has one G-80 for sale.

All U.S. Hyundai Dealers Will Be Eligible to Sell Genesis, Report Says - The Drive

 

[El Cid]

"All U.S. Hyundai Dealers Will Be Eligible to Sell Genesis, Report Says - The Drive" This was posted to my post and it is in error. It is a May report and is no longer valid.

Out of curiosity a couple of days ago I contacted the local Hyundai dealership where I test drove a G80 last year. They are no longer authorized to sell any new Genesis products. They can perform routine maintenance, but they are not allowed to perform warranty work. I would assume it is the same for all Hyundai dealers.

 

[Blayne]

I wouldn't say that they are failing, but it was a smart idea for them to pause production as they attempt to reorient themselves for the next generation models. To be honest they never should have considered making standalone dealers in the first place, as that's not even something we see from MB or BMW. We're still going to have to wait a while to see what the allocated dealers are like, because that's going to have a big impact on interest and availability of the G80.

 

[El Cid]

Back when I owned an Azera and even for sometime after that, I was a member of the Hyundai advisory group. This stand alone Genesis idea kept coming up and I kept trying to point out the problems. I think Hyundai corporate is beginning to experience them. If a dealer only sells a few cars and only services those cars, he either makes no profit or charges far above market values. Simple economics.
I don't have a Genesis yet, but I'm thinking 2020 model, unless something happens to my present ride and I may get a 2019.
What they should have done was have the separate building for a showroom and to check in for service, with a plusher waiting room. To satisfy those that think they must have that for a luxury car. Personally I don't. It's a car. You take it in for service once or twice per year and purchase one every 3-10 years. How much coddling do you really want to pay for? And the customer pays for all of it. Valet service, covered maintenance, loaners, plush waiting areas, etc. Neither Genesis/Hyundai nor the dealer is paying.
There are some standalone luxury dealerships, but the brand offers a wide range of vehicles. M-B, BMW, Audi, etc. all offer 15-25 models if you count sedans, CUV's and SUV's. Then you layer on the M-B AMG and BMW M models and it almost doubles.

 

[Plug]

Back when I owned an Azera and even for sometime after that, I was a member of the Hyundai advisory group. This stand alone Genesis idea kept coming up and I kept trying to point out the problems. I think Hyundai corporate is beginning to experience them. If a dealer only sells a few cars and only services those cars, he either makes no profit or charges far above market values. Simple economics.
I don't have a Genesis yet, but I'm thinking 2020 model, unless something happens to my present ride and I may get a 2019.
What they should have done was have the separate building for a showroom and to check in for service, with a plusher waiting room. To satisfy those that think they must have that for a luxury car. Personally I don't. It's a car. You take it in for service once or twice per year and purchase one every 3-10 years. How much coddling do you really want to pay for? And the customer pays for all of it. Valet service, covered maintenance, loaners, plush waiting areas, etc. Neither Genesis/Hyundai nor the dealer is paying.
There are some standalone luxury dealerships, but the brand offers a wide range of vehicles. M-B, BMW, Audi, etc. all offer 15-25 models if you count sedans, CUV's and SUV's. Then you layer on the M-B AMG and BMW M models and it almost doubles.

Those Azera's were quite impressive I must say and often that's what happens when a brand has a lot to prove.
Was never an Azera owner but coming from well built Lexus products, it caught my eye.

 

[El Cid]

Very good car

Those Azera's were quite impressive I must say and often that's what happens when a brand has a lot to prove.
Was never an Azera owner but coming from well built Lexus products, it caught my eye.

For the money and what it offered, it was an excellent car. Very quite and had features even M-B doesn't offer. It was top of Hyundai hierarchy before the original Hyundai Genesis was brought in. It also was an actual large car vs. some of the small large cars on market now. Unfortunately Hyundai was about a year or two behind other makes in offering the technology people wanted. I think they also were ignoring the Azera because they were developing the Genesis.

 

[Plug]

For the money and what it offered, it was an excellent car. Very quite and had features even M-B doesn't offer. It was top of Hyundai hierarchy before the original Hyundai Genesis was brought in. It also was an actual large car vs. some of the small large cars on market now. Unfortunately Hyundai was about a year or two behind other makes in offering the technology people wanted. I think they also were ignoring the Azera because they were developing the Genesis.

I do however have to give credit to companies like Toyota that Korean automakers got their inspiration from (models not sold in the U.S.)

 

[El Cid]

Not just Japan

I do however have to give credit to companies like Toyota that Korean automakers got their inspiration from (models not sold in the U.S.)

Japanese also got a lot of their inspiration from German luxury cars to some degree. Of course, I am not aware of what Japanese cars were not sold in US. I do believe that Lexus is or was sold in Japan as a Toyota.
It will be interesting to see how the Genesis brand plays out long term. The first Japanese luxury vehicle was Acura (Honda), not Lexus (Toyota). But Toyota was the one who figured how to market the brand. Acura is still struggling and Infiniti (Nissan) only does marginally better.
As I have said before, one success for Lexus was in wide-spread dealerships, usually associated with a Toyota dealership - though not a part of one.

For me, still cannot get past having to drive another 30-45 minutes past 3 Hyundai as well as M-B, Lexus, Infiniti, Acura, Jaq, Audi, etc. dealerships.

I did send a letter to the Genesis US CEO on Jan 02, but have not received a response. Primarily to note the lack of dealerships is a serious problem. On the other hand, in 2010 when I wrote to John Krafcik, then CEO of Hyundai USA, as to why I did not purchase a Hyundai Genesis, HE called me and we had a nice 20+ minute conversation.

 

[Plug]

An immediate solution would be for Genesis to send representatives out to us and/or pop-up Genesis stores while full dealers get built.

 

[El Cid]

An immediate solution would be for Genesis to send representatives out to us and/or pop-up Genesis stores while full dealers get built.

Not sure what you mean by send representatives out to us. Is that sending the sales person out with a demonstrator? Their current service is they send a guy out with a loaner, take yours to shop and return it when done. But only for three years.
Assume by pop-up stores, you mean sales at malls, small store front locations, etc. as opposed to actual place where cars are available to choose among. Might have one or two cars for demonstrators.
To me, the problem is their current plan under current CEO is to have only about 400 dealerships in USA, if I remember correctly. There are about 3,000 Ford or Ford-Lincoln dealerships in US. Couldn't find info on Lexus, Acuara, BMW, etc.

 

[Plug]

Yes, automakers are moving towards a model that will be personalized in that manner.

As for the roll out I haven't seen any well defined timelines.

 

[El Cid]

Sort of good news. Got an email from Genesis that there is a "new" dealer in my area about 45 minutes away. But that is city where all the premium, luxury car dealerships are located. It is actually listed as Genesis at Hyundai of ____________. It is a long established Hyundai/Mitsubishi dealership. Used to sell Lincoln's, but that went to local Ford dealership. It is part of a region wide dealership that sells 10 different brands of cars.
Hopefully Genesis has seen the error of reducing rather than expanding dealerships.