Tonight, just hours before the start of the New York auto show, Genesis hosted a preview of its GV80 Coupe concept vehicle at its Genesis House in the Meatpacking area of Manhattan. Following a string of forward-thinking concept automobiles such as the X, the X Speedium Coupe, and the X Convertible, it is almost ready to go into production. The company’s GV80 mid-size SUV has four seats and a faster roofline. It is a sporty take on the SUV-coupe trend, with a carbon-fiber roof and an eye-catching ducktail rear spoiler. The inside is covered with Alcantara and has four bucket seats with carbon fiber shells and hand pumps for the bolsters on each seat. There are a lot of cross braces behind the passenger cabin. The enormous 23-inch wheels on the GV80 concept are wrapped in sportier Pirelli P Zero Scorpion All-Season tires. Large calipers with fixed pistons stop cross-drilled and slotted rotors from moving behind the wheels. The volcanoes surrounding the Korean peninsula made the Magma car fiery orange. Even though the company is working toward an all-electric lineup, the GV80 concept gets a gas-powered engine that sounded like a V-6 when moved during the presentation. This sportier coupe version could have the G90 sedan’s 409-hp twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6 with an electric supercharger instead of the current GV80 series’ 375-hp twin-turbo V-6. During the reveal, Luc Donckerwolke, who is in charge of design, said, “Design is brand and brand designs.” We agree, and it’s not hard to see why Genesis has suddenly become so popular. Donckerwolke said that even though this design takes the GV80 in a sportier direction, the company has yet to make a sporty sub-brand for such a vehicle. Soon, you should be able to get the final version.
