Hyundai Will Start Slowly with Luxury Genesis Model

Hyundai Motors Corp. will debut its new Genesis luxury sedan to the European market next week at the Geneva auto show.

The car, which went on sale in South Korea four months ago, is intended to compete with such models as the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedans. Genesis sales in Europe will begin this summer.

Hyundai acknowledges that competing with entrenched German luxury brands will be difficult. It aims to sell about 60,000 Genesis cars in the first year, but fewer than 1,000 of them in Europe.

Allan Rushforth, who heads Hyundai operations in Europe, tells reporters in London that initial Genesis marketing in the region will be extremely targeted to specific groups, including diplomats, in southern Europe, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.