Genesis hints at bold move to go off-road
A luxury car brand wants to break away from the pack with a wild approach to off-road performance but it’s the ‘look’ raising eyebrows.
Not content with trying to take on BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus, it seems Genesis has aspirations of wooing away buyers from the Ford Ranger Raptor with an off-road ready adventure vehicle of its own.
Unveiled overnight at the South Korean brand’s New York showcase, the Genesis X Gran Equator is a luxury SUV with an rugged twist. Or as Luc Donkerwolke, Genesis’ Chief Creative Officer put it, “an exercise in harmonising contrasts” as it combines “elegance and ruggedness, exploration and comfort.”
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The X Gran Equator is a bold attempt by the Hyundai-owned luxury brand to enhance its image as it tries to make space for itself in the highly-competitive luxury market. To date its SUVs, the GV70 and GV80 are more conventional, on-road focused luxury models, so the shift to this more rugged and capable alternative has the potential to expand its reach.
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As Dockerwolke explained, the inspiration behind the design was a simplified, uncluttered look.
“By stripping away the unnecessary, we’ve designed a vehicle for those who seek the thrill of adventure but refuse to sacrifice the refinement that defines our brand,” he said.
The X Gran Equator is defined by its proportions, which are dramatically different from anyone else on the market today. The almost-awkwardly long bonnet is framed by Genesis’ signature two-line headlights, but instead of stopping at the brand’s crest grille, the grille has been deleted and the lights run the entire width of the front end.
The same is true of the tail-lights, which stretch from the rear all the way around, giving the concept a squared off appearance. The rear-end features a new clamshell tailgate, which the brand has indicated previews a future production design.
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Completing the rugged, off-road look are the 24-inch alloy wheels at each corner, sitting underneath dark-clad wheel covers and with “bead-hole” design that are inspired by special off-road performance rims.
While Genesis remains tight-lipped if they’ll actually turn the concept into a production reality, the South Korean brand has all the pieces it needs to make a proper off-road performance vehicle. There’s a 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine that already makes 279kW of power and 530Nm of torque, sitting in the Genesis parts bin.
That’s certainly enough to at least have the 292kW/583Nm Ranger Raptor a little worried out in the desert or the dunes.
Plus, Genesis is set to launch its new Magma performance sub-brand in the next 12 months, and having an off-road capable hero model would be wise in this current adventure-heavy market, especially in Australia.
Or, more likely, it will suffer the same fate as some of Genesis’ most attention-grabbing concepts, such as the stunning Essentia Coupe, Mint small performance hatch and X Speedium Coupe, and simply be a tease from a brand still looking to make its mark.
Originally published as Genesis hints at bold move to go off-road
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