What is it?
This is Genesis's first SUV, the GV80, which uses the same mixed-metal platform as the G80 luxury saloon that we reviewed only earlier this week (its driveline and suspension are closely technically related also). Go for the bigger offering, however, and you will get rear-biased four-wheel drive as standard, as well as seating for up to seven.
Diesel stalwarts, meanwhile, can trade up from the G80’s four-cylinder oil-burner to get the Hyundai Motor Group’s brand-new 274bhp diesel straight six if they pick the GV80.
On paper, then, considering the fairly modest difference between the cars on showroom price, the GV80’s offering looks like quite the package. Perhaps that’s why Genesis expects it to outsell the G80 in Europe for the time being; well, that and the obvious reason (because it’s an SUV, Pinky).
The other engine offered in the car is Genesis’s 300bhp 2.5-litre four-pot turbo petrol, with barely a cigarette paper separating the two motors on price.
Buyers will choose between Premium and Luxury trims, just as on the G80, plus five- or seven-seat body configurations, with options mostly corralled into a limited number of packages intended to make the ordering process more straightforward.
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Many comments here about Range Rovers and lots of nonsense about poor reliability, but nobody here has actually lived with this GV80 for anything less than a few days so its reliability cannot be proven to be good or bad in comparison to the wildly-popular Ranger Rovers (not R&R, btw...). Genesis is a new brand in Europe from a lower-end brand and European buyers will know this. It cannot expect to compete in similar numbers straight out of the gate and -judging by the mediocre effort here- it won't be ahead of the pack any time soon.
Like Infiniti, it will be a footnote in the history of the European car market unless it manages to produce more cutting-edge cars.
Really not sure who this is aimed at and who will buy one. It’s sort of attractive in a brash Bentley sort of way. But those with Bentley money to spend are unlikely to consider a Genises. It’s not rugged enough to appeal to the Country set, who will stay with their Land Rovers or Range Rovers. Audi and BMW drivers will scoff at the imitation Bentley badge and dismiss it. Perhaps there will be a few people out there who wants a lot of flash for not too much cash and take the plunge. They may well end up keeping it for a very long time and running it in to the ground as the residual value will be so