It is no secret that Hyundai is really going places on the global sales charts, the Korean car giant having pretty much proven that it can now make products that compete with the mainstream and more.
Now it seems that Hyundai wants to rival the very best. According to the Wall Street Journal, Hyundai is considering turning its Genesis nameplate into a fully-fledged sub-brand that will compete with Lexus and other premium badges.
Delving into these waters, it would naturally have to counter BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi as well as Nissan's Infiniti division and Honda's Acura sub-brand.
Hyundai already has a solid basis to work from, with two rear-wheel drive sedans in the form of the 5 Series-sized Genesis and 7 Series-sized Equus, and the smaller Genesis coupe.
Hyundai's premium plans would stretch further than that, according to the carmaker. A BMW 3 Series rival would also be on the cards, as well as a crossover SUV to compete with the Lexus RX range.
However, Hyundai is currently considering three different options as far as its premium offerings go.
One option is to simply keep its premium products badged as Hyundais, another is to go the Genesis route and sell the products in a separate section of its dealerships and the final scenario would entail completely separate dealers.