Tiger Woods’ recent accident is saddening for him, his family, and the world of sports. Although he suffered significant leg injuries that necessitated emergency surgery, he at least made it out of the horrific crash alive.
The golfing superstar was driving a Genesis GV80 and first responders have already praised the SUV’s safety. It has also brought a huge amount of attention to the brand as the incident was widely publicized.
“I hate to use the [saying] ‘no such thing as bad publicity,’ but there’ll be that much more awareness of Genesis than there was a week ago,” executive analyst at iSeeCars.com Karl Brauer told the New York Post. “Any bad news can be devastating for 24 hours or 48 hours… but the increased awareness of Genesis will last a lot longer than that.”
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Current Genesis models have been praised by journalists for a number of years now and the company has also taken out four consecutive No. 1 rankings among premium brands in J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Study. Genesis has also ranked highly in J.D. Power’s Vehicle Dependability Study, beating its European rivals Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi. However, the brand’s initial focus on sedans slowed its planned growth and the GV80 SUV is one of the models Genesis hopes will allow it to take off in the United States.
CFRA Research analyst Garrett Nelson believes the story of Woods’ survival could also reassure customers about the safety of Genesis vehicles.
“It doesn’t appear that the car was at fault or there was any kind of equipment failure or anything like that,” Nelson said. “Conversely, it might just be the opposite, where people see the mangled vehicle and wonder how anyone could survive that and realize it’s because he was very well protected in that vehicle.”
