The Genesis brand has had its fair share of going through the motion of gaining the proper recognition in a highly critiqued luxury landscape. As the luxury arm for Hyundai, Genesis has made some inroads for its placement among other automotive luxury juggernauts where the latest 2025 GV80 crossover pushes the envelope further in the highly competitive luxury SUV segments.
For the 2025 model year, the Genesis GV80 receives a few updates and tweaks that go the distance to elevate its standing among competitors and appease the growing base of consumers of the relatively new brand. While the Genesis name spawned from Hyundai roots, the feel of vehicles like the latest GV80 attempt to set its own pace for an appealing luxurious theme that begs to be on par with other class-leading luxury vehicles. Addtionally, the GV80 now comes in a “Coupe” flavor accentuating the rear with a sloping roof line but retaining all that’s good about the normal GV80.
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Receiving a subtle update for some exterior elements, such as the reworked LED headlights that appear brighter than before, to getting a unique new instrument cluster and infotainment touchscreen combined into one uninterrupted 27-inch OLED screen, there’s a lot to appreciate for the direction that Genesis is headed. Not to mention, the exterior color choices, such as my test vehicle’s Storr Green matte paint and plush interior contrasting high-quality materials, all fit into the mold of opulence with many compromises.
Powering the Genesis GV80 is the return of its well-to-do 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 engine mated to a smooth-shifting 8-speed automatic transmission. A total of 375 horsepower is sent through the drivetrain to power all four 22-inch wheels in the top-level GV80 3.5T Prestige AWD trim, giving you a respectable level of power that comes on softly to work well with the dynamic abilities of the chassis. Those dynamic characteristics start with the electronically controlled suspension that roads the road and makes millisecond adjustments to smooth things out without being too lofty or spongy over road imperfections, even with the attractive yet large 22-inch wrapped with 265/40R22 Michelin Primacy Tour all-season tires.
The ride quality seems to have improved from previous years, with the latest road-reading adaptive suspension setup offering a respected balance of sport and comfort when in the default drive mode. Switching to the sport drive mode only subtly changes the ride quality with a slightly tighter edge with added steering effort and advancement of the throttle. Overall, in any mode, the Genesis GV80 3.5T Prestige AWD feels connected to the road, giving you a high level of assurance when driving in a variety of conditions, all without giving up its primary goal of exuding luxury first. On the sporty side, the Genesis GV80 3.5T gets up to 60 mph in just 5.7 seconds and feels good for its passing power out on the highway with only small delay in its ability to downshift into the proper gear when power is immediately demanded.
Fuel economy remains the same as before where I can easily get the EPA estimates of 16 mpg city and 22 mpg highway in the real world without giving my driving style much thought. The 21.1-gallon fuel tank full of recommended premium unleaded fuel will give you a highway cruising range of about 464 miles. You can tow up to 6,000 pounds with the proper tow hitch installed.
Inside the new 2025 Genesis GV80 is a plush space with a high-quality level of materials throughout. There’s very limited hard plastic and nice attention to detail in many elements that are plastic with unique textures. Where things take on a unique life is the new seamless screen that integrates the driver’s gauge cluster and touchscreen area for the infotainment system, which has a clever way of flowing graphical displays and live navigation landscapes. It is an interesting and inviting experience once you overcome the learning curve of how to properly display the elements and the driver information that you want. At first, there is a confusing method of setting up the screen displays for vehicle information.
The infotainment unit retains most of its simplicity through several large icons and a redundant method of interacting with core vehicle functions and settings. That redundancy expands through a physical control knob that has a glass touchpad on top to navigate through the screen in addition to being able to touch the screen. The integration of wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto fills most of the touchscreen portion of the screen and can be integrated using USB-C ports. There is a convenient wireless charging pad just below the climate controls.
The climate controls are easy to reach and have just two physical turn knobs for temperature adjustments, while all other controls are laid out in a haptic-touch interface. Elevating the luxury experience are the front seats, having heating, ventilation, and massaging functions combined with clever ergo motion functions that automatically make pressure point adjustments after long trips to prevent fatigue. Additionally, there’s a fragrance system that can be set to emit an installed scent throughout the cabin with three selectable levels.
The rear seats, with a plentiful amount of space, feature heating and ventilation for the outboard positions in addition to power adjustments. Power-folding the rear 60/40-split seatbacks opens up the cargo area from its standard 34.9 cubic feet to as much as 84 cubic feet. The rear cargo area is accessed by a smart power tailgate that can be set to automatically open upon having your key in your pocket, walking up to the rear, and waiting a few seconds for it to open up without touching anything or kicking your feet as you do with other vehicles.
The safety aspects of the Genesis GV80 are on par with others, but for the new model year, the GV80 3.5T Prestige AWD gets an updated highway driving assist 2 (HDA2) feature combined with smart cruise control and highway lane change assist, adds some semi-autonomy to the driving experience. Though, the system is not as advanced as the hands-free setups from General Motors (SuperCruise) or Ford (BlueCruise) as the system will require that you keep your hands on the wheel. I did notice that the system seems relaxed more than before for alerting you to place your hands back on the wheel – it’s not a hands-free system.
Apart from the HDA2 system, the GV80 gets a new digital rearview mirror and brings back the highly praised blind spot view monitor to display a live camera feed of your blind spot when signaling. Otherwise, you get the typical highlights of lane-keeping assist, blind spot monitors, forward collision warning/emergency braking, rear cross-path detection/emergency braking, pedestrian detection, and a sharp 360-degree camera system.
As a respected value, the Genesis brand has maintained its undercutting of the competition in some ways. While some may not just yet view the Genesis brand as being a serious luxury contender, those who have experienced such know that vehicles like the GV80 are serious about their place in the luxury automotive world and are well deserving of a look before spending considerably more for comparable luxury in a midsized SUV package. With that, the GV80 starts at $58,000 for the base 2.5T Standard AWD trim and can reach as much as $82,150 for my top-trimmed GV80 3.5T Prestige AWD test vehicle with its $1,500 Storr Green paint option and the inland and freight charge of $1,350.
