The new sub-brand from Hyundai, Genesis, has already gained an award just weeks after its launch.

• Brand-new large luxury sedan G90 gains recognition for design excellence
• Investment in premium design rewarded by oldest and most prestigious architecture and design award in the industry
• Winning design products selected from thousands of submissions

Only a few weeks after it was unveiled, the All-new Genesis G90 large luxury sedan has earned a prestigious accolade at the 2015 GOOD DESIGN Awards. The annual awards are conferred by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design, and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies, in recognition of the world’s most innovative and cutting-edge industrial, product, and graphic designs.

“I believe this award will help the Genesis brand gain valuable further profile as it establishes a foothold in the North American luxury car market. Genesis focuses on articulating brand values through exemplary design – a characteristic which will be evident in all of our future range of models. 

This early endorsement of our approach bodes well for our future product line-up,” said Byung-Seob Lee, Senior Vice President and Head of the Hyundai Design Center.

The international jury of design professionals at the GOOD DESIGN Awards consisted of architects, experts and cultural leaders. For the 2015 Awards they met in New York to select the best design and products among thousands of submissions from manufacturers and graphic firms from 47 countries.

The range-topping model from the new Genesis brand’s luxury car line-up, the G90 has been designed with insightful elegance, natural dignity and grandeur by the Prestige Design Division, which is responsible for crafting the visual identity of all new Genesis models. 

The G90’s exterior silhouette is powerful and gives an impression of refinement, with its long hood and sophisticated rear styling cues. Inside the car, the finest artisan materials meet human-centered ergonomics to provide occupants with absolute convenience and luxurious comfort.

The GOOD DESIGN Awards honor the achievements of the best industrial and graphic designers, as well as car manufacturers from around the world for their pursuit of extraordinary styling and design. Recognizing excellence since 1950, the GOOD DESIGN Awards is the oldest and the most prestigious architecture and design award scheme in the industry.

The award for the G90 is a major accomplishment for the flagship Genesis brand, and gaining celebrated status in North America represents a significant step for Genesis in the biggest luxury car market in the world.

The award-winning G90 will be given its public debut at the Detroit Motor Show in January.

Alfa to become a stand alone company, with new plans due in one week.

Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne will turn Alfa Romeo into a stand-alone company, part of his latest plan to revive the struggling brand, people familiar with the matter told Automotive News Europe.

Alfa Romeo will have a publicly disclosed profit and loss statement, the sources said. 

"To make this new relaunch attempt into a credible business proposition, Marchionne needs to make Alfa's P&L clearly visible," one of the sources said. 

The plan is crucial for Fiat dealers in the United States who expect to sell Alfa Romeo. U.S. Fiat dealers now sell only two small cars, the Fiat 500 and 500L.

Sources said Marchionne will announce Alfa Romeo's new status on May 6 when the company presents its five-year product and business plan in suburban Detroit. Marchionne declined to comment on the matter on April 11.  

Turning Alfa Romeo into a global brand is a cornerstone of Marchionne's plan to bring Fiat's money-losing European automotive operations back into the black by mid-decade.

Alfa Romeo will relaunch with a new line of rear-wheel-drive vehicles, including an SUV to help the brand take on premium carmakers such as BMW, Automotive News Europe reported in December. The vehicles will start to hit the market in 2016. High-end versions will get Ferrari-developed engines.

Marchionne's new plan for Alfa Romeo is his fourth since he joined Fiat in June 2004. 

Alfa Romeo has continued to wither as relaunch plans continually missed targets. Last year, Alfa Romeo's global deliveries fell 56 percent to 74,000 cars, a level not seen since the late 1960s.

Six new models are planned for Alfa Romeo, sources said. A compact SUV and mid-sized sedan will be assembled at Fiat's Cassino factory near Rome. A large sedan and a large SUV are planned for Fiat's Mirafiori plant in Turin. Alfa Romeo also plans a large coupe and a two-seat roadster that will be produced in Italy.

The top versions of these vehicles will have V-6 gasoline engines developed by Ferrari.

Alfa Romeo also will use in its future models the new Pratola Serra-built 1.75-liter four-cylinder turbocharged gasoline direct-injection unit that debuted in the limited-edition 4C coupe.

Diesel engines for Alfa Romeo will be built in Pratola Serra by VM Motori, a Fiat subsidiary in Italy, which builds engines for Maserati, Ram and Jeep.

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