Hyundai Genesis

#272, Genesis: not the band, not the Bible but the fast-growing South Korean carmaker

Jarred Pellat is the senior manager public relations and communications of Genesis Motor North America. It’s the eight-year-old luxury vehicle division of the South Korean vehicle manufacturer Hyundai Motor Company. A native of Canada who lived in South Korea for several years, Pellat is our guest on this episode of The Weekly Driver Podcast. Co-host Bruce Aldrich was on assignment, so John Berg, a new automotive columnist and photographer for The Weekly Driver, joined me for our interview during Best of the West. Pellat, the fourth employee of the Genesis, was a guest during a two-day gathering of the Western Automotive Journalists (WAJ), the San Francisco Bay Area organization of automotive media professionals and industry influencers. During the two-day gathering,

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2023 Genesis GV60 launches as top luxury EV crossover

Six years after the carmaker’s launch as a standalone luxury brand, the 2023 Genesis GV60 debuts as the marque’s first dedicated electric vehicle. It delightfully further blurs the definition of automotive innovation and gadgetry. Available in Advanced and Performance trims, the GV60 is operated by two electric motors and a 77.4-kWh battery pack. Using a 120-volt (Level 1) household-style outlet, the GV60 takes about 68 hours to charge. A 240-volt (Level II) outlet will charge the GV60 in around seven hours. Using a DC Fast-Charging (Level III) station, the GV60 will advance from a 10 to 80 percent charge in around 18 minutes (250-kW/800 volts). The battery can also be used to power external equipment, including appliances. The relevance of

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2023 Kia EV6 challenges strong rivals

It wasn’t too long ago when vehicles from Hyundai and Kia still elicited odd responses from new car buyers. But the related South Korean manufacturers’ vehicles, including the 2023 Kia EV6, been value-priced, mechanically impressive and well-designed automobiles for years. Further proof arrived when the Hyundai Genesis ended its tenure as a luxury sedan in 2016 and morphed into the stand-alone Genesis G80. With other models, the Genesis brand continues to gather industry awards and top rankings among industry analysts and watchdog publications. Kia, partially owned by Hyundai, has also had success, particularly the Kia EV6 GT. It’s another reason car buyers should consider the once frowned-upon carmakers when recommendations are offered. The brands earned three of the top four

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#250, The Weekly Driver’s 2022 Cars of the Year

Selecting the cars of the year helps celebrate another year reviewing new cars and trucks, visiting auto shows and talking with vintage car owners, book authors and industry experts about their cars of the year. There are always great and not-so-great moments driving vehicles. The industry is always abuzz. There are always changes, oddball statistics, recalls and new models and makes. What has Elon Musk done now? Will autonomous driving and EVs ever make a significant difference? Will low-profile tires stop blowing while negotiating small divots in the road? Will Audi ever change its front-grille design? As much as the automotive industry changes, sometimes not much happens. In 2007, the year the iPhone debuted, the starting price of the Toyota

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2022 Genesis G80 defines the best of luxury sedans

The guy standing next to his parked Mercedes-Benz sedan was three spots away from my ride in the far reaches of a Home Depot parking lot. He stared at the 2022 Genesis G80 and said, “Nice lines. What kind of car is it?” The entire Genesis lineup gets plenty of similar reactions. Praised by critics and inundated with awards, the South Korean carmaker debuted as a stand-alone luxury brand from Hyundai in 2016. But it remains unheralded. Further confusing, Hyundai offered a Genesis as its top-line sedan beginning in 2009. Now Genesis manufacturers the G70 sports sedan, G80 mid-size sedan, G90 full-size sedan, GV80 mid-size SUV, and for 2023, the GV60 electric SUV. 2022 Genesis G80: Only One Dealership The

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Tiger Woods driving again but he should never drive again

The fandom and television network adulation stopped for a while, but now it’s all back. Tiger Woods is playing in The Masters this week and it will be celebrated as miraculous and with additional adjectives always best used sparingly, particularly in sport. Woods apparently didn’t spend much time considering the possibility of his children being fatherless before he crashed on Feb. 23, 2021, while driving twice the speed limit on a notoriously dangerous Southern California road. The golfer was lucky. Removed from his Genesis SUV via the “Jaws of Life” after suffering substantial leg injuries, Woods was alive, but a lot was unknown. Would he have brain damage? Would he have a leg amputated? Would he walk and talk again?

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2022 Genesis G70 challenges luxury foes

Four model years after it received more honors than its upstart manufacturer could have imagined, the Hyundai Genesis G70 is still an unheralded small luxury sedan. Sales are stagnant as the worthy upscale beauty stumbles along against its longstanding rivals. With its makeover for 2022, the underdog is trying again. The Genesis G70 remains in its first generation but much has changed. The sedan more than holds its own against Acura, Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Tesla competitors with its smooth driving, quick acceleration, comfort and good looks. 2022 Genesis G70: Old Is New Again It’s been seven years since Genesis became an independent marque, but a rewind is warranted. The Hyundai Genesis debuted as the South Korean manufacturer’s luxury sedan

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#212, 2021 Rolls-Royce Ghost named Car of the Year

Early in 2021, a teenage boy witnessed a colleague and me exit a 2021 Rolls-Royce Ghost at a local sandwich shop. He approached us, looked at my friend and said: “Excuse me, sir. What kind of job do I need to get to afford a car like that?” A few hours later while waiting in the Ghost at a stoplight two men in a vehicle to my right that may not have made it to its destination, caught my attention. Before the light changed, they uncorked a jubilant dance of synchronized hand signs and body gestures. I didn’t know what the display meant, but I’m certain it was a good thing. Far more expensive vehicles exist. But the Ghost, with

