Motor Trend Picks Genesis G70 as Car of the Year
The sports sedan G70 of Hyundai Motor’s Genesis brand has been selected as ‘the 2019 North American Car of the Year' by Motor Trend, the most prestigious car magazine in the U.S. The G70 is the first Korean car to be selected as the car of the year by the magazine, which was launched in 1949. Motor Trend is known to be the first industry publication that established the tradition of announcing the car of the year.
According to Hyundai Motor on Dec. 3, Motor Trend published a cover story in its January 2019 issue titled “A Star Is Born” with the sentence, “A new Korean luxury brand strongly hit the center stage.”
The Genesis G70 was selected as the car of the year through a comparison test of 19 candidate models, including the BMW 3 Series.
Motor Trend has announced the car of the year at the end of each year since its foundation in 1949. Motor Trend's car of the year is known to enjoy the world's highest authority as its selection is based on a thorough evaluation.
The magazine’s choices for the preceding years include the Julia of the high-performance brand Alfa Romeo of Italy for 2018, the Chevrolet Volt EV for 2017, the Chevrolet Camaro for 2016, the Volkswagen Golf for 2015 and the Cadillac CTS for 2014.
The magazine’s evaluation team appreciated the high driving performance and luxurious interior of the G70. "The G70 is more like an easy-to-tame beast," said Chris Walton, who tested the model. "This car is more luxurious than the Infiniti G35, sharper than the Mercedes C-Class and more agile than the Audi A4."
The Genesis G70 is the second Genesis model to be nominated for the 2019 North American Car of the Year after the G90 in 2016. In addition, the G70 was selected as one of the top 10 cars by the U.S. car magazine Car and Driver, recognized for its strong product competitiveness.