Euisun Chung's 11-year vision bears fruit with GV90 world premiere

"Hyundai Motor now seeks to make yet another new beginning. Genesis will be reborn as a standalone brand, and this new brand will produce eco-friendly vehicles that stay one step ahead of the competition."

That vision, laid out by Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Euisun Chung at the launch of the Genesis brand on Nov. 4, 2015, culminated a decade later in the birth of Korea's first luxury flagship electric SUV.

The GV90 distills more than 10 years of challenge and innovation accumulated in the global luxury car market, bringing together differentiated technology and capability to deliver the brand's seventh new lineup entry — a flagship electrification SUV.

Speaking at the GV90 world premiere, Chung said the model "embodies the philosophy of offering customers greater freedom through innovation across technology, design and the overall customer experience — showing the direction Genesis envisions for the future of luxury." He added that the brand would "continue to provide customers with differentiated value and a refined experience, grounded in the belief that true luxury begins with setting people free, and that beauty completes that freedom."

While traditional luxury brands have continued building on internal-combustion legacies and moved cautiously toward electrification, Genesis has chosen innovation over stability in pursuit of a new definition of luxury.

Since the brand's launch on Nov. 4, 2015, Genesis released the flagship full-size sedan EQ900 in South Korea in December of that year — later renamed the G90 domestically in 2018 — and exported it overseas under the G90 name the following year.

In August 2016, Genesis gave the second-generation model, previously sold as the "Hyundai Genesis," the G80 designation. After the compact sports sedan G70 debuted in September 2017, the brand unveiled the luxury flagship SUV GV80 in January 2020, extending its reach from sedans into the SUV segment.

Then in December 2020, Genesis revealed the GV70 — its second SUV and a midsize entry — and in September 2021 launched the GV60, its first dedicated electric vehicle and a compact SUV.

In the years since, Genesis expanded its lineup through electrified derivatives such as the G80 electric and GV70 electric, and continued to unveil concept cars. Still, the GV90 marks the brand's first all-new model in an entirely new segment since the GV60 launched five years ago.

Chung has repeatedly emphasized his ambition to build a higher-tier luxury eco-friendly vehicle, and Genesis's choice of San Francisco as the GV90's debut stage reflects that brand direction.

San Francisco — known for its steep hills, fog-draped scenery and sweeping waterfront views, and recognized as a city of innovation with a rich history and culture situated near Silicon Valley — provided a fitting backdrop. The Palace of Fine Arts, where the launch event was held, is one of the city's most iconic landmarks, originally built for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition.

San Francisco is also one of the fastest-moving markets for electric vehicles in the United States, with roughly one in three new cars sold there being an EV — a key reason Genesis selected it as the debut stage for the brand's first flagship electric SUV.

The GV90's world-first technologies further signal the direction Genesis intends to pursue: an independently opening hidden B-pillar coach door, a roof airbag, a rotating gear selector and a power tailgate curtain.

During development, the Genesis engineering team worked to achieve the quietness, ride quality and driving refinement expected of a flagship electric SUV while securing the structural rigidity demanded by the vehicle's large body and new design.

The independently opening hidden B-pillar coach door proved particularly challenging, as the novel structural elements made it difficult to ensure sufficient rigidity. Engineers conducted comprehensive validation — covering the stiffness of the base body structure, real-world durability and the operational durability of the moving system — to bring the technology to production.

The design, inspired by the Korean moon jar, underscores the model's premium, future-oriented character through restrained elegance. The company says the GV90 quietly embodies the brand's accumulated advanced technology through the proportions, curved harmony, use of negative space and artisanal spirit drawn from the white porcelain moon jars of the Joseon Dynasty — vessels whose beauty endures across time.

"We will continue to keep the promise we made when we announced the brand's independence in 2015 — to open a new half-century," a Genesis official said. "Through the GV90, forged from challenge and innovation, we plan to keep expanding Genesis's own new luxury horizon."