2020 Genesis GV80 Is the Company's First Foray Into Full-Fledged Luxury SUVs
Looking like a budget Bentley Bentayga, the GV80 will be built on a new, Genesis-exclusive rear-biased platform.
On the final day of 2019, Genesis released the first official pictures of its upcoming GV80 luxury SUV. Yes, Hyundai's luxury arm is finally getting into the SUV game. The V, by the way, stands for "versatility."
Deliberately photographed to not give everything away styling-wise, the car we can see is giving us some pretty strong Bentley Bentayga-vibes. Those are likely stemming from that big, pentagonal chicken-wire grille, something also seen on the G90 sedan albeit implemented much more palatably here. Its dual-horizontal LED light signatures that run parallel and are situated on the front, rear, and fore of the front doors give the GV80 its own look and separate it from all of the other luxury haulers on the road.
Genesis is also teasing a pretty minimalist interior that features a "jewel-like" electronic gear selector knob and a design that honestly reminds us of the cabins found in Land Rover's modern product line. Unlike the typical LR, however, the Genesis GV80's ultra-wide infotainment screen rises out of the dash and high into the driver's line of sight.
Mechanically, don't expect the GV80 to just be a dolled-up Hyundai Palisade because the company says it's built atop a new rear-drive platform "unique to the Genesis brand." It'll be available with up to three rows of seats and all-wheel drive. Engine choices and other technical details will be revealed in the coming weeks but if we had to guess, the company's 3.3-liter, twin-turbo V-6 that's available in every other Genesis, as well as the Kia Stinger, is a shoo-in for at least one GV80 variant or another.
The 2020 Genesis GV80 will launch this year and hit dealerships in its home country of South Korea as soon as late January.
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