The Grand Tourer segment is about to get more crowded. According to CarAdvice, Hyundai’s luxury brand – Genesis – is looking to launch a Gran Turismo model to take the current BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe, future 6 GT and the Mercedes-Benz SL.
Speaking to Australian media at the week’s New York motor show, Luk Donckerwolke, the former director of design at Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley and now the head of design at Genesis, confirmed that work on a large GT was underway.
“When you are trying to do the next-generation of a product that has 100 years of history, your impulse is basically guided by the past,” Donckerwolke said.
“What we are doing here is creating the first step… To be honest, I’m not really looking at the others, I have the advantage of creating something new. I don’t have to look at others, but there’s certainly going to be a Gran Turismo two-door.”
The GT will top the Genesis range that will also consist of two luxury SUVs and numerous sedans and their derivatives.
Instead of powerful engines, Genesis looks to the future with a series of powertrain technologies that will compete with the latest tech advancements in the field.
“I stated once that alternative propulsion systems are at the very core of this brand and I truly believe that,” Fitzgerald said.
“If you look at that and you look down the road at what is going to happen with the electrification of vehicles, performance will not have that dominant role anymore because it’s a level playing field. So the ICE (internal combustion engines) dominances of performance, that’s going to go away.”
According to Fitzgerald, once all cars utilise electric powertrains, the difference in acceleration and performance will ultimately become meaningless. Meanwhile, Donckerwolke admits that while he would personally love to see V8s in the GT and other Genesis models, the future has caught up to the car industry.
“As much as I like to drive V8s, I believe electrification is going to be a main element, like the powertrain of this [Genesis GV80 concept] having a range-extender fuel cell for an electric vehicle or an electric powertrain, it’s a great source. Hyundai and Genesis are pioneers of fuel cell technology, being the first company that has put fuel cell technology in production and on sale, it’s the way to go.”
No timeline has been given for the Genesis Gran Turismo.
