G80

Make
Genesis
Segment
Sedan

A generation after it debuted as a standalone luxury brand separate from Hyundai, Genesis has gained the confidence it needs to become a true competitor to Japan's luxury carmakers, Lexus, Infiniti, and Acura. For Genesis, that means taking a step beyond its parent company's strategy of offering more for less - packing offerings like the G80 and G90 with outrageous amounts of features and offering the car at a bargain price - and instead build new cars from the ground-up that give Genesis the identity it so badly needs.

We got a hint of that identity in the styling of the GV80 SUV that Genesis brought to the 2017 New York Auto Show, and it seems like the first car to adopt Genesis' new look will be the upcoming 2020 G80 sedan, which we've already caught testing on the Nurburgring.

While we have yet to see its camouflage come off, Russian auto site Kolesa has gone ahead and rendered the sedan to give us a taste of what Genesis may be planning. Suffice it to say, we have mixed feelings about the results. If the 2020 G80 ends up looking like this, it will mean that Genesis still has a way to go since the sides and overall silhouette of the car look plain while the front and rear ends attempt to make up for it with a radically large grille and defragmented lights.

Unfortunately, the G80's spy shots seem to confirm that the upcoming G80 will look like this rendering, meaning the only radical step Genesis will take on the design front will be the new lighting style, the large grille, and a short fastback-like rear end.

Missing are the more rounded dimensions of the GV80 Concept, which seem to wrap the car inward and give it a slope towards the rear to make it look like a speeding bullet. That doesn't, however, mean that the 2020 G80 won't go like one. While powertrain options remain a secret, the outgoing model came with a 3.8-liter V6 and a 5.0-liter V8 making 311 horsepower and 420 horsepower, respectively.

It's unlikely the new model will see less power than this, even if a plug-in hybrid model just about certain. We'll probably learn soon since the 2020 G80 is set to debut by the end of this year.