Genesis has confirmed it plans to introduce hybrids to supplement its existing combustion-powered and electric options.
The Korean luxury brand made this announcement at this month’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, claiming the change is to cater for evolving market demand.
“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 Genesis global boss Mike Song, as reported by The Korean Car Blog.
“Electrification is still our vision. We will have 100 per cent 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.”
Genesis Australia head Justin Douglass said he wants to offer hybrid models Down Under as soon as they’re available.
“The recent announcement that Genesis will expand its electric lineup to include hybrid vehicles is exciting news for customers locally and abroad,” said Mr Douglass.
“We are eager to introduce these new powertrains into our range in Australia at the earliest opportunity, enabling us to further expand our growing customer base and meet the needs of our discerning clientele.”
At this stage it’s still unclear what the hybrid-powered Genesis models will be exactly, and whether they’ll be traditional hybrids or plug-in hybrids.
Genesis had previously confirmed all new vehicle launches from 2025 onwards would be electric vehicles, ahead of a switch to an entirely EV lineup by 2030.
“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. Strategic decisions were made on that basis,” said 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.”
Previous reports out of Korea indicated the GV70, GV80 and potentially the G80 will receive hybrid power, with the first Genesis hybrid to debut in 2025.
This hybrid powertrain will reportedly consist of a 2.5-litre petrol engine and two electric motors.
A previous report from The Korean Car Blog indicated the GV70 will feature a large 40kWh battery pack and offer more than 200km of electric range, allowing Genesis to pitch it as an extended-range electric vehicle rather than a traditional plug-in hybrid (PHEV).
Genesis already offers a fully electric version of the GV70, as well as the G80. It also has the GV60 on the dedicated E-GMP EV platform.
There have been no reports Genesis is looking to delay its eventual goal of going EV-only in 2030.
Genesis has never offered a hybrid, and had previously indicated it planned to skip over these entirely in favour of electric and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.
While EV sales continue to grow in many countries such as Australia, overall demand is cooling in key markets.
Genesis isn’t the only luxury brand that could introduce hybrids after having previously planned to skip them, with Cadillac being another that has left the door open for PHEVs.
A plug-in hybrid Genesis GV80 would give the brand a rival to PHEV versions of models like the Audi Q7, BMW X5, Lexus RX and Mercedes-Benz GLE, not all of which are offered here.
Likewise, a GV70 PHEV would square off against plug-in versions of the BMW X3, Lexus NX and Mercedes-Benz GLC.
In the luxury car market, PHEVs are vastly more common than conventional hybrids, though Lexus offers SUVs like the NX and RX with the latter powertrain type.
MORE: Another luxury brand delays EV goal, plans hybrid expansion
