….while being lighter yet also more luxurious. Must be magic.
Genesis, Hyundai’s premium marque, has been been quite busy since their inception at the tail end of 2015. While the range started off with the limousine-like G90, and later with the 5-Series rivalling G80, an updated version of the Hyundai Genesis to which the company takes its name, the world is much more excited about their upcoming G70.
The car that would become Genesis’ competitor to the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class was first revealed at the 2016 New York Motor Show under the name ‘New York Concept’, but since then the Korean premium carmaker has been quite low key regarding their most important new model yet despite a full debut toward the latter half of this year.
Incidentally, the Stinger GT, a sporty 5-door lift back saloon introduced by Hyundai’s sister company Kia, can give us some indications of what to expect with the Genesis G70. Despite being more luxurious, Hyundai Australia told Motoring that it will be both lighter than the Stinger as well as quicker, possibly ruling out a high performance hybrid.
Thanks to more power courtesy of its uprated 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6, the G70 could outgun the Kia in a straight line shootout and likely to beat its much touted 4.9-second 0-100km/h sprint time.
It is speculated that force-fed petrol engine will crank out more than the Stinger’s 270kW, enabling a sprint that takes roughly 4.7 seconds. However, despite featuring a sloping roofline, at least in concept form, the G70 will be more conventional 4-door sedan that, in this guise, will rival the BMW 340i and Mercedes-AMG C 43 - variants that boast similar firepower under the bonnet and rear-wheel drive.
Soon, then, buyers looking for a left field option to the German prestige brands will have more options for their fast and practical premium saloons where prior the alternatives were limited to Lexus and Infiniti.
The arrival of the G70 will count as the third car in the Genesis portfolio, though soon we should expect the company to introduce an SUV based off of the GV80 concept it revealed days ago, but perhaps without the intriguing hydrogen fuel cell powertrain. While that would do battle with the BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz GLE, a smaller GV70 is likely to appear before long.
