Genesis G80 Redesign Revealed: What We Know and What We Don’t
Genesis released exterior and interior photos of its redesigned 2021 G80 mid-size sedan — and if you think it looks familiar you’re right. It gets some of the sleek rear-wheel-drive fastback profile of the redesigned 2020 G90 sedan, and also interior details and the signature “two-line” Genesis design theme that we just saw with the debut of the Hyundai luxury brand’s 2021 GV80 SUV last month in Chicago.
Related: 2021 Genesis GV80: About Damn Time
Overall, the new G80 is a good-looking sedan that skews more toward a higher-luxury look — though in today’s market the GV80 SUV might have more impact on Genesis’ first-tier luxury aspirations. The release does not get into the G80’s mechanical details and specs. Genesis said only that the G80 will feature a new “platform, powertrains and advanced driver assistance systems” and that we’ll find out more with a reveal later this month in South Korea.
But the G80 — Genesis’ rival for such luxury sedan heavyweights as the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, BMW 5 Series and Lexus ES — likely rides a version of the new Hyundai luxury platform underpinning the GV80. And we know the GV80, at least, will offer two turbocharged engine choices — a 2.5-liter four-cylinder and a 3.5-liter V-6 — as well as the options of all-wheel drive and Genesis’ first active adaptive suspension.
Exterior
The new G80 has a dramatically big Genesis crest grille — like the GV80 and G90 — and also the Genesis Quad Lamp headlights in a pair of skinny lines on either front corner. Their twin lines are picked up around the car in the front fender trim and in the taillights. The brand has said that the two-line design theme “will come to define Genesis.” The fender trim also includes side marker and turn-signal lights using the Hyundai technology that looks like metal trim until the lights are in use. A gently curved character line runs from the headlights to the taillights. And in the rear, the trunk lid and the bumper form a concave oval punctuated by the taillights.
Interior
The G80 interior photos show trim and an open-space design similar to the GV80. Photos show the same 14.5-inch multimedia display with new-design center console controls, dial transmission shifter and unusual two-spoke steering wheel.
“The ‘Beauty of White Space’ theme represents our journey to achieve the perfect balance between personal space and state-of-the-art technology,” said Sang Yup Lee, Hyundai design chief. “We question the status quo. Technology should not dominate and only present itself when necessary.”
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- 2020 Genesis G90 Refresh Makes a Great Luxury Car Even Better
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The G80’s promised new driver assistance systems are likely to include at least some of the systems announced for the GV80, including adaptive cruise control that uses machine-learning capability to adapt its performance to the habits of its drivers, a highway assist system that includes lane changing, a blind spot monitor that can actively intercede to avoid collisions in situations such as leaving a parking space, and a forward collision system with automatic braking and pedestrian detection that also will respond to vehicles approaching from the right or left at an intersection.
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