To be a successful competitor in the luxury automobile world is no easy task, even for established brands, which jockey back and forth for position annually.

And for a new entry in the field, it’s that much harder. Enter Genesis, now in its second model year as the official luxury brand offshoot of Hyundai (Like Lexus to Toyota; Acura to Honda; Infiniti to Nissan, etc.).

In this cutthroat area of the industry, where most buyers are fiercely brand-loyal, how does the Hyundai offshoot fare, and will car buyers respect it as a luxury brand? I recently spent some time in the 2018 Genesis G80, and I’m back with a full report.

The phrase “launching a new luxury car brand” is not often heard, as it’s not an easy thing to do, because luxury car buyers tend to be very brand loyal. 

Thankfully, Hyundai didn’t care and did it anyway.

They decided last year to ditch the Hyundai Genesis and Hyundai Equus -- upscale Hyundai models that were still Hyundais -- redesign them and relaunch the two vehicles as the G80 and G90 in the new Genesis luxury line (their equivalent of Toyota’s Lexus, Honda’s Acura, Ford’s Lincoln, etc.).

Poppycock, many folks may have thought when the brand was launched. Hyundai’s not a luxury brand, their inner brain is telling them.

But are these folks right or wrong?