The Genesis X Gran Equator is a more rugged luxury SUV or a more luxurious off-roader — take your pick.
This week marks another edition of the New York Auto Show, and with it we have a set of debuts to cover, both for production vehicles and interesting concepts. One of the latest is coming from Genesis, as the automaker reveals its X Gran Equator Concept on the heels of sleeker debuts at the Seoul Mobility Show.
As you’ve probably gleaned from the photos, this car is meant to be more of a rugged adventurer than what we’ve seen emerge from Genesis to date, as the brand continues to evolve from simply building value-rich luxury alternatives to the established American, Asian and European players.
In the spirit of some of Genesis’ ‘X’-branded concepts, this Gran Equator definitely looks like a design study, rather than something that’s really production ready. To that end, we get an exaggerated front end with a huge dash-to-axle ratio, a prominent rear overhang, sloping rear end and (as we’ve seen in the brand’s latest designs across the board) signature Two-Line headlight and taillight design.
Inside, I’ll admit Genesis did indeed take an elegant approach in that they didn’t just cram screens everywhere they possibly could. Instead, you get more of an old-school approach to an off-roader, with several round displays behind the wheel as gauges, and centered along the rest of the instrument panel. So, you still get a modern sense of ‘infotainment’ with what those units actually show, but without the total information overload of, say, a 27-inch dashboard-wide screen you’d see on certain luxury SUVs. (Actually, by screen size, Genesis is still pretty tame, even with that…the Jeep Grand Wagoneer has around 75 inches of total display area.)
Beyond the surprising lack of OLED screens, the remaining bits of the interior shout luxury. From the blue and cream-colored palette to the lavish seats — of which there are only four this time around — the X Gran Equator definitely leans toward the swanky side of overlanding. Each occupant even gets their own sunroof.
Genesis notes the X Gran Equator “is an exercise in harmonizing contrasts — combining elegance with ruggedness, and the spirit of exploration with refined comfort.” Where have I gotten that vibe before? Oh, that’s right, with the Range Rover, and I have a feeling that’s the main rival Genesis would pitch this against if it actually brought the concept forward to production.
To that end, Genesis hasn’t confirmed that this will go to production, nor do we know if it would be an electric SUV, an internal combustion model, a hybrid, or any combination of the three. This could just be a design study, but what lessons Genesis does draw from it could wind up (at least in part) in the next-generation GV80’s design. And with folks snapping up anything off-roadish like hot cakes, there’s a fair to good chance Genesis’ next GV80 would get a dirt-worthy trim.
