Review: 2025 Genesis GV80 Is Big On Luxury And Comfort

It has been eight and a half years since Hyundai established Genesis as an independent marque.In this time, the company has launched some hugely impressive vehicles. These include the G70 sports sedan that wowed the automotive press during its launch in 2018, so much so that it was named North American Car of the Year in 2019. It has plenty of other solid options, too.Read: How Does The Genesis GV60 Compare To A High-Spec Hyundai Ioniq 5?For example, there are the G80 and G90 luxury sedans, the quirky battery-electric GV60, and the brand’s best-selling model, the GV70.

Then there’s the GV80, the latest Genesis that we tested. This model has been on sale since 2020 and recently received its first mid-life facelift, bringing several exterior and interior changes. There is also a new Coupe model.Is the marque’s updated rival to the BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz GLE as impressive as the firm’s other offerings? We recently drove over 2,000 km (~1,200 miles) in a handful of different GV80s to find out.Genesis has been operating as an independent brand in Australia since 2017 and in that time, has shifted just a touch over 4,000 vehicles.

That’s not a lot and shows how challenging it has been to crack into the local market, despite how well-rounded its models are. The GV80 sits at the top of the local lineup.Three versions of the GV80 are sold locally. These consist of six- and seven-seat versions of the standard SUV and the new GV80 Coupe sold as a five-seater.

Interestingly, all versions come with the Hyundai Motor Group’s 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged T-GDi V8 as standard. The engine delivers an impressive 279 kW (374 hp) and 530 Nm (391 lb-ft) of torque and is coupled to an eight-speed automatic transmission with power sent through a rear-wheel drive-biased all-wheel drive system.Prior to the 2025 update, Genesis Australia had offered the GV80 with a 3.0-liter turbodiesel and a 2.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder in addition to the flagship V6. While the diesel had accounted for 33% of sales and the 2.5-liter made up 24% of all GV80s sold, both engines have been ditched for 2025.