South Korean automakers have some of the shortest product life cycles in the business and Genesis appears to be sticking with this modus operandi for the GV70. The posh crossover was unveiled in December 2020 and yet Hyundai’s luxury division is already testing a facelifted version. Spotted on its home turf somewhere in an underground parking lot, the Asian BMW X3 competitor was wearing a surprisingly large amount of disguise.
Our Korean is a bit rusty but we’re fairly certain the spy video is showing the conventionally powered Genesis GV70 as the purely electric model has a closed-off front grille. We’d reckon there’s a diesel engine underneath the hood since there is no visible exhaust tip sticking out from the rear bumper. On the 2.5T and 3.5T gasoline models, there are dual finishers at the corners of the bumper and these have a different shape depending on whether it’s the four- or six-cylinder model.
The bulky camo gets in the way of identifying what will change with the mid-cycle update, although there are revised G90-like headlights with several tiny cubes peeking through the disguise. The new lights flank a subtly updated grille, and it looks as though there are some mild changes to the bumpers as well.
Heavily tinted windows prevented the car paparazzi from taking a good look inside the cabin where there are supposedly additional changes. Rumor has it the larger GV80 together with its G80 sedan sibling will get a massive 27-inch OLED curved screen but it’s unclear whether Genesis’ entry-level model will make the switch as well.
Speaking of gossip, it is believed the GV70’s sedan counterpart, the G70, will be axed after a single generation due to poor sales. Consequently, it would likely put an end to the G70 Shooting Brake as well, but nothing is official yet. The rumor stems from a report published a few weeks ago by South Korea’s Korea JoongAng Daily. Development of the second-gen model had apparently started before a decision was taken to pull the plug on what was supposed to be a larger, electric model. We reached out to Genesis when the report was published but a spokesperson declined to comment.
Meanwhile, the GV70 facelift could be introduced by the year’s end or early 2024, initially in South Korea before being launched in international markets. Genesis has a lot on its plate right now as spy photos have revealed the G80 and GV80 will be updated and will be sold alongside a coupe-styled variant of the latter.
