Genesis Models Lose Their Best Safety Features

If you told someone ten years ago that Hyundai would create a brand to rival the finest luxury brands in the world, chances are they'd laugh at you. But against all odds, Genesis has brought an assortment of desirable vehicles to customers looking to stray from more established luxury brands. Its cars are beautifully styled, as evidenced by the G70 Shooting Brake, which might be offered Stateside after all.

We certainly hope it does make it here, but if it doesn't, local consumers still have plenty to choose from. The G80 sedan, GV70, and GV80 SUVs are highly competent and, what's more, very safe.

But, as a result of the ongoing semiconductor chip crisis, Genesis has had to downgrade the safety suite in the aforementioned models, to make sure customers take delivery of their vehicles as quickly as possible.

Per Edmunds, the GV80 and G80 will lose Highway Driving Assist (HDA) II as standard equipment. In its place, the less comprehensive HDA will be featured. It may be the more basic safety package, but it still boasts lane-keep assist, automated lane centering, and adaptive cruise control (ACC). What it does lose out on is automatic lane changing and a clever system that tailors the ACC to the driver's habits.

The smaller GV70, which receives the HDA feature as standard, will have HDA II removed from its list of optional extras. The publication notes this change is for 2.5-liter all-wheel-drive models with the Sport Prestige Package and all 3.5-liter derivatives. A company spokesperson told Edmunds the decision allows vehicle production to continue unhindered. Delivery delays would have been caused by waiting for the chips required by the HDA II system.