Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s largest automaker, has seen a rise in the sales of its Genesis DH luxury sedan in the United States last month, outpacing those of the upscale Mercedes-Benz E Class sedan.

According to multiple sources from the automobile industry on Sunday, Hyundai Motor sold 2,532 units of its Genesis sedan in the U.S. market in February, ranking second in sales in the mid-luxury sedan segment. Sales of Genesis were higher than those of the Mercedes-Benz E Class, which ranked third place with 2,362 units. BMW’s 5-Series sedan was the best-selling model in the segment with 2,758 units.

It is the first time that the second generation Genesis DH has ranked second in the mid-luxury sedan segment since it launched the first-generation BH sedan in the U.S. premium vehicle market in 2008. In the year of release, Hyundai Motor’s Genesis was not included in the top 10 list of mid-luxury sedans by sales. In the following year, however, sales went up to rank fourth in the sales list. In between the years, sales of the Genesis moved up and down in the ranking from third to eighth place before reaching the second last month. In February, sales of the Genesis DH increased 13.4 percent from a year ago while 62.4 percent from a month ago.

Industry officials note that sales of the Genesis has been boosted by the overall enhanced luxury image of the sedan after Hyundai Motor launched an independent Genesis brand in November last year. They also point out that the Genesis DH has been evaluated as a sedan that provides stable driving performance in terms of handling, comfort and silence based on solid body sections. The sedan specifically has been developed by Hyundai Motor to compete head-to-head with other premium models developed by German automakers such as the BMW 5-Series and the Mercedes-Benz E Class.

Recently, Hyundai Motor’s Genesis DH sedan received perfect scores in all 29 different categories including safety in a collision test carried out by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in the U.S.

The South Korean carmaker is expected to put out all efforts to tap into the premium vehicle market in the U.S. with its independent Genesis brand. First in the model line-up will be the G90 sedan, or EQ900 in Korea, which was unveiled in January at the Detroit Motor Show. The G90 is the top-of-the-line model of the Genesis brand that will begin sales in the North American market in the second half of this year.

An official from Hyundai Motor said that the “remarkable accomplishment in February proves that the Genesis is competing well against other premium sedans in the U.S. market.” The official also noted that the sedan would be more respected by U.S. consumers as an upmarket sedan in the second half of the year when the G90 launches and the name of the Genesis DH changes to the G80 in the local market.

By Noh Won-myung

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