Genesis taps '90%' of UK car market with expanded retail network
Genesis has Studio spaces in Westfield London, Battersea and Edinburgh
Korean premium brand appoints six retail partners nationwide as it looks to boost market share in UK
Genesis is aiming to dramatically increase its visibility and market footprint in the UK with the appointment of new retail partners across England, Scotland and Wales.
The Korean premium brand is adopting an agency (direct sales) retail model as it eyes an increased market share of the UK market, having sold around 3000 cars since it came here in 2021.
It has appointed Arnold Clark in Scotland, Ancaster in south-east London, Holdcroft in Cheshire, Richmond in Guildford, Sinclair in south Wales and Pendragon in Leeds.
Ultimately, it plans to sell cars at 15 new sites across the UK.
The move comes as Genesis is merged into the operations of parent company Hyundai Motor UK in a bid to “maximise efficiencies and synergies”, with brand boss Jonny Miller now reporting into company president and CEO Ashley Andrew.
Andrew told Autocar that “on the surface, you won’t notice any difference” as a result of this corporate restructuring, but the changes to the retail network have significant potential implications for Genesis’s performance.
“The point of difference will be what it means for the customer," Andrew said. "It will mean a great deal more convenience, because when we get to 15 partners, [customers] will have that proximity to Genesis. We will be able to reach about 90% of the car-buying market. Our guideline is that you will be able to reach a Genesis retailer within an hour’s drive time.”
Until now, Genesis’s retail presence has by the brand’s own admission been centred on the south-east of England. Its Studio in Shepherd’s Bush has served as its primary physical outlet, along with supporting spaces in Battersea and Edinburgh.
But Miller said in the brand’s first year in the UK, some 50% of sales were outside of this “theoretical scope”, which introduced a new challenge: catering to “the demand to see, touch and feel our cars” from customers in different parts of the UK.
It also presented difficulties in terms of managing the aftersales process, which this new model seeks to address by giving existing customers easier access to service centres and brand representatives.
Crucially, bosses say, Genesis's newly appointed retail partners will be trusted to maintain the principles of the "Genesis difference": a personalised approach to retail (known as son-nim in Korean) that the brand sees as a key differentiator from rivals.
Underpinning this approach is the "we come to you" principle, whereby customers are assigned their own Genesis Personal Assistant throughout the specification, purchase and ownership processes and are offered the opportunity to have cars delivered to their house for test drives, rather than needing to visit a dealer.
Miller told Autocar that providing this “customer-centric, hospitality focus” remains crucial to Genesis's success in the UK.
“We won’t just be appointing [dealers] to fill spaces. We will only appoint the right people in the right areas that we know are going to deliver the Genesis difference.”
The Studios in Shepherd’s Bush, Battersea and Edinburgh will remain open as “brand awareness and customer excellence centres” – a new role that Miller said was devised to ensure that “we will not be competing with our retail partners; we will be working alongside them”.
Bosses wouldn't be drawn on volume targets for the UK, but Miller said the ambition is for a Genesis car “not to become a transactional purchase” but rather a "desire" purchase.
Andrew said the priority for Genesis is to maintain its premium billing, rather than chase volumes: “It’s about giving a unique experience and an exclusive product proposition that will appeal to customers as they move to electric vehicles."