Luxurious new 2020 Genesis G90 sedan impresses

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This article was published 31/01/2020 (2090 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Murray Hyundai general manager Richard Eccleston reports he recently had an opportunity to test drive the South Korean manufacturer’s redesigned 2020 G90 Genesis luxury sedan — and was quite impressed.

“You can see with this new Genesis model that Hyundai is investing heavily in product design,” says Eccleston.

Introduced to Winnipeg just 18 months, the Genesis marketing model is unique among motor vehicle manufacturers in that it is only available online — with Murray Hyundai being the sole representative for the product in Manitoba. Interested buyers place their orders online and a Murray Hyundai sales rep brings the model to the customer for a test drive. For servicing the dealership arranges to pick up the vehicle at the customer’s home or office and return it afterwards, meaning a Genesis owner never has to set foot in the dealership.

“The price point, fit and finish and quality of materials is competitive with similar sized luxury brands,” says Murray Hyundai Genesis experience manager Wade Clisby.

Luxury touches include Napa leather, natural open-pore ash wood and aluminum trim and seating that has been endorsed by the German Chiropractors Association. The new Genesis is also one of the quietest vehicles on the road.

All Genesis models offer a five-year, 100,000 km warranty, which includes valet maintenance service.

2020 Hyundai Venue

Hyundai’s all-new 2020 Venue, which began arriving at local dealers at the beginning of December, is the South Korean manufacturer’s smallest sub-compact crossover and has been touted as the least expensive model in its class in Canada.

According to Wade Clisby, the Venue has a host of standard features even at the base trim level, including loads of safety features.

“We are expecting the Venue to be a really good seller for us,” he says.

New Focus Hyundai service manager

Focus Hyundai is going into the new year looking forward to moving into its new building just off Lagimodiere Boulevard in a few months — and to help steer the service department at the new location, Focus Hyundai president Brian Lowes and general manager Dean Peterson have brought on board former Midas Auto Service top gun Nathan Yamron.

Yamron, who joined the Focus Hyundai team as service manager in November, had been working for Midas for the past 20 years. Before Midas, he had worked for 17 years at Canadian Tire, starting there at age 16.

“At Midas, I started as a service technician and worked my way up to general manager,” Yamron says. “I supervised nine stores.”

Yamron says he applied at Focus Hyundai because he was looking for a change of pace and new challenges. “The guys here made the transition for me to a dealership setting super easy,” he says. “I have been impressed with the quality of service and attention to detail I have seen here. And because I am here nine to 10 hours a day rather than constantly going from place to place, I am better able to interact with our customer base.”

He is looking forward to moving into the new building with its full two-lane service drive-through, detailing centre and delivery bay. “The drive-through will add considerably to customer convenience,” he says.

Birchwood Honda West reno

Work began in early December on a wholesale renovation of the Birchwood Auto Group’s Birchwood Honda West, which is located at the Pointe West AutoPark. The Honda store opened at the AutoPark in Headingley in 1999 and was one of the first stores at the new location. The store was also expanded roughly 15 years ago.

Birchwood Auto Group president Steve Chipman says the renovation will be done in two stages — with half the showroom done first and then the other half.

“The goal of the renovation is to make Birchwood Honda West more customer-friendly,” Chipman says. “We will be introducing a lot of new technology to that end.”

Rene Nicholson, the Birchwood Auto Group’s project manager for the renovation, reports the new-look showroom should be ready by the end of June, while work on the service drive-through will be done over the summer.

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