Hyundai confirms luxury Genesis Brand to take on Lexus & Infiniti

Hyundai are planning to launch the Genesis Brand (Hyundai Veloster pictured) The rise and rise of Hyundai (and Kia too) has lead to speculation for some time that the next stage in their evolution is a proper luxury brand to take on Infiniti and Lexus, and it’s now confirmed that Hyundai will be launching the ‘Genesis’ brand within two years. Not to be confused with the ‘Not for the UK’ Hyundai Genesis, the Genesis brand will be a range of cars from Hyundai offering real competition for the luxury brands from Nissan and Toyota, but with a dose of Hyundai pricing and warranty thrown in to the mix. Hyundai’s product manager in Australia – Roland Rivero - has come out and confirmed that the Genesis brand is in  the making and will initially – at least in Australia – offer two RWD cars.

New car sales see record growth period

ANOTHER rise last month has taken UK car sales to their longest-ever period of growth. A total of 194,032 new cars were registered in May – a 7.7% rise on the May 2013 figure, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said. The increase last month was the 27th consecutive monthly rise – beating the previous record of 26 months of growth between May 1987 and June 1989.

Chevy will use World Series to pitch Volt's debut

Chevrolet will use next month's World Series to launch ads for the debut of the Volt plug-in hybrid sedan, General Motors Co.'s marketing chief Joel Ewanick said. The ads will be part of a broad campaign that Chevrolet will initiate during Major League Baseball's fall classic and run throughout autumn, said Ewanick, who spoke on the sidelines of the Rainbow PUSH auto summit in Detroit. Ewanick declined to give details of the Volt commercials or the broader Chevrolet campaign.