Genesis Beats Mercedes-Benz to 1st Place in Korean Luxury Market

Hyundai's luxury brand Genesis has beaten Mercedes-Benz to rank first in premium car sales in Korea for the first time in four years.

According to industry figures out Monday, Genesis sold 60,005 cars from January through July, compared to Mercedes-Benz' 41,583 and BMW's 29,246.

Genesis sales surged 65 percent on-year, while Mercedes-Benz edged up three percent and BMW soared 35 percent.

In 2016, newcomer Genesis enjoyed a honeymoon and sold 66,278 cars, ahead of Mercedes-Benz (56,343) and BMW (48,459), but Mercedes took the lead for the next three years.

The secret of Genesis' success was the release of new models. It rolled out the GV80 in January, its first SUV. By July, 20,016 GV80s had been sold, already approaching the brand's sales target of 24,000 for the whole year.

But it was the third-generation G80 sedan, which hit showrooms in late March, that played the biggest role with sales of 28,993 until July, already surpassing last year's total sales of the predecessor model.

Hyundai will launch the GV80 and G80 in the U.S. later this year.

The brand's strong performance is expected to continue, with two models targeting younger drivers out later this year, the smaller GV70 SUV and partially revamped G70 sports sedan.