Four years after its UK launch, Hyundai is now betting big on Genesis with new dealer strategy
The surge in growth this century of the Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) means it is now the world's third largest car maker, behind only Toyota and the Volkswagen Group.
The third brand in HMG alongside Hyundai and Kia is premium newcomer Genesis, and 'there is unwavering belief [within HMG] that it will be very successful,' says Ashley Andrew, Genesis UK managing director. 'Then you're just discussing the when and the how.'
Strong stuff, yet as the likes of Infiniti, DS and probably even Lexus will testify, launching a premium brand is about as tough a test as you can get in today's car industry, particularly in Europe.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
4 minutes ago
- Times
Mortgage prices are falling – should you fix?
A fresh mortgage price war has come to the rescue of hundreds of thousands of borrowers whose cheap pandemic home loans are about to expire. More than 760,000 homeowners' fixed-rate deals are due to come to an end this year. And many of those will be braced for crippling rises of up to £300 a month when they come off loans with interest rates as low as 1 per cent. However, lenders are slashing rates this summer as they compete for business in a 'buyer's market', with a record number of properties for sale. This slowdown in the housing market has caused banks to focus on deals for those who are remortgaging. Figures released by the Bank of England this week showed that the 41,800 remortgages approved last month was the most since October 2022, just after Liz Truss's disastrous mini-budget, which sent mortgage rates soaring. On Wednesday the building society Nationwide became the latest lender to cut rates, slashing fixed deals by up to 0.21 percentage points. Shaun Sturgess, a mortgage broker based in Swansea, said: 'For many this is the first window of opportunity in over two years to secure a competitive fixed rate below 4 per cent.' The Bank of England is also expected to cut its base rate to 4 per cent on Thursday after weak growth and a rise in unemployment. This would drive down mortgage costs for the millions of borrowers with tracker or variable-rate deals. The lowest five-year fixed rate available at up to 60 per cent loan-to-value has been cut from 3.96 per cent at the start of May to 3.86 per cent on Thursday from HSBC, while the lowest five-year fix for someone buying a home has stayed the same at 3.88 per cent, available from NatWest. The lowest two-year fix is 3.8 per cent from Santander for someone remortgaging, down from 3.96 per cent at the start of May. While the lowest two-year fix for a buyer is lower, at 3.73 per cent from the same lender, it has been cut by slightly less — down from 3.88 per cent. Some 222,480 homeowners took out five-year fixes between the start of August and the end of December 2020, according to the trade association UK Finance, when the Bank of England base rate was at an all-time low of 0.1 per cent (it is now 4.25 per cent) and fixed mortgage rates could be had for well below 2 per cent. Many took advantage of low pandemic-era interest rates to move to bigger homes, or remortgaged to make home improvements. Between January and August 2020 the average mortgage amount rose from £174,671 to £193,992. Rates then soared after the Bank of England increased the base rate 14 times between December 2021 and August 2023, to a peak of 5.25 per cent, in a bid to tame high inflation. The average mortgage rate hit a peak of 5.74 per cent in July 2023, according to the Bank of England. Five years ago the lowest rate was 1.4 per cent. Someone with a £200,000 25-year mortgage would pay £791 a month, which would rise to £1,056 at a rate of 4 per cent. At a rate of 3.8 per cent, repayments would be slightly lower at £1,034 a month — £264 less a year. Peter Gettins from the broker L&C said: 'Whether you call it a rate war or rate skirmish, banks are keen to compete for your business and are pricing as aggressively as they possibly can. That can only be good news for anyone looking to remortgage or buy.' Borrowers could opt for a tracker deal with a rate that rises and falls in line with the Bank rate. Nationwide's tracker is 0.19 percentage points above Bank rate for two years with no early repayment charge. The mortgage broker Adrian Anderson expects the price war to continue. He said: 'A lot of the banks are fighting for market share. Many will be behind their annual targets because purchase transactions are down, so they will want to try and entice people to take a mortgage with them and increase their loan book.' Aneisha Beveridge from the estate agency Hamptons believes that more competitive rates are increasing affordability for buyers, which will drive house price growth. She said: 'After a sluggish 2024 we expect average house prices across Great Britain to rise 3 per cent year-on-year in the last quarter of 2025, reaching about £277,000.' The average detached house sold for £441,439 in May, according to the Land Registry. A 3 per cent rise in prices would take it to £454,682. • Will you bag a 3% interest rate in the summer mortgage sale? Beveridge added: 'Falling mortgage rates, weakening inflation and rising wages have all helped to ease pressure on household budgets.' Historically, dramatic falls in the Bank's base rate have helped to fuel house price booms, with the 2008 financial crisis and the coronavirus pandemic leading to spikes. The base rate is expected to fall to at least 3.75 per cent before the end of the year. Beveridge said: 'Much of this is already priced in. However, competitive lending — especially for higher loan-to-value products where lending requirements have loosened — should support first-time buyers and second-steppers.' Latest figures from the property website Rightmove put the average rate for a two-year fix at 4.52 per cent, which is 0.74 percentage points lower than the same time last year. The average five-year fix is 4.51 per cent, down 0.36 percentage points compared with June 2024. House prices could also be boosted by high street banks easing the 'stress tests' that are used to make sure borrowers can still afford repayments if their mortgage rate rose. Forecasts by the analyst Oxford Economics predict that the