We’ve taken to task Hyundai for the gratuitously industrial styling of its Ioniq 5 (go here), so let’s take a look at its Genesis counterpart.
The GV60 is based on the same platform as the Ioniq 5 and its brother the Kia EV6 but is positioned as an entry-level luxury EV, with a base price of $53,350 (Wendler, 2024). That’s roughly $10,000 higher than either the Hyundai or Kia (Irwin, 2024a, 2024b).
Car and Driver says that the GV60’s main competition are other electric-powered sport-utility vehicles such as the Audi Q4 e-tron and Volvo XC40 Recharge (Wendler, 2024).
From a purely styling standpoint, the GV60 looks much cleaner than the Ioniq 5 and less aggressive than the EV6. The Genesis has a polished-rock quality, with nicely rounded curves and relatively little stylistic gingerbread.
The taillights are among the more mundane aspects of the car’s design, but they may age better than the rather faddish treatments on the Ioniq 5 or EV6.
The GV60’s road wheels add a dash of visual complexity to an otherwise fairly plain shape. Silver cladding serves to give the wheels a beefier appearance.
The front end carries over Genesis’s trademark headlights but the fake grille of the more expensive GV70 has been moved down to bumper level. That splits the difference between its big brother’s luxurious formality and the quirkiness of its cheaper corporate siblings. I don’t think it works as well as any of the others. But, if nothing else, the GV60’s fascia is distinctive.
Much the same could be said of the zig-zag on the GV60’s C-pillar. To my eyes it looks jarring rather than aesthetically pleasing.
As with the rest of the Genesis lineup, the GV60 is bestowed with the brand’s logo. I find it so derivative that it all but screams “cheap imitation.”
Looking purely at styling, if I had to pick between the GV60, the Ioniq 5 and the EV6, I would go with the latter. The Kia has a somewhat edgier look, but it strikes me as much better executed than the Genesis.
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RE:SOURCES
- Irwin, Austin; 2024a. “2024 Hyundai Ioniq 5.” Car and Driver. Accessed April 15.
- ——; 2024b. “2024 Kia EV6.” Car and Driver. Accessed April 15.
- Wendler, Andrew; 2024. “2024 Genesis GV60.” Car and Driver. Accessed April 15.
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