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Tiger Woods update: long rehab, no criminal charges

Tiger Woods may or may not play competitive golf again. But while the golfer recovers from his car accident injuries he now knows two things: He’s lucky to alive and he won’t face criminal charges. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced at a news conference the occasion was “purely an accident.” Dr. Anish Mahajan, chief medical officer at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where Woods was treated after his one-car crash in described “comminuted open fractures affecting both the upper and lower portions of the tibia and fibula bones,” adding that trauma to the muscle and soft tissue of Woods’ leg required “surgical release of the covering of the muscles to relieve pressure due to swelling.” Woods, the winner of 82

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2020 Genesis G70: finally a rival for German sport sedans

Now is the time. Brand anxiety? Brand sensitivity? Let the terms vanish from any discussion including vehicles made by Genesis. The luxury division of Hyundai was founded in 2015. Its first vehicle debuted in 2017 and late last year J.D. Power named Genesis the most dependable automotive brand in North America. Launched with the large sedan G90, the brand now has three sedans and a sport utility vehicle, all moving into 2021 editions. Last year’s models are still available including the Genesis G70. In its debut two years ago the smallest of the company’s three sedans was named North American Car of the Year by the national automotive media industry. The 2020 Genesis G70 offers the same combination — a

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#163, The Weekly Driver Podcast’s Cars of the Year

Welcome to the 14th annual Cars of the Year list, selected by TheWeeklyDriver.com. This year, co-host Bruce Aldrich and I announce the top-10 list on this week’s episode of The Weekly Driver Podcast. Bruce and I individually picked 10 vehicles from the nearly 40 cars and trucks in 2020 models I reviewed and Bruce drove. Neither of us was surprised. Our choices for cars of the year were nearly identical, including our No. 1 choice, the 2020 Corvette Stingray. Unlike many publications, we wait until the end of the year to announce our selections. A year’s perspective is important. Cars of the Year Here are The Weekly Driver Podcast’s choices for 2020 (with prices), followed by cars of the year

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NEW CAR PREVIEW: 2022 Genesis GV70 SUV

PRESS RELEASE The 2022 Genesis GV70 represents an athletic, versatile option in the emerging carmaker’s lineup of sport utility vehicles. It’s the carmaker’s fifth vehicle. Like all other Genesis models, the GV70 will be based on a rear-wheel-drive platform. “Genesis continues to build on our solid foundation with the addition of new and exciting products to our lineup,” said Mark Del Rosso, President and Chief Executive Officer of Genesis Motor North America. “We recently launched our first-ever SUV, the flagship GV80, with U.S. deliveries beginning in the next thirty days. “Now, with the upcoming release of the dynamic GV70 and a further diversified product portfolio, Genesis will be able to reach an even broader audience of American consumers.” The “G”

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NEW CAR PREVIEW: 2022 Genesis GV70

The 2022 Genesis GV70 represents an athletic, versatile option in Genesis’ emerging lineup of sport utility vehicles. It’s the fifth vehicle in the Genesis lineup, joining the G70, G80, and G90 sedans and recently announced GV80 flagship SUV. Like all other Genesis models, the GV70 will be based on a rear-wheel-drive platform. “Genesis continues to build on our solid foundation with the addition of new and exciting products to our lineup,” said Mark Del Rosso, President and Chief Executive Officer of Genesis Motor North America. “We recently launched our first-ever SUV, the flagship GV80, with U.S. deliveries beginning in the next thirty days. Genesis GV70: SUV Versatility “Now, with the upcoming release of the dynamic GV70 and a further diversified

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2020 Genesis G90: Luxury for far less than German rivals

The 2020 Genesis G90 marks the fourth model year of the flagship sedan. It’s the South Korean challenger, still young, unheralded and a worthy underdog to its well-heeled front runners from Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. If its stalwart German rivals haven’t noticed it yet, they should. As the subsidiary luxury brand of Hyundai, Genesis has risen quickly among the automotive watchdogs. Car and Driver to J.D. Power and Motor Trend to Kelley Blue Book annually simultaneously bestow automotive honors while touting themselves. Genesis, with its G70, G80 and G90 models, has been the star for a few years. The G70, the value-priced sedan, is leading the clan in the accolades tally. The Genesis G90 is the limo-like cruiser offered as

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Genesis upends Lexus as most dependable carmaker, says J.D. Power

The banner across the top of the entrance to the Los Angeles Convention Center couldn’t have been any bigger. It proclaimed the 2019 Genesis G70 as a prominent automotive publication’s Car of the Year. The occasion was the Los Angeles Auto Show last November and the banner remained hoisted for about two weeks. It was another award for the upstart manufacturer, the former luxury trim from Hyundai but now on its own. And now comes another award: J.D. Power has named the Genesis, the industry’s most dependable in the renowned analysts’ detailed Dependability Study. The study is a comprehensive overview of owners’ repair history of their three-year-old models. Now in its 31st year, the study quizzes original owners of 2017

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TheWeeklyDriver.com’s 2019 Best Cars, Trucks

Welcome to the 13th annual Best Cars and Trucks of the Year list, selected by TheWeeklyDriver.com. As is our logical way, we wait until the end of the year to name our selections. As in previous years, the 2019 choices were selected only from the list of 35-40 cars and trucks manufacturers provided for weekly reviews. Co-host Bruce Aldrich and I will discuss the list on The Weekly Driver Podcast. The 10 vehicles on the 2019 Best Cars, Trucks list include manufacturers from the United States, South Korea and Japan. The Weekly Driver has been writing about our main automotive vent for years. How do prestigious industry publications determine their vehicles-of-the-year selections before the calendar year starts? Selecting a list

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