A MAJOR car brand has discontinued two of its luxury models as the brand enters the ‘age of electrification’.

The company has ‘no plans’ to bring back petrol engines, but it also does not want to go fully electric yet.

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Hyundai is best known for producing robust, reliable family cars at affordable prices.

But many forget that the company also has a luxury branch, namely Genesis.

The brand was founded in 2004 from the flagship company Hyundai Genesis and launched as an independent subsidiary in 2015. The aim was to compete in the premium market via the platform of the parent company.

The company has been quietly producing affordable competitors to BMW and Mercedes in Asia for almost a decade, but it only entered the European market in 2021.

According to Autocar, the brand has already withdrawn two of its flagship models from the market after just three years: the G70 sedan and the GV80 SUV.

Both brands are under pressure from disappointing sales figures, with the company selling just around 200 units of each in the UK last year.

Combined with the brand entering an ‘era of electrification’, this meant the end for the two petrol engines.

Genesis, however, has not taken the plunge into the EV world with both feet. The brand is not going back on its promise to produce only electric models from next year.

Instead, the company has pledged to further develop its hybrid technology, including possible battery-powered versions of the discontinued models.

The new cars will be sold through Hyundai’s dealer network in the UK, under a “business optimisation and synergy creation” agreement signed last year.

This means the models are offered in 14 locations across the UK, as opposed to Genesis’ three separate ‘studio’ showrooms.

A Genesis spokesperson said: “Genesis remains committed to our plans and aims to be a leader in the era of electrification, but we remain flexible based on market conditions and consumer demand.

“We plan to introduce hybrid models to the market as we continue our journey towards full electrification.

“More details about Genesis’ future hybrid powertrains will be announced at a later date.”

This comes after a rival brand unveiled a station wagon that rivals the Porsche 911 GTS in terms of speed.