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The Hyundai Genesis is dead! Long live the Genesis G80!

Hyundai's big news at the 2016 Detroit Auto Show isn't even about Hyundai at all. It's about Genesis, the Korean automaker's new luxury brand that officially kicks off with the G90 flagship. But over the next few years, Genesis will add a number of models to its range, and the next is the G80 – the rebadged version of the existing Hyundai Genesis sedan. That's what you're looking at here. Look closely, and you'll see the new Genesis wing emblem, and some "G80" badges on the rump. The official transition from Hyundai Genesis sedan to Genesis G80 happens this summer, with the 2017 model year car. We don't expect the G80 to be too different from the existing 2016 sedan, though Hyundai officials tell us some more Genesis announcements will take place at the New York Auto Show in March. Hyundai already confirmed a smaller Genesis G70 sedan will come to market, as will a sport coupe and luxury SUV. See the new G80 in the images above, check out the all-new G90 flagship here, and watch the Hyundai/Genesis press conference from the 2016 Detroit Auto Show below.

Hyundai and Turin IED collaborate on Kite buggy concept for Geneva

The last time Hyundai's European Design Center collaborated with Turin, Italy's Instituto Europeo di Design (IED), we got the PassoCorto concept in 2014. That four-year-old vision made an appearance in recent news feeds, as a potential harbinger of a mid-engine Hyundai sports car when the Theta II engine arrives. The Korean carmaker is at it again with IED, and this time the two have worked up a doorles, roofless, windowless buggy referred to as the Kite concept, planned for display at next month's Geneva Motor Show. The full-sized scale model measures 12.2 feet long, 7.3 feet wide, and 4.7 feet high — that's about four inches shorter and one inch taller than a Mini Cooper, but 20 inches wider. Being a model, the Kite won't be fitted with any powertrain, but the students behind the project envision one brushless electric motor on propulsion duty. This is the first of IED's previous 14 automaker collaborations to have an interior, so the 15 students from nine countries who worked on the project did their homework, tapping Gruppo Sila for the shift-by-wire gearbox, and Sabelt for the seat and seatbelts. Guests to the stand will be able to experience the Kite concept through virtual reality, while the whiz-bang gearbox gets shown in a separate, dedicated area. The design school's annual project serves as the thesis project for the Masters in Transportation Design program. Last year's offering, the Scilla concept prepared with Pininfarina, was a 180-degree departure from the Kite, but the students spent time off-road recently with their McLaren crossover concepts of 2010. If you're smitten with this year's product, you won't be able to buy it, but Hyundai does sell an actual kite. Related Video: Featured Gallery Hyundai Kite Concept News Source: Car Body Design via Carscoops Design/Style Green Geneva Motor Show Hyundai Concept Cars Electric Off-Road Vehicles 2018 Geneva Motor Show

Genesis luxury sedan range to get its own U.S. dealership network

Hyundai is informing its dealers that its 2-year-old luxury brand Genesis is ready to fly the coop. The company says it will focus in 2018 on building out a network of around 100 Genesis retailers with the goal of eventually operating standalone facilities to better distinguish the high-end brand. First dibs on applications for the new franchise licenses will go to existing dealers who also sell Genesis in "defined key markets," the company says. New Genesis showrooms will initially operate from temporary or shared facilities, with standalone facilities taking shape over the next three years. "At Genesis, we believe in putting our customers first and giving them a proper ownership experience," Erwin Raphael, general manager of Genesis Motor America, said in a statement. "To ensure that happens, we need to take this next step in the separation of the Genesis brand from our parent company." Genesis earlier this month announced the opening of its first headquarters-owned standalone showroom in the Gangnam business district of Seoul, South Korea. The two-story facility flips the script on typical dealerships by limiting exposure to the products from the outside "to maximize a private and personal setting that enhances the interaction between the customer and the product." The showroom also incorporates the brand's scent and sound, and it features a private Launch Bay for test drives and engagement with the vehicles via the virtual reality-based Genesis Virtual Guide. Hyundai launched Genesis as its standalone luxury nameplate in December 2015, though the Genesis had been a Hyundai sedan model name for several years prior. At the time, it said it planned six models by 2020. Most recently, we heard that Genesis is planning a third crossover for 2021, plus its long-planned electric car in the same year. Sales of its G80, G80 Sport and G90 in the U.S. nudged above 20,000 last year. It recently launched the G70, an entry-level compact sedan.Related Video: