Genesis has just launched their first-ever SUV called the GV80 in Seoul, South Korea. Not too long ago, we brought you a few shots of what it would look like and now it’s here in all its glory.
“GV80 represents the essence of the innovative spirit of Genesis,” said William Lee, Executive Vice President and Global Head of the Genesis Brand. “As we launch GV80, our first luxury flagship SUV, we simultaneously open a new chapter for Genesis.”
The GV80 will take its place in the lineup next to the G70, G80 and G90 saloons with more than a common thread of design identity. “We enjoyed the challenge to apply ‘Athletic Elegance’ design language to SUV architecture,” said Luc Donckerwolke, Executive Vice President, Chief Design Officer of Hyundai Motor Group. “The precise proportions and attention to every detail denote that GV80 is authentic to Genesis design principles.”
It’s hard to look at the GV80’s exterior without noticing the huge Crest grille that’s flanked on either side by the Quad Lamps and the Parabolic Line that runs along the sides of the SUV. “The G-Matrix pattern that appears in light fixtures throughout the exterior is inspired by beautiful orchids seen when diamonds are illuminated by light. The pattern also appears on the available 22-inch wheels” said the company.
The body of the GV80 is made from hot-stamped high-strength steel, as well as light-weight aluminium for the doors, bonnet and tailgate. The combination of these materials allows the large SUV to achieve its target curb weight.
The interior of the GV80 is as you would expect from a large luxury SUV. It’s well-appointed and could almost be called minimalist. It will feature three rows of seats just like the BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz GLE and Lexus RX.
The width of the interior is expressed via the sleek, thin air vents which runs the width of the passenger-side dashboard. A wide-ratio 14.5-inch split-screen infotainment display sits atop the dashboard. For the sake of aesthetics and ease of use, the brand says they’ve kept hard buttons and switches to a minimum. Soft-touch materials are used extensively throughout the interior.
The augmented reality satellite navigation system uses virtual driving guidelines over actual driving images to help drivers recognise the roads. The camera feed is overlaid with virtual graphics depicting the optimal driving path so the driver can drive easily and accurately, says the brand.
The luxury automaker also says their offering “the world’s first application of Road-Noise Active Noise Cancelation (RANC)” technology, which is said to drastically reduce road noise inside the cabin. The RANC system generates sound waves of opposite waves by analysing road noise in real time thus cancelling out road noises. That’s the idea anyway.
Another world-first technology is an active motion driver’s seat that contains seven air cells: a feature that seeks to reduce fatigue from long hours of driving. This allows for limousine-levels of relaxation in the second-row of seats. The first two rows get heated and ventilated seats. Additionally, the GV80 is equipped with an active air purification system with dual filters to remove 99 percent of fine particulates in the cabin.
Powering the GV80 is a choice of three engines. At launch, it’ll be equipped with a 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbodiesel engine with 204kW of power and 588Nm of torque. Two other petrol-fed mills will be made available shortly after market launch. The SUV will be available with either rear- or all-wheel drive. The all-wheel variants will feature Multi-Terrain Control which adds sand, mud and snow modes thanks to an electronically controlled limited-slip differential.
The GV80 is also loaded with advanced driver-assistance systems, including several world-first technologies such as Smart Cruise Control with Machine Learning, Highway Driving Assist II, Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist, Blind-Spot Collision-Avoidance Assist, Rear-Cross-Traffic-Collision-Avoidance Assist and Driver Attention Alert Warning.
The large SUV is fitted with 10 airbags including a centre-mounted airbag between the front occupants to mitigate interior impact, claimed Genesis.
The GV80 also gets Real Time Remote which diagnoses vehicle issues through analysis of vehicle data, without the need to bring the SUV down to a dealership.
Genesis says the GV80 will launch locally around the middle of the year, with a choice of two petrol powertrains alongside the 3.0-litre six-cylinder diesel. More information will be made available closer to the Australian launch.
For more information on Genesis, please visit our Showroom.
