Today, Asian luxury brands are looking to rival the German automakers with their plans to chase the German automakers with their own electric luxury vehicles in the near future. In addition, reports say that the Asian brands will be taking on the Germans when it comes to the electric car segment with Genesis, Acura, Lexus and Infiniti.
According to Automotive News, several executives from each company said that they are weighing all electric vehicle offerings to be able to respond to a fleet of new models coming from brands like Porsche, Audi, BMW, Mercedez-Benz, and Tesla. The premium brands didn't display any EV or concept at the Detroit auto show that started last week, but company executives already confirmed that they will be soon putting EV's on the road.
Hyundai's Genesis is most the aggressive with the company's electrified plans, announcing that three EV models will be introduced by 2025, with the first model to be arriving around 2020. Genesis EV's will also be based on a dedicated electric platform that is still under development.
Lee Ki-sang, senior vice-president at Hyundai Motor Group's Eco Technology Center, said: "In Genesis, we absolutely need that kind of luxury electric vehicle." He added that the goal is a flagship Genesis EV that can outperform the best from Tesla and others.
Meanwhile, Manfred Fitzgerald, Genesis's global boss stated that EV's are a perfect opportunity to change brand perception. "Anybody who has driven an electrified vehicle knows that it has definitely some excitement in it," he said.
Roland Krueger, Infiniti's president, told Automotive News that the company is planning to have a very concrete concept for an EV that would not go further into detail. While Acura already has its own top electrified vehicles such as the hybrid NSX sports car and also a hybrid option for the RLX flagship sedan. Executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co, John Mendel announced that the company is focusing only at pure EV's from an overall brand standpoint.
It has been reported that Toyota already created a special division to develop the company's next generation of EV's last month. The company confirmed that the future EV's will first target markets where regulations need them, such as China.
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