South Korean upscale car manufacturer Genesis this week unveiled its all-new G80 mid-size sedan. It sports dramatic new styling over a lightweight structure and features new and reimagined luxury and high-tech features.
The 2021 Genesis G80 is the second generation of the mid-range model since the brand broke away from its Hyundai parent company, starting with the 2017 model year. The G80 began as the Hyundai Genesis sedan in 2010, redesigned in 2015. Here’s how much the 2018 G80 was selling for.
Redesigned G80 with New Proportions and Lighter Stance
The G80’s new look is dominated by LED exterior lighting and a sweeping character line that runs the length of the car, stretching the body visually and creating a family tie to the 2021 Genesis GV80 SUV revealed earlier this year.
The new G80 rides on the same 3,010-mm/118.5-inch wheelbase as before, and body length increases by just 4 mm, or less than 0.2 inches. However, the car is 35 mm/1.4 inches wider, and its roofline is 15 mm/0.6 inches lower.
Genesis says 19 percent of the G80’s structure is made of lightweight aluminum, which allowed the brand’s engineers to cut 125 kg (275 pounds) from the sedan’s curb weight.Â
Genesis Replaces V8 with a 375 Horsepower Turbo
Also new are the 2021 G80’s powertrains: the starting point is a gasoline 2.5L turbocharged four-cylinder (300 hp/311 lb-ft of torque), and the upgrade is a 3.5L turbo gas V6 making 375 hp/391 lb-ft. Genesis says there will also be a diesel available in some overseas markets.
We expect the two gas engines to be available in North America to replace the outgoing car’s 3.8L and turbo 3.3L V6s, as well as a 5.0L V8. Genesis doesn’t mention details of the G80’s transmission and drive system, but the old G80 was standard with AWD and an eight-speed transmission.
2021 G80 Interior Changes
The G80 also benefits from some of parent company Hyundai’s latest safety and high-tech features. Key among these is a second-generation highway driving assist system that now helps the driver make lane changes and adjusts the car’s speed and position when another vehicle merges in front.
Related to those functions is a new cruise control setup that uses machine learning to adapt to the human driver’s tendencies. This way, the car learns to work the brakes and accelerator in the same manner as its human to make the smart cruise system’s operation feel more natural.
Front-seat passengers benefit from Genesis’s innovations too: the front passenger seat will self-adjust the backrest to a more upright position to help protect the occupant in a forward collision or during evasive braking and steering maneuvers.
Also new is a remote smart parking function that lets the driver move the car remotely using the key fob. Genesis CarPay (not to be confused with Apple CarPlay) allows payment for gasoline through the car’s infotainment screen, but this feature is so far only available in the brand’s South Korean home market.
Other features we expect to be standard in the G80 include a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster display and a 14.5-inch infotainment screen mounted atop the dash. Other new touches include a rotary gearshift control and fingertip handwriting inputs for the infotainment system.
Genesis says the new G80 will arrive at North American dealers in the second half of 2020, with pricing and detailed specifications to be revealed closer to that time.
