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I had a test drive on Genesis GV70. It was a Sport trim with 2.5 L petrol engine. On the positive sides, the car looks fantastic, the driver's seat has loads of adjustment. Driving dynamics felt good too. The adaptive cruise control worked beautifully.
But that's where good things ended.
The engine was extremely thirsty. In comfort/eco model in my 1 hour of test drive I achieved 23 MPG only! When I briefly used Sport mode, it went down to 15-16 MPG level.
While front passengers have plenty of spaces, the rear passengers were not so lucky. For comparison, Kia Niro has more more space at rear, inspite of being a smaller car. This is due to longitudinal engine placed towards the middle of the car, which required an elongated bonnet - hence less space in passenger compartment. The boot was also on small side than what I expected.
There is a diesel engine which has rated fuel economy of 36 MPG. The Electric GV70 costs around £70k.
The car didn't even come with front parking sensors. Adding them means having to upgrade to innovation pack at cost of £4000! I find it nonsensical that a claimed luxury car does not even come with front parking sensors - especially when long bonnet makes tight space maneuvering a challenge! The demo car had faulty Auto Hold switch.
The base Premium trim, does not come with real leather seats. If you get the base trim with solid paint and faux leather seat with diesel engine it just under £40k, thus avoiding luxury car tax. But if you add any nice things (which you have to add anyway for a decent experience) the price creeps up to £50k+ range.
Genesis, being new to UK, had no history. So it is difficult to figure out what the depreciation would be. Under £40k, it is probably worth a plunge even with terrible fuel economy. But at circa £55k I don't see how much value it offers compared to other cars.
The price is not negotiable at all. What you see in website is what you pay.
I don't know whether this DTC (Direct To Consumer) model is good for the consumers. Yes, you deal with manufacturers directly but traditional dealers do negotiate on price to get your business. Also, if you don't like dealer A you can go to dealer B. But in DTC model you have no such option.
In short, my verdict is that GV70 (or Genesis) is right car for the wrong market. In USA where fuel is lot cheaper, it is good value for money but in UK/Europe, not necessarily.
As much as Genesis wants to compare itself with German luxury brands, I think people would see them as high end Hyundai/Kia. But then for Kia/Hyundai you can get lot more bangs for your bucks. So its market placement is bit odd.
Genesis includes 5-yr servicing in price. They also promise to collect and return cars in flatbed trucks. I think this is not a sustainable business model in longer term. In fact, they also accepted this and said they are trying to set up local "studios" (Genesis term for dealership) for this as currently they have only one workshop in UK (at Corby).
I wish them success and I may consider buy Genesis used in future when price becomes more reasonable but at this moment it is like investing in a startup. Without know how much these cars going to depreciate in future, it is hard to part with cash at the moment.
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