Genesis GT coupe coming
Luxury flagship coupe coming in 2020 but no V8If you like your luxury cars big, bold, rear-drive and with just two doors, Korean car maker Genesis may have your automobile desires covered... But, if your wish list also extends to a burbling V8 engine, you’re out of luck.
Hyundai's upstart luxury car brand showed off its first SUV design, a production model of the GV80 arriving in 2019, at the 2017 New York Motor Show earlier this month.
A year later, it will release a Mercedes-Benz SL-Class rival said Luc Donckerwolke, head of design at Genesis.
Asked if a large coupe was also on the cards, something to rival the likes of the Lexus LC series, the Belgian designer said: “I have the advantage of creating something new, so I don't have to look at what the others are doing.
"But it is certainly going to be a grand turismo two-door," he added.
Beyond the GV80
Genesis will have six models available by 2020, starting with the G90, G80 and G70. The G80 will be a restyled version of the current Hyundai Genesis and along with the G70 will be available in Australia before the year's (2017) end.
Two SUVs are also on the cards, expected in 2019 and 2020, with the gran turismo coupe expected in late 2020 or possibly early 2021.
Just don't get your hopes up about a next-generation V8 engine from Genesis to rival red-hot Mercedes-AMG models.
"As much as I like to drive V8s, I think that the electrification is going to be a main [performance] element," Donckerwolke told motoring.com.au.
"What's happening now with the emissions everywhere, is not necessarily giving a great future to older powertrains.
"You see what's happening… Emissions have to be reduced drastically, so today a V8 is not exactly responding to that environment," Donckerwolke opined.
The former Bentley, Lamborghini and Audi design chief, who said he believed that headlights would soon be phased out, also said that diesels were not on the brand’s wish-list.
Donckerwolke said diesel power plants were unlikely to play a part in Genesis' global plans and that he sees "a hostile environment for diesels in the future".
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