average two-year fixed-rate mortgage with a loan-to-value of 75 per cent could drop from June's 4.32 per cent figure to 4.17 per cent by the end of the year. By July next year it expects this to fall to 4.02 per cent. These falls will support house price growth, with Oxford Economics expecting house prices to hit 3.6 per cent year-on-year growth in the third quarter of the year, and then 2.5 per cent in the final quarter. Edward Allenby from Oxford Economics said: 'We expect house prices to grow, but that growth is expected to soften over the next year. That is because household income growth is likely to slow, whether that is through higher inflation, tighter fiscal policy, frozen thresholds and potentially higher taxes.' In the first quarter of 2025 year-on-year house price growth was 5.5 per cent. An oversupply of homes could also cause price growth to slow. Zoopla reported this week that there were about 553,000 homes up for sale, a record high. • House price boom? Inflation means all is not as it seems Richard Donnell from Zoopla said: 'Price growth is being stunted by the high supply of homes for sale, with 12 per cent more properties on the market than this time last year. 'This supports a 'buyers' market' where there's plenty of choice and offers can be competitive, limiting house price increases.' For homeowners coming to the end of their mortgage term, it looks like a good time to shop around, with significant rate drops for those who want to switch lenders. Gettins said: 'In the last 6 to 12 months the gaps between rates for first-time buyers and those remortgaging have narrowed. Banks are becoming more competitive for those remortgaging as they are for movers, and that's a positive sign for anyone whose deal is maturing.' Analysis by L&C has found that the lowest remortgage rate for a two-year fix is 3.79 per cent, a fall of 0.17 percentage points since the start of May. This has nearly matched the rate for buyers, with the lowest two-year fixed mortgage rate at 3.76 per cent, which is 0.22 percentage points lower than the May equivalent. Experts have said that the high number of people remortgaging is driven by the better rates but also a 'perfect storm' of people coming off their two and five-year mortgages at the same time. Chris Sykes from the mortgage broker MSP Financial Solutions said: 'There have been a series of events that have led to a big remortgage year. 'You probably fixed at five years in Covid before rates rose, and then those getting mortgages two years ago when rates went really high after the Truss budget would have fixed for two years hoping rates would come down.'
BBC News
4 minutes ago
- BBC News
Car finance judgement 'a hard pill to swallow'
A ruling by the UK's most senior judges later has closed down an opportunity for millions of motorists to claim compensation for motor finance Supreme Court decided not to uphold an earlier ruling which found that hidden commission payments to car dealers were the ruling left open the possibility of claims for compensation for large commissions that were BBC talked to two of the people who brought the case to the Supreme Court, plus a person who is planning to make a claim. 'A really big bag of salt' Marcus Johnson from Cwmbran, Torfaen, was one of the claimants in the landmark described the the outcome as "a bitter pill to swallow", although was awarded just over £1,650 on the grounds that his relationship with the lender was said he was "pleased for myself, but not for the hundreds of others" who will now miss out."It's weird," he said. "It's a win, but it's a really big bag of salt to go with it".He was 27 when he bought a blue Suzuki Swift in 2017, and did not know that the commission had been paid, although the lender said he had signed a after passing his driving test in June of that year he walked into a car dealership, and within an hour was driving away in a car he liked, "very excited".It wasn't until threes years later, when he had paid off the finance on the car, that he realised he still had almost the cash price of the car left to was then he decided to contact the three claimants won their test cases, it could have opened up lenders to compensation claims totalling about £ it stands, that bill could shrink to between £5bn and £13bn, according to accountancy and advice firm BDO. 'There's still meat on the bone' Andrew Wrench has been described as "a postman with a penchant for fast cars".He says that description "made me chuckle". The 61-year-old is ex-forces, and also held other positions before becoming a postman, but he is proud to have been described as "the Erin Brockovich of Stoke-on-Trent".He says he is pleased that Marcus was awarded compensation, and that there will be further claims arising from that judgement."There's still meat on the bone," he says, adding that he is glad he helped throw light on the subject, even though his own case was not successful."I just want people to be accountable, and I don't want them getting away with being deceitful and dishonest," he adds. "It all comes down to: honesty is the best policy."Andrew's lawyer, Kavon Hussain of Consumer Rights Solicitors, says that the judgement was "a mixed bag", but showed that the Supreme Court expected car dealers to "always be acting in their own interests" and people should not expect a good deal. 'I'm going to chase my claim' Although it has been a mixed result for the claimants in the case, some people are determined to pursue dealers were paid a bigger commission if they sold a higher interest rate on the were known as discretionary commission arrangements (DCAs) and were banned by regulators in Caffrey, from Blackburn, bought a car in 2009 after maternity leave. Her son was born with certain medical needs, and she wanted a car to get to work and multiple doctor appointments."I'm going to pursue my claim, but I do feel for the people it's put a stop to," she says. "They won't be compensated and I find that quite sad."Jemma feels she was "taken advantage of as a vulnerable new mum". She trusted the car dealership to give her the best deal it could, and paid a high interest rate for her blue Corsa, which she named "Colin". It was not until years later, having read about car finance in the local press, that she went to a law firm to bring a now intends to pursue it.
