2024 Genesis GV80 Coupe coming with facelift due next year

The 2024 Genesis GV80 luxury SUV is due for a mid-life facelift in the next 12 months – which spy photos indicate will include a sportier-looking 'Coupe' variant.

Images published to South Korean social-media website Autospy show a heavily-camouflaged GV80 with a more dramatic sloping rear roofline, similar to the BMW X6, Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe, and other 'coupe' versions of large luxury SUVs.

The camouflage across the rest of the vehicle – and visible changes to bumpers, lights and wheels that poke through – indicate the new body style is due to arrive with the mid-life update for Genesis' largest SUV to date.

Based on the timing of those photos, the facelifted GV80 may be unveiled before the end of this year – but it is not expected to arrive in Australian showrooms until next year.

Plans for a second body style were previewed in 2021, when a scale model of what appeared to be a Genesis GV80 Coupe was spotted on a shelf in the background of a video filmed in the Genesis design studio.

The slope of the roofline – and prominent lip spoiler on the edge of the tailgate – of the spied prototype is very similar to the scale model seen in the 2021 video.

If its rivals – and the angle of the rear roofline – are a guide, the GV80 Coupe may lose its third row of seating, and become a five-seater only.

The coupe prototype previews some of the changes to come with the wide GV80 range's mid-life update, including a new front grille design, upgraded matrix LED headlights inspired by the overseas G90 limousine, tweaked tail-light graphics, and what appear to be new alloy wheels.

The prototype's interior was also photographed – but it is hard to tell if there have been any changes, as the cabin is largely covered in black fabric.

But the red seatbelts and stitching, black leather seats and carbon-fibre-look trim on the door panels suggest the facelift may introduce a GV80 Sport variant, similar to the GV70, G70 and G80 models.

This model could also add rear-wheel steering – as per the G80 Sport sedan – and revised tuning for the vehicle's suspension and steering systems.

The current GV80 range is powered by a choice of 224kW/422Nm 2.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol, 204kW/588Nm 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder turbo-diesel, and 279kW/530Nm 3.5-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 engines.

The 2024 Genesis GV80 facelift is expected to be revealed towards the end of this year – which would correlate to Australian showroom arrivals commencing next year. It remains to be seen if the Coupe model is offered in Australia.