Genesis is serious about taking on BMW, Mercedes-Benz

LOS ANGELES -- Other luxury brands had years to plan the spinoff of their luxury brands. Hyundai did it in nine months.

It's fallen to a veteran auto executive Erwin Raphael to try to create a separate identity around the brand called Genesis. That has meant trying to get the word out and educate the dealer network about what it's going to take to please luxury customers, he says.

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Whether it's building the brand or the quality of the cars themselves, "it's all about the details," says Raphael, Genesis' general manager in the U.S.

Fortunately, he says, he's starting off with two models that have already gained good reputations under the former names as Genesis models. Now those two cars, the midsize G80, formerly the Hyundai Genesis, and the full-size G90, successor to the Hyundai Equus, will anchor Genesis as stand-alone nameplate.

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There will be about 350 Genesis dealers to start nationwide, but Raphael says the plan is that many of his most buyers will seldom need to visit them. He says his goal is to create a network that allows customers to take care of many of their service needs without a trip coming to the dealer. "We'll come to you wherever you are," Raphael says, "and bring a loaner car as good as what you have."

Under Hyundai's past CEO, John Krafcik, Hyundai dabbled in trying to build the home- or office-service experience. Raphael thinks he can double the participation rate to about 80%.

To get there, Raphael says he has created a Genesis Institute, in which 1,813 managers from dealerships undergo three days of training to learn every aspect of the brand – from how to treat customers to detailed knowledge on the cars themselves. Raphael, for instance, says they will be driving cars from Genesis' biggest competitors.

Those rivals? He says he's not aiming to compete against Infiniti, Acura or Cadillac as much as he's taking dead aim at the heavyweights of the luxury car field – BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Can they do it?

"It's always a long-haul process when you're starting a new vehicle brand," says Karl Brauer, executive publisher of Kelley Blue Book. Toyota with its Lexus brand took a decade from the start of its brand before it could challenge the German luxury stalwarts.

But he says Genesis is showing "innovative thinking" with its home- and office-service concept, since buyers are moving away from traditional dealerships in the digital age anyway.

He says he's convinced the Genesis brand will hang in there. "They aren't going to bail out in three years," Brauer says.