The Upcoming Genesis Coupe: What We Know

[KusaKusa]

I wanted to consolidate all the info we know about the new Genesis coupe(s?) in development and discuss the future possibilities. Here's what I've seen so far in the news:

• 2016: Leaked Genesis future vehicle roadmap has a "near luxury sports coupe" slated for 2020 (Source)
• April 2017: Genesis head of design (Luc) says there will "certainly" be a 2-door GT car (Source)
• January 2018: Genesis confirms an electric/hybrid, 2-seater sports car developed by the N division is in the design phase (Source)
• Late 2018: Genesis confirms a sports coupe, but no details on the market segment (Source)
• Late 2018: Genesis looking into a limited-production version of the Essentia (Source)

I heard that ThrottleHouse was told that a coupe based on the G70's platform and Essentia's design language would be coming out eventually, so that would back the rumor of a near luxury sports coupe. I think that a G70 near luxury coupe would have the best business case, thus likely for a new brand like Genesis, as it could compete with segments similar to the Porsche Cayman, BMW 4 Series, Chevy Corvette, and Toyota Supra. But we haven't really heard many details about it vs. the GT or a full-on sports car, so that may not be what ends up being their new coupe.

What do you guys think? Will there be multiple coupes, even in this crossover-dominated market? Will they likely make the near luxury coupe, and if so what sort of characteristics would it have? Would it be a G70 in coupe form, would it be a 2-seater, etc.?

 

[YEH]

Well, as stated, the entry-level coupe was part of the future product lineup in that roadmap, and while we haven't heard much about it, that may be b/c it was set to launch after the GV80, the new G80, the GV70 and around the time of the GV60.

If the Essentia gets greenlit, that would make for 2 coupes (1 entry-level and 1 halo), that is, unless they decide to turn the Essentia into a 4-door coupe or fastback (the latter which the production version of the Cadillac Escala will be).

In terms of the entry-level coupe, hope they make it more distinctive (which it seems likely to be the case) and not just a 2-door version of the G70 (when the G70 gets the Essentia make-over).

Some may say that having 3 CUVs is not enough, but Genesis likely has 1 BEV CUV on the drawing board and we'll have to wait and see how GV80 sales go before Genesis commits to something the size of a GV90.

 

[KusaKusa]

I believe either Erwin Raphael or Manfred Fitzgerald said that they don't want to have a coupe for the sake of having a coupe. So I think a GT70 would be more polarized towards sporty dynamics and styling to differentiate it from the G70 and fulfill a different market segment. So it wouldn't just be the "4 Series version" of the G70 and would have unique styling.

If they do make a halo coupe, I think it'll be at least a 4 seater. At that price point, the consumer base is already too small to isolate many of them with 2 seats. Even the Essentia concept had 4 seats. How that'll transition to 2 or 4 doors, I dunno. But Genesis will need a no-compromises sports car, especially with a GT halo coupe, and I think the entry luxury coupe could do it. The G70 already has 4 seats and is pretty sporty, so I think that points to 2 seats for a coupe.

 

[KusaKusa]

New information from the following link: https://www.motoring.com.au/genesis-essentia-coupe-primed-for-production-118088/

- Genesis will soon announce their next production vehicle for 2021, which will be a dedicated EV.
- Alongside that, Genesis is very serious, but not yet committed, about getting the Essentia into production. Manfred Fitzgerald hopes to get an announcement about that soon, but does not confirm or deny that the Essentia specifically is the upcoming announcement.
- Fitzgerald also will champion getting the new Mint concept to production.

My analysis of this info is that even if the media is tying the Essentia to this upcoming EV, there's still a good chance it will not be the Essentia. There's a lot of EV expertise that the Essentia requires, from the high output motors to the unique battery layout, that Hyundai/Genesis just does not have the experience to achieve yet. I think Audi's recent specs on the E-tron show that it's not so easy to catch up to Tesla's performance.

However, the business case to create a unique EV platform for the Essentia is there, as Hyundai/Genesis committed to creating many EVs by a certain date so they need that architecture.

 

[OMG70]

The problem they have is that a halo car isn't going to boost their bottom line much on its own because these types of cars generally have low unit sales. It may help brand awareness if it can effectively compete against other vehicles in its price point. Take the Nissan GT-R for example, wildly successful in that respect when it was first launched and gained Nissan a lot of traction, but low sales numbers means that they can't just ride its coat tails forever. Losing its place as (arguably) the best "bang for your buck supercar" also means losing all the buzz related brand awareness/recognition.

Genesis should focus on bringing in a stable of cars that people can afford first and then focus on expanding the brand with a halo car. The other way around would create buzz without having a product for people to spend their money on unless they want the current, and might I add limited, options available.

 

[YEH]

Saw something that could be telling (the outlet took down the video).

Was in Korean so could only go by the graphics - which there was one for a GC80 (or was it GT80?).

Previously, the thought was that the planned coupe was going to be the counterpart to the G70, but w/ the GC80 or GT80 moniker, we're talking something larger (or Genesis is planning a 2nd coupe).

There was another graphic for a GEV70, so assuming a BEV variant of the GV70 rather than a distinct model.

 

[OMG70]

I would assume their coupe would essentially be the G70 without the rear doors. In a similar fashion to the Q50 and Q60. It would save them a lot of design/implementation costs while still getting an enthusiast car out in a market where SUV's dominate.

It would be nice to see some sort of power boost to it though. If you're getting a completely impractical car, it might as well be bad on gas and a lot of fun

 

[KusaKusa]

Without seeing the context of the GT80 rumors, I can't say how viable it seems. It has been a while since we last saw Genesis' upcoming vehicle lineup. We know for sure that the GV70 and a GV60 are coming, and we don't know if the "near-luxury sports coupe" has been canceled or changed. The business case for a GT80 would likely be close to a large GT luxury halo coupe like the S class coupe and LC500. Luc Donkerwaffle identified this as an important segment for a luxury brand, but I'm not sure how much of a priority it is considering its low sales. An advantage of a GT80 is that the platform would be a lot easier to convert into an EV platform than something like the G70 because of the size, similar to the Model S, E-tron GT, and Taycan.

Also because of that, I don't think a GEV70 is likely. Most EVs seem to be going the crossover route because it matches up better with the size of the batteries on the floor and because of the market demand in general. With the batteries, smaller cars like the Model 3 have the issue of being pretty tall and thus having odd proportions even with the higher floor height taking up leg space.

As for the GT70, the facts do lean towards a GT70 that has a low scope of changes from the G70's platform. Facts that support this would be lower cost of design and production, while still fulfilling the "sporty car" niche with more aggressive styling and maybe adapting the new 2.5TT and 3.5TT engines. The only things going against this possibility would be that someone from Genesis not wanting "a coupe for the sake of a coupe" (so a coupe with very few changes like the C-class coupe) and maybe Genesis wanting a full-on near-luxury sports car on the level of the Cayman rather than a 4-Series for legitimacy.