thanks for posting that article... good stuff.

interesting!

 

Somehow, someone living in Saudi Arabia got their hands on a GV80. English subbed, thankfully:

 

Could (?) be connected with (or part of) Saudi Royalty. They have enough money to buy the World Bank if they wanted it LOL. A little bribe, here and, there...for a new GV80...that's nothing.

 

Genesis is sold in Saudi Arabia, and being a key market for many luxury brands, I have no doubt that Genesis would have sent an early example there for exposure and awareness. This particular video looks to be made with the hat tip to Seven Car Lounge, which has a pretty sizable instagram follwing, where they also thank Genesis Saudi Arabia for the vehicle. Nothing underhanded or manipulative going on here.

 

Yeah, it's legit. He mentioned the price in the video. Saudi taxes are insane though, pushed the car from being fully loaded at 280,000 riyals ($75K) to 340,000 riyals ($90K). And apparently that's considered a "very reasonable" price even with the taxes, according to the guy in the video. The wealthiest middle easterners have cash to spare.

EDIT: Here's another Saudi video of the GV80. Looks like it's been released in the middle east before North America.

 

Yes, I know Genesis products are sold there....I wasn't implying otherwise. All I mentioned was that it's possible that someone (probably quit high-up) sped up the GV-80 process a little by offering some extra cash. There's no proof that happened.....but it is a definite possibility.

 

You better believe it. In many cases, LOTS of cash.

 

mmarshall, this almost certainly has NOTHING to do with bribes as you suggest.

the GV80 has already been on sale for a while in S. Korea where it is made, so just because we don't have it in N. America doesn't mean some rich Saudi Arabians bribed people to get it there.

as has been said, it's either simply available, or it was a press car available for reviews there to generate interest.

 

Nothing can be ruled out in today's culture. We don't live in Fairy-Tale land, where everything runs by the book. If we did, it would be a far different world.

Having that said, I'll partially-agree wth you. The chances of it not being a bribe are probably better than not being one......but IMO you are wrong to rule it out, particularly the way business in Third World Countries works today.

 

Are you by chance, writing an international intrigue novel?

 

LOL.....I don't have to. Business writes their own these days....perhaps no more so than in the auto industry. For proof, look no further than Mary Barra, Carlos Ghosn, Julie Hamp, and Elon Musk....and, of course, VW.

 

Decided to start creating some vehicle contenting and technology videos: Here's one on the GV80 and the various trims and details that we see so far.

 

Congrats on starting your own YouTube channel!

 

Thanks!! Still learning the basics of editing and visualizations, but hopefully someone somewhere finds this type of information useful. We'll continue to refine and go from there. Starting to get the first trickle of OEM products to review, so that should be fun!

 

Thats great! Your video is better than a lot of the ones I see from people who have been doing it for years LOL