Where style is tied with technology. . . .

By Gary S. Vasilash

A colleague and I were sitting in a new vehicle, an SUV. A premium vehicle. We were checking it out, looking at the surfaces, the way they met, the textures, the fabrics. We looked at the infotainment system and gauge cluster. Where they were positioned. How they were integrated into the overall IP. We adjusted the HVAC louvers. Opened and closed the glovebox.

We gave the interior a solid inspection.

“Does this look like the interior of an $80,000 vehicle?” I asked.

My colleague pondered for a moment.

“Well, it surely isn’t like the interior of something like a Genesis GV80,” he responded.

“Yes, I know. I’m driving one right now.”

And I didn’t make that scene up.

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A couple weeks later J.D. Power released its 2024 U.S. Tech Experience Index (TXI) Study.

Kathleen Rizk, senior director of user experience benchmarking and technology at J.D. Power, said one determination that they made of the study is: “A strong advanced tech strategy is crucial for all vehicle manufacturers, and many innovative technologies are answering customer needs.”

Genesis ranks highest in the study for innovation, not only in the premium segment that it is included in, but with its score of 584 on a 1,000-point scale, highest overall, including mass market brands.

In the premium segment it is 49 points ahead of Lexus (at 535) and BMW (at 528).

The study looks at four categories: convenience; emerging automation; energy and sustainability; and infotainment and connectivity.

So clearly Genesis pays sufficient attention to these things in order to take the top position.

And it should be worth noting that this makes it four times in a row that Genesis has taken the top spot in TXI.

So within that GV80 not only is there an interior that is comfortable, but an array of infotainment technology.

Which makes it a proverbial double win for those who are within the cabin of the crossover.

If the impressive exterior styling is taken into account, then this means that the vehicle wins a trifecta.

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For the 2025 model year GV80 there was a focus on upping the interior.

While the interior designers followed a design approach they describe at “Beauty of White Space,” it isn’t at all some sort of minimalist execution, not something that makes you think you are sitting in the capsule of a space ship.

Yes, there is a 27-inch wide OLED screen which is as technological as any you’ll find.

But the sumptuous, quilted available Nappa leather seats, the use of real wood and real aluminum for trim, the ergonomic arrangements of the interfaces all make this something that brings to mind a comfortable study more than a department at the local BestBuy.

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The GV80 is powered by a 375-hp 3.5L twin turbo engine that is mated to an eight-speed automatic with paddle shifters.

It has multi-link suspension setups with high-performance gas shock absorbers all around.

It rides on 20-inch aluminum wheels.

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The whole GV80 package is something that could be characterized as being an “executive car.”

It is stylish but not flashy, powerful but restrained.

It is in a space that used to be wholly inhabited by German marques.

But it more than holds its own compared with them.