Genesis has named Dominique Boesch, a longtime Audi executive, its first managing director for Europe.
The Hyundai premium brand still has not announced when it will start European sales and with which models, In a news release announcing Boesch’s appointment, Genesis said that more details would be coming soon.
“Europe is the spiritual home of the premium car market and I am certain that the Genesis models we plan to launch here will be a pleasant surprise to many,” Boesch said in the release.
Boesch, who starts Oct. 1, held a number of high-level jobs during more than 20 years with Audi. Prior to joining Genesis, he led the Audi’s future global retail strategy and before that was head of European sales.
He also served at Audi’s sales director in France before spending more than a decade in Asia as the automaker’s managing director in Korea, then its Japan boss and finally head of China.
Boesch will be based at Genesis’s new Europe headquarters in Frankfurt. He will report to Genesis’s global boss, Jaehoon (Jay) Chang, who is based in Seoul.
Chang called Europe “a critical market for Genesis” in the release, adding that he looks forward to Boesch using his “substantial” European and premium expertise to launch the brand in the region.
Genesis, which debuted in Korea in 2015, has a sedan-heavy lineup, which has been blamed for its delayed entry into Europe, where premium SUVs and crossovers are currently favored.
Since the start of this year Genesis has unveiled two crossovers, starting in January with the GV80 premium large SUV. During the debut Genesis executives said they expected the model to help lead its expansion into Europe and China.
The newest member of the Genesis family is the GV70 midsize crossover, which was revealed this week in heavy camouflage.