Genesis GV90 Flagship SUV Will Have Optional Suicide Doors

Yahoo

24-02-2025

Genesis showed off the Neolun concept last year, a very large and very luxurious SUV aimed at the top of the market. When you're competing with cars like the Bentley Bentayga, Mercedes-Maybach GLS and Rolls-Royce Cullinan your SUV really needs to stand out, so the Neolun had features like swiveling seats, heated floors and rear-hinged suicide doors (more boringly known as coach doors) that open to show off the concept car's B-pillarless interior. While a lot of the Neolun's design seemed like typical concept car frippery, it turns out the doors were more real than you may have expected.
Genesis has begun real-world camouflaged prototype testing of the production version of the Neolun, which will be called GV90, and recent spy shots show that it will come in two different versions: a standard model with normal front-hinged rear doors, and a long-wheelbase model that will have suicide rear doors — and maybe no B-pillar, just like the concept. This will make the GV90 one of an extremely select few that will offer both normal doors and coach doors from the factory, the only other car in recent memory to do so being the Lincoln Continental.
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The camouflaged prototype in question was spotted by Shorts Car, who saw it on the back of a transport truck in South Korea. At first glance it doesn't look too different from other GV90s that have been spied, but it's clear the doors are unique. We can see coverings for door handles at the front of the door, and the glass quarter window and C-pillar area are different from the normal GV90. The camo also seems to leave room for the hinge mechanism, or at least leave room for the door to actually open without being impeded by the coverings.
I'm really stoked about this, because how could I not be stoked about a luxury SUV with suicide doors, but what has me even more excited is the prospect of Genesis being able to offer the GV90 sans B-pillar. Even Rolls-Royces have B-pillars, as it's very tough to engineer a modern car without one that will still meet all safety regulations. Those tides are changing, though. The Zeekr Mix minivan in China has front and rear sliding doors with no B-pillar, using high-strength steel pillars embedded within each door. Back in 2023, CarBuzz spotted a patent filing by Genesis that uses rails, retaining grooves and rotatable claw levers to make automatically opening front doors and rear suicide doors with no B-pillar necessary.
The GV90 will be the brand's second standalone electric-only model after the GV60, and it'll be the first Hyundai Motor Group product to ride on its new eM platform. It'll have an 800-volt architecture, a range of close to 500 miles on the Korean cycle (probably around 400 miles in the U.S.) and more than 600 horsepower. Spy shots reveal the GV90 will also have air suspension and rear-wheel steering, both necessities for a car of this size and class in my view.
In terms of exterior design beyond just the doors, it'll look very close to the concept, too. From the spy shots we can see an identical light signature consisting of two parallel light bars that form a triangular "grille" in the nose, similar parallel lights on the front fenders, wraparound parallel taillights, dish-like 22-inch wheels and a thick chrome frame around the side windows. It has an overall boxy shape but with soft edges and a nicely raked rear window, and it'll be about as long as competitors like the GLS and BMW X7. Interior spy shots of GV90s without the suicide doors show a four-seat setup with individual reclining captain's chairs for the second row, a large fixed center console, wraparound ambient lighting and a large infotainment screen.
Previous reports have said the GV90 will enter production in December 2025, which means it should be unveiled at some point this year and go on sale in the U.S. in the first half of 2026.
Read the original article on Jalopnik.