Genesis targets booming midsize premium market with new GV70

The ramp-up towards Genesis’s European launch continues with the reveal of its latest model, the GV70 SUV.

The new Genesis GV70, Genesis’s fifth model after the G70, G80 and G90 saloons, and the larger GV80 SUV, is intended to compete head on with the likes of the Audi Q5, BMW X3 and Mercedes-Benz GLC in the booming mid-size premium SUV segment.

As such, it is set to be one of the key models in Genesis’s European launch, which was originally intended for this year but will likely now happen next after Genesis only recently started assembling a senior executive team headed by former Audi sales boss Dominique Boesch to to oversee the launch. It will include right-hand drive cars for the UK.

Genesis, the premium arm of Hyundai launched as a standalone brand in 2015 in the likes of the US and its native Korea, is basing all of its models on a rear-drive architecture with optional all-wheel drive, and the new GV70 is no exception.

Other technical details for the new model have yet to be confirmed, however, for the GV70, although engines are likely to mirror the recently-revised G70 and include a 249bhp, 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine and a 199bhp, 2.2-litre diesel.

Official pictures of the new GV70 reveal an exterior design familiar from that of the larger GV80, and an interior that borrows plenty from the G70. Two versions will be offered and have been pictured at the car’s reveal - a standard version and a Sport model.

Europe is considered a crucial market in the automotive industry for giving a premium brand global credibility, although new entrants have typically found it a tough one to crack, most recently seen by the axing of Infiniti here.

However, Hyundai and its Kia sibling have been one of European industry’s biggest success stories of the past decade and Hyundai will be hoping to mirror that success with Genesis by giving it a competitive, European-friendly model range from launch.

As such, the launch of Genesis into Europe is also set to include an estate version of the G70, which has recently been spotted testing. Along with the GV70, the G70 estate will be a key model for European buyers.

The first all-electric Genesis is also planned next year, according to Hyundai’s Strategy 2025 roadmap, with more to follow from 2024.

Genesis GV70 India launch details

Autocar India, sister title to Autocar Professional, had revealed back in July 2019, that Hyundai was evaluating a market introduction of the Genesis brand in India via the CKD route to avoid hefty import taxes on fully built imported units. 

The GV70, being based on the Tucson platform and with the brand's European launch plans, will come with a right-hand-drive option and could be one of the first models from the brand to come to India.  Genesis has registered a long list of trademarks in India for its future electric vehicles as well, however, the brand is yet to unveil an electric vehicle globally.