Nice things we can't have: Genesis G70 Shooting Brake

Friday, 14 May 2021

Ever since Hyundai spun Genesis off as a separate luxury brand back in 2015, Hyundai New Zealand has been ‘evaluating’ the idea of bringing it here.

The original Hyundai Genesis that was available here wasn’t exactly a roaring success, but sold in decent numbers for a large luxury car that cost in excess of $100k, and the smaller Genesis G70 (built on the same underpinnings as the Kia Stinger) did feature briefly on Hyundai NZ’s website as “coming soon” (and a few made their way here), but officially the company is still “in the process of evaluation the introduction of Genesis into New Zealand”.

Why do we bring this up? Because Genesis has just revealed what we think is its sexiest car ever – the G70 Shooting Brake, which is a car it says is designed with European customers in mind, but the worst part is that our friends across the Tasman will be getting it…

The new G70 Shooting Brake is, as you will have noticed, a wagon version of the extensively-facelifted G70 sedan that was revealed last year, and is the same size, measuring in at 4,685mm long, 1,850mm wide and 1,400mm tall, with a 2,835mm wheelbase. Meanwhile, the luggage space is 40 per cent larger than the sedan.

**READ MORE:

* Genesis GV80 SUV bound for Australia, but what about NZ?

* Genesis retains manual transmission for 2021 G70

* Five cars we want from the New York motor show

* Hyundai's luxury brand is born with Genesis G90

**

Engines and transmissions have yet to be revealed, but the sedan is powered by a choice of either a 185kW 2.0-litre turbo petrol four-cylinder, a 272kW 3.0-litre turbo petrol V6 (both of which we are familiar with from the Kia Stinger) or a 149kW 2.0-litre turbo diesel four, in either rear or all-wheel drive forms.

Inheriting its design from the new G70 sedan, the G70 Shooting Brake will be the fifth Genesis model to land in Australia when it launches there in the third quarter of this year, lining up alongside the G70 and larger G80 sedans, as well as the GV70 and GV80 SUVs in the Australian range.

Meanwhile, Hyundai New Zealand, which is placing far more emphasis on its eco-friendly and electric models, is still playing its cards close to its chest when it comes to full-blown luxury models, with a spokesperson repeating the oft-quoted “we are still in the process of evaluating the introduction of Genesis in New Zealand” line when we contacted them about the possibility of seeing the ridiculously sexy G70 Shooting Brake here.

Even begging them didn’t help…