BBC News
4 minutes ago
- BBC News
Why Donald Trump's tariffs take aim at Asia and your iPhones
When he began his trade war, President Donald Trump said his goal was to bring American jobs and manufacturing back to the US, reduce trade deficits and create a more level playing field for American companies competing globally. But after months of negotiations and many countries' refusal to meet America's demands, his strategy has taken a more punitive companies have been here before. Under Trump's first administration, when he imposed tariffs on Chinese exports, they scrambled to limit their exposure to Beijing, with many shifting production to Vietnam, Thailand and India to avoid higher levies. But his battery of new tariffs does not spare any of these economies. Stocks saw a sell-off, with benchmark indexes in Taiwan and South Korea in the red on Friday. Both countries are central to Asia's sprawling electronics production. The details are still hazy, but US firms from Apple to Nvidia will likely be paying more for their supply chains - they source critical components from several Asian countries and assemble devices in the they are on the hook - for iPhones, chips, batteries, and scores of other tiny components that power modern lives. It's not good news for Asian economies that have grown and become richer because of exports and foreign investment - from Japanese cars to South Korean electronics to Taiwanese chips. Soaring demand for all these goods fuelled trade surpluses with Washington over the years - and has driven President Trump's charge that Asian manufacturing has been taking American jobs away. In May, Trump told Apple CEO Tim Cook: "We put up with all the plants you built in China for years... we are not interested in you building in India, India can take care of themselves." Apple earns roughly half its revenue by selling iPhones that are manufactured in China, Vietnam and India. The tech giant reported bumper earnings for the three months to June, hours before Trump's tariff announcement on Thursday night, but now the future looks more executive Tim Cook told analysts on a conference call that tariffs had already cost Apple $800m (£600m) in the previous quarter, and may add $1.1bn in costs to the next quarter. Tech companies typically plan years ahead, but Trump's unpredictable tariff policy has paralysed businesses. Amazon's online marketplace, for instance, is just as dependent on China for what it sells in the US. But it's not yet clear what rates Chinese imports into the US could face because Beijing has yet to strike a deal with Washington - it has until 12 August to do so. Before they agreed to de-escalate, the two sides imposed tit-for-tat tariffs that reached a staggering 145% on some goods. But it's no longer just about China. On Thursday, Mr Cook said that most iPhones sold in the US now come from India. But Trump has just levelled a 25% tariff on Indian imports, after Delhi was unable to clinch a deal in time. Other firms chose to re-route their goods bound for the US through Vietnam and Thailand after the tariffs in Trump's first term. It became so common that it was called the "China+1" strategy. But this time, these trans-shipped goods are also being targeted. In fact, trans-shipping has been a big part of the US negotiations with Asian countries. Vietnamese imports face a 20% US levy but trans-shipped goods face 40%, according to Trump. It's harder still for advanced manufacturing like semiconductors - more than half of the world's chips, and most of its advanced ones, come from Taiwan. It is now subject to a 20% tariff. Chips are the backbone of Taiwan's economy, but also central to US efforts to gain a technological lead over China. So it is another US company, Nvidia, that will pay steep levies to put advanced chips by Taiwan's TSMC inside its AI products. But perhaps the biggest casualty of Trump's tariffs could well be Asia's e-commerce giants - as well as the American companies that rely on Chinese sellers and marketplaces. In a surprise move this week, Trump ditched the "de minimis" rule which exempted parcels under $800 from customs duties. He first did this in May, targeting such parcels from China and Hong Kong - and this was a blow for retailers like Shein and Temu, whose huge success has come from online sales in the West. Now American sites like eBay and Etsy have also lost that exemption - and the price of second-hand, vintage and handmade items for US customers will go up. President Trump says he is batting for Americans with these tariffs, but in a deeply globalised world, US firms and customers could also become casualties. There is still so much uncertainty that it is hard to see who the winners really are.
