Genesis has unveiled the new G70 with the Audi A4 in it's cross-hairs.

Genesis. No, not the beginning of the Old Testament or Phil Collins' prog-rock band, no. Genesis is the luxury brand off-shoot of Hyundai, that they hope will soon become commonplace in Europe.

Genesis began life as a top of the range model in the Hyundai lineup back in 2007, but in 2014, the bosses in Korea decided to create Genesis as a stand-alone brand.

This approach has mixed success, especially outside of domestic markets. Toyota, who arguably started the idea with Lexus, have achieved great things, whereas Nissan, with Infiniti, have never managed to make an impact in Europe.

It's hard to know how the approach will work for Hyundai. Their core-brand has seen incredible success in the last decade, with various Hyundai models topping sales in their respective segments year on year in Ireland and Europe.

It took time for the brand to gather this success. In the 90s and early millennium, Hyundai was still seen as a cheap, budget brand. They worked hard on honing their business model, to take the brand from 'cheap' to 'affordable', with solid engineering, marketing and design.

Establishing a luxury brand is another challenge altogether. The established names, Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Lexus, their nameplates are already worth the premium price of their products before the customer ever even sees the product.

So the weight the new G70 carries on it's shoulders is vast. Hyundai need to use their previous experience and then some to tease people away from the big names and try a new way.

Not too new, however, as can been seen from the G70s design. There are enough style cues from rivals for prospective customers to go "Is that an Audi..., wait what a Genesis?".

The Audi reference is clear from the huge single piece grille at the the front. The side profile has a strong BMW influence, with the muscular belt-line and crease tailing off into a hofmeister-esque kink at the rear. The tail-lights have a very Mercedes feel to them.

Genesis have also pulled a few ideas from a few segments up, with some Bentley touches added to the design. The vent behind the front wheels and the oval tailpipes are all very 'Flying Spur'. Not to mention Genesis' winged Logo. None of this is surprising, really, as Genesis head of design, Luc Donckerwolke, came from two decades working at VW-Audi group, designing Audis and Bentleys.

Inside, Genesis have played it safe. The cabin design is quite restrained, but understated feel, supported by quality material everywhere and what will undoubtedly be solid build quality.

They haven't overloaded the cabin with screens either, with just a single top-mounted screen on the dash. So, praise-be, there are plenty of well placed, physical buttons and dials.

The G70 is going on sale in it's home-market immediately, with the European launch scheduled for next year. How Genesis performs here is yet to be seen, but the task to succeed will be tough.