The multifaceted vein of the Hyundai Motor Group knows no obstacles. While on the one hand the Hyundai and the electric Ioniq brands hone the stylistic language of Sensuous Sportiness, which expresses a harmony between proportions, architecture, style and technology, the Genesis brand – dedicated by the Korean house to luxury – offers in its first born exclusively electric car the complex evolution of Athletic Elegance. In fact, the GV60, just as the combustion engine siblings of the Genesis brand, aims to set – in the Group’s declared intentions – “a new standard of sustainable luxury.”
Real luxury transcends time
“What is popular or typical cannot be luxury”, Group’s head of design SangYup Lee explains: “True luxury must represent value that transcends time. A design that is respectful of the past, living fiercely in the present, and advancing swiftly more than anyone else towards the future”. Described in this way, the Genesis GV60 is a car – once again in Lee’s words – “in search of beauty that is truly timeless in order to define the future of luxury”. It is a CUV (crossover utility vehicle) with the lines of an athletic coupé which intends to express “the coexistence of technology and design”.
Born electric
Genesis had already showcased its first electric car (Shanghai 2021), which however used the same platform as the G80 with an internal combustion engine. Here, however, everything is new: the GV60 was born to be electric and to accelerate the transition of Genesis towards the future that awaits us. Starting with the platform: the E-GMP already seen with the Kia and Hyundai brands. Its soft surfaces, without apparent lines of character but with a series of stylistic features typical of Genesis (the horizontally cut light clusters, for example), but also the grille which was lowered and widened to give it a dynamic touch, the clamshell hood that incorporates part of the front fenders, the very short overhangs (the wheelbase is 290 cm), all contribute to generating refined volumes, which is not an easy feat in a car measuring just 4.51 meters in length.
Facial recognition
The pursuit of luxury is also expressed, for example, by the small infrared camera, located in the B-pillar, which provides facial recognition within the new car-user relationship. Or in the crystal sphere on the console which is not only an aesthetic element of interior design but is also seen as a means to create an emotional relationship between the driver and the car: ambient light when the engine is off, gearshift activator when in driving mode. “Art and perfection”, Lee defines it : “The warmth of attention to the passenger”. The idea was to transform the interior into a peaceful retreat from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
Interior floating architecture
This is the Genesis ethos for interior design, called “Beauty of White Space”: space and comfort, but also a floating architecture well expressed by the centre console. And in the silence of the electric vehicle, for the first time, the 17 speakers of a Bang & Olufsen audio system. “Blissful music enters the quiet space, embraced by weightlessness”, in Lee’s lyricism. Luxury is also made of these things. There is of course no lack of an ecological inspiration. Seats and armrests, for example, are moulded with a plant-based faux leather, while the seat and door upholstery use fabrics obtained from the recycling of plastic bottles and fishing nets. And, of course, the electric powertrain: Genesis offers three versions of the GV60, all with a 77.4kWh battery.
“Everyone’s dream”
Luc Donckerwolke, who has recently re-joined the Group and is now Chief Brand Officer at Genesis, says that “the GV60 will provide a differentiated experience that enables interaction with vehicles in Genesis’s own caring and considerate way”. It is the coexistence of technology and design, the union of luxury and high-tech. “Everyone’s dream”, Lee insists: “It was our goal to live that design, so that that dream can be experienced in real life by our customers”.
(Full article in A&D no. 251)
