Genesis Goes Outdoors With GV60, GV70 Concepts, But This Twilight Star Is Our Fave

We get it: Dismissing the new Genesis GV60 Outdoors and GV70 Outdoors concepts as yet another brand’s entry into the off-roading space is easy, but dismissing legendary racer Jacky Ickx? Not so much.

Ickx is a brand partner of Genesis who raced the Dakar rally more than a dozen times and won it once. And it’s going to take an emotional push like that to get us going on the GV60 Outdoors, GV70 Outdoors, and GV80 Desert edition.

Can Genesis elbow into the off-roading luxury space along with Range Rover, Lexus, and others? Here’s a full rundown on the latest off-roading concepts from Genesis plus one awesome on-road special called the GV80 Twilight.

We’ve seen the Gran Equator concept, a more refined take on the space led by the Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen. Well, now Genesis is getting wilder with the 1,100-hp Genesis X Skorpio concept you can read about here.

Watching (and hearing!) the eight-cylinder X Skorpio concept rip around in the sand dunes is predictably awesome, but when Genesis comes back down to Earth, you have the GV60 and GV70 Outdoors concepts.

See All 8 Photos8

GV60 Outdoors: Have I Seen You Before?

There are no production-spec versions yet, but the brand says the GV60 Outdoors is the most extreme version of Genesis’ outdoor vision. That makes sense considering the tracks to climb harsh terrain. This GV60 is essentially another version of the GV60 Mountain Intervention Vehicle, a snow-tracks-equipped concept designed for snowy conditions.

See All 8 Photos8

GV70 Outdoors: Would You Look at That

Where things get interesting and more production-spec is the Genesis GV70 Outdoors. Built with input from the off-road experts at Delta4x4, the GV70 looks the part. And that’s saying something considering the compact luxury SUV has always looked more boulevard- than trail-ready.

With BF Goodrich all-terrain tires, a lifted suspension, flared wheel arches, and extra LED lights, the GV70 Outdoors is the kind of SUV we’d love to test ourselves. As a former SUV of the Year winner, the GV70 inspires on the road, but as it’s too early to confirm any production plans, we’ll have to wait a bit to see if a version of this concept ever sees the light of a showroom near you.

See All 8 Photos8

GV80 Desert Edition

That leaves the Genesis GV80 Desert Edition, which follows a similar formula. This one was developed with Dubai-based W Motors and sports a dark blue finish with white accents, just like the helmet Jacky Ickx once wore.

Not just a show car, the GV80 Desert Edition recently tracked the entire 6,000-kilometer Dakar 2025 route with Ickx visiting at checkpoints.

See All 8 Photos8

GV80 Twilight Shows Real Potential

Our favorite Genesis at a recent debut event—besides the just-for-fun X Skorpio concept car—wasn't part of the main show at all. The GV80 Twilight is the only non-concept-car of this group and is limited to just 20 cars in the Middle East.

Put another way, this particular Genesis special edition is rarer than some Ferraris.

What you see: The GV80’s already attractive sheetmetal beautifully finished in a gold and black exterior (a blue and black version is also available). In person, it looks fantastic.

What you don’t see: The brushed pattern on the gold part of the paint job is exquisite. It’s said “to convey the undulating and sandy texture that expresses the traces of wind on desert sand. And you know what? Having seen those patterns up close in the Middle East for ourselves, for once we can see the PR speak making sense without squinting too hard.

Inside, the entire interior is finished in a bright orange said to be inspired by the intense orange of a sunset. To us, the uninterrupted bright orange struck us as garish, an impression that stuck after just a few minutes driving one around an expansive luxury resort.

Still, this GV80 from Genesis’ One of One program in the Middle East again shows the brand’s serious ambition on many fronts. How much of this will impact customer impressions of the brand is yet to be determined.

Why Should I Care?

So far, Genesis has excelled with mainstream luxury, value, and especially in its G70 and GV70 models, sportiness. This is Genesis broadening its horizons, attempting to demonstrate it can be more.

These brand explorations especially cater to the Middle East, but a well-executed GV70 Outdoors could work in the U.S., too. Certainly “active lifestyle” isn’t the first phrase that comes to mind with the GV70 or GV80 compared to other luxury SUVs that have already explored that space, but this brand has impressed us before.

Minus the bright orange interior, the GV80 Twilight is our favorite of the Genesis models we saw in person for the way it highlights an already strong design in a new light.