"Five years back we anticipated that the EV era would arrive very quickly, and we really wanted to be a leader and a disruptor in the EV space," said Song at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. "Electrification is still our vision. We will have 100 percent electrified vehicles, but the market and the customers now want hybrid more than EV, so we really want to bring Genesis hybrid into the market as soon as possible. We will apply it to as many models as possible."
This marks a significant shift from Genesis' previous commitment to launching only all-electric cars from 2025. The market's lukewarm reception to full EVs has led to this strategy adjustment. "Here in Europe five or six years ago, everybody was super nervous about things like CO2 penalties, and so a lot of decisions were made on that basis," noted vehicle development boss Tyrone Johnson. "I think what we can say today, five years later, is that in large parts of the industry, we've actually overachieved. That gives us the opportunity to do things that perhaps five years ago may not have been possible. We’ve also learned a lot from a technical point of view in the last five years, and that opens up new possibilities."
Currently, Genesis vehicles are powered either by older internal combustion engines or fully electric systems. It is still unclear whether the upcoming models will be full hybrids or plug-in hybrids, but the rapid development suggests they may use powertrains borrowed from Hyundai with some modifications.
"We're constantly reassessing what it is that we're doing and sometimes you need to make slight adjustments," said Johnson. "As Mike has said, the EV strategy holds strong, but you shouldn't be so dogmatic with certain things. When boundary conditions change, you have to react and that's what's happening."
Genesis' new hybrid range is expected to be introduced soon to align with the shifting market demands and customer preferences.
Source: Top Gear
