Surprising new luxury SUV off-roader adventurer teased

The Mercedes-Benz G-Class (aka G-Wagon) is an icon of luxury and adventure with few genuine rivals.

Genesis wants to change that.

Hyundai’s upstart luxury brand recently revealed the X Gran Equator concept at the New York Motor Show, a rugged and adventure-ready take on an SUV. While it may appear at first glance to just be a flashy show car designed to attract attention, Genesis Chief Creative Officer Luc Donkerwolke made it clear that he can see a future where a production version of the X Gran Equator slots into the brand’s SUV line-up.

“I do believe that there is room for that,” Donkerwolke told Australian media, including Torquecafe.

“The X Gran Equator is a new potential addition to a lineup which is already quite big,” he explained.

“In a couple of years we have reached a family of SUVs, quite a lot. And we have shown last year there’s another one coming, a flagship SUV, very soon. So now the question is: how do we position the Gran Equator within this lineup? How do we ensure there’s not going to be an overlap or cannibalisation between those vehicles?”

This is not a new trend either, there has been speculation for years the Genesis would consider a G-Wagen rival, potentially using the new Kia Tasman chassis as the foundation. Crucially, while Donkerwolke didn’t reveal what platform underpins the X Gran Equator, he did confirm that he worked with both his design and engineering team to ensure it was viable as a production vehicle.

“The Gran Equator was designed by my team in a very short time,” he explained. “Like all the other projects, I make sure that my engineering team is involved in the project, so that those projects are feasible, so that we don’t have to face any big hurdles… So that from the technical point-of-view the platform works, the technical side works. Now is obviously the demand.”

Donkerwolke said he had received a lot of interest from Genesis markets around the world in the immediate aftermath of revealing the X Gran Equator, suggesting there is market potential for such a radically different SUV compared to the rest of the range.

“Everybody has called and asked, ‘When can I have it?’” Donkerwolke said. “All the regions have been. I think this is a big progress… It’s plugging into the SUV emotion, it’s going back to the off-road capability that actually makes those SUVs genuine and authentic.”