The Genesis G90 may look familiar, but its styling has been totally revised.
Genesis unveiled styling revisions of its flagship sedan, the G90, giving it an increasingly distinctive look.
The redesign should help lift sales of Genesis’s largest sedan, which saw sales slide 25% in the first half of 2021, even as sales of the smaller G80 and G70 sedans rose during the same period. Longer term, the company is planning to phase out gasoline-powered cars by the end of the decade, with all models running on batteries or fuel cells.
“G90 will redefine the flagship luxury design experience in a unique way only offered by Genesis,” said Head of Genesis Global Design, SangYup Lee, in a statement. “G90 is the ultimate expression of Athletic Elegance that carefully balances dynamic driving and an elegant rear seat experience.”
The G90 retains its massive shield grille.
That said, the company didn’t disclose any indication of what that rear seat experience might be, although they did reveal the model’s extensive exterior revisions.
What can be seen
Much of the Genesis remains familiar, but the entire car’s shape has been softened. The G90’s enormous shield grille still anchors sheet metal creases that gently flow rearward. But they’re far softer, following the contour of a more naturally shaped clamshell hood that eliminates panel gaps by uniting the hood and fenders into a single piece.
In keeping with this air of sleekness, the lower air intake naturally fills out the rest of the front end with an eloquent simplicity, one that’s offset by the revised texture of the G90’s grille.
The vehicle’s greenhouse and window shapes retain the G90’s character.
It marks the starting point for the dual horizontal lamps, which stretch farther back, now reaching the front door. It makes for a strikingly unique, and handsome, styling statement. A subtly soft crease uses the top lamp as a visual base, running rearward to cut the visual height of the car.
While the greenhouse shape remains familiar, the bottom of the window frame now kicks up as it meets the C-Pillar. Underpinning the side view is a lower body molding that wraps around the rear of the car.
The rear view
While the G90 remains a notchback, the overall shape of the vehicle has more of a fastback look, with styling details that resemble an un upmarket Hyundai Elantra. Like its corporate sibling, the rear backlight slopes rearward, visually uniting with the trunk and capped by dramatic vertical styling. Lighting and various functional elements, such as the license plate, sensors, and reverse lights, are styled in a horizontal motif that recalls, but doesn’t mimic, the car’s dual lamp design, while placing them toward the bottom of the G90 to retain its sleek appearance.
In the rear, functional elements are tucked down low to retain the G90’s sleek appearance.
More unknown than known
It makes for a stunning styling statement, one that leads to another question: what’s the inside like? Genesis has yet to release images of the cabin. But the company did say there would be a long-wheelbase G90. Whether that will be coming to the U.S. in unknown.
Genesis didn’t disclose any information about revised specifications, powertrains, or when the facelifted G90 would be available in the U.S. market.
With this newest G90, the company is clearly beyond the German mimicry that characterized its look when it was fledgling extension of the Hyundai brand and sold stateside as the Hyundai Equus. It now boasts a sleek, modern luxury identity one that will hopefully be supported by equally-forward looking drivelines, which were not announced.
Nevertheless, it’s clear that Hyundai is trying hard to draw more buyers to its burgeoning luxury brand.
Keyword: Genesis Revises G90 Flagship Sedan for 2022