The brands that DS will have to beat
TOYOTA LUXURY BRAND Lexus had one of its best years in the UK in 2021, selling 13,878 cars, almost 9000 of which were its latest UX and NX crossovers.
But the year also heralded the arrival of what could be the biggest threat to DS: Hyundai’s newcomer, Genesis. Its saloons and SUVS have already impressed and its first EV, the GV60 (see p11), arrives this year. Currently, its bestseller is the GV70 SUV.
The way people interact as consumers has changed during the pandemic and this could benefit Genesis’s direct-to-customer approach. It uses a combination of showrooms, called Genesis Studios, and online tools, but will it survive where Infiniti could not? Andrew Pilkington, director and regional operations manager at Genesis Motor UK, is confident its business model is very different.
“We’re not talking about sub-premium. We’re talking about a premium product, a premium-price product and excellent value for money,” he told Autocar.
“We are talking about a luxury experience where we put the customer at the centre of the business, not actually putting the car at the centre of the business.”
Pilkington is confident that 2022 will be a strong year. “I think that 2022 is a really important, pivotal year for us in terms of the Genesis brand, with electric vehicles and greater awareness of Genesis,” he said.
It will be a key year for Seat premium brand Cupra, too. It has a bit of a head start, having been a name on Seat’s sportiest models for years, but it’s now a brand in its own right and, a spokesperson for Cupra UK said, it sits between the mass market and the traditional premium segment. With 55 dealerships, it sold 7700 cars in the UK last year, 80% of which were its Formentor hybrid crossover.