Genesis' New York Concept is a sports sedan that'll make you look twice

Aimed at cars like the BMW 3 Series and the Mercedes C-Class, the design team at Genesis looked to fill the New York Concept with what they call "athletic elegance." It's just a concept car for now, but Genesis plans to launch five new cars over the next few years, so it doesn't have time for design exercises. This car, perhaps without too many changes to the design, will hit showrooms soon.

The New York Concept embodies what will become the Genesis corporate design language, which will be something totally new and distinct from parent company Hyundai.

Sounding a bit like the Ritz-Carlton employee credo, Genesis says the car offers the "unexpected," while "still satisfying the needs of modern luxury buyers."

Like with many concept cars, the press release is full of highbrow talk about an "athletic stance" and a "performance-oriented nature." All I know is whether I like the look of a car — and this one looks great. The design is familiar in a good way, but it's hard to place exactly why.

My colleague Sean O'Kane called it a cross between the Buick Avista and the Lexus LC 500. I see where he's going with that, and, considering that both those cars are utterly gorgeous, it's high praise.

Expect to see something closer to production later this year.