2020 Genesis GV80 Fully Revealed In Korea, Coming To America This Year

The 2020 Genesis GV80 has arrived as the company’s first-ever SUV after weeks of leaks and teasers. It joins the G70, G80, and G90 in the company’s current range.

Genesis offered the world a glimpse of the GV80 with the launch of a concept back in 2017. Much to the surprise of many, the production-spec SUV remains quite faithful to the design of the concept. Viewed from the front, it’s impossible to ignore the triangular-shaped front grille and the ‘Quad Lamps’ of the concept, albeit enlarged for the production model. The Korean company says the design of the SUV’s front fascia has been inspired by the shape of the company’s logo.

Spin around to the side of the GV80 and other striking parts include a large piece of trim on the front wheel arches as well as a pair of sharp lines stretching along the doors and continuing through to the flanks of the SUV. Pointed rear side windows like the concept are also particularly striking as are the 22-inch wheels.

At the rear, the GV80 includes split taillights similar to the headlights, a small spoiler stretching off the roof, and a subtle lip spoiler on the trunk lid. There’s also a huge Genesis designation in between the taillights. Many body panels, including the doors, hood, and tailgate are made from lightweight aluminum.

As for the interior, Genesis designers clearly tried to remain somewhat faithful to the concept and have installed a two-spoke leather-wrapped steering wheel and a digital instrument cluster. There’s also a 14.5-inch widescreen infotainment screen placed on the dashboard. This screen can be controlled through a control panel on the center console that includes a handwriting recognition system that allows users to simply write out the names of destinations, for example.

Genesis is particularly proud of how quiet the cabin of the GV80 is thanks to the development of a Road-Noise Active Noise Control system that analyzes road noise in real-time and generates sound waves of the opposite phase in just 0.002-seconds.

Elsewhere, the South Korean automaker has fitted the SUV with 10 airbags as standard including a front seat center-side airbag aimed at reducing head injuries in the event of passengers hitting heads in a side-on impact. Other key safety features of the GV80 include smart cruise control, front collision avoidance assistance, rear side collision avoidance assistance, a highway assist system, and driver’s attention warning. There’s also rear cross-traffic collision avoidance assist and parking collision avoidance assist.

Another piece of impressive technology found in the Genesis GV80 is the ‘Electronically Controlled Suspension with Road Preview’ system that uses the front camera to analyze the road surface and adjust the suspension accordingly.

In South Korea, the GV80 will initially be sold with a six-cylinder 3.0-liter turbo-diesel engine offering up 274 hp and 434 lb-ft (589 Nm) of torque coupled to an 8-speed automatic transmission. Two petrol engines will also be available depending on the market. The base petrol engine will be a turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder with 300 hp and 311 lb-ft (422 Nm) of torque while sitting above it in the range is a 3.5-liter turbocharged V6 with 375 hp and 390 lb-ft (530 Nm) of torque. As standard, the GV80 is sold in rear-wheel drive configuration but all-wheel drive is an option.

The Genesis GV80 will launch in South Korea this month with a North American debut to follow later this year.

carscoops