Genesis X Speedium Coupe Is The New Bentley Continental

Big, sporty coupes are luxury plays. They’re less practical than SUVs or sedans, more form than function— heck, they even take up more real estate to park by virtue of their longer doors. Since its launch as a 2003 model, the undisputed king of the personal luxo-coupe has been the Bentley Continental. There’s a new challenger coming, though, and it’s coming from Korea.

Meet the all-electric Genesis X Speedium Coupe Concept. The car made its debut at Genesis House New York, a cultural space in Manhattan’s Meat-packing District, and incorporates a whole lot of visual DNA from the electric Genesis G80 sedan (that’s a good thing), while “looking ahead” to the next wave of Genesis’ luxury EV brand. So much so, in fact, Hyundai says it’s a mistake to think of the X Speedium Coupe as a “conventional” concept car.

“This car is an open-door moment in Genesis’ journey towards our future EV design,” said Luc Donckerwolke, Genesis CEO and former design director at Bentley and Lamborghini. “This isn’t a show car — it’s a look into our design processes as we explore ideas for the next wave of EVs, one that incorporates Genesis DNA.”

Let’s look at that DNA. Up front, the X Speedium coupe features the same “Two Lines” headlight look of the G80, but they’ve evolved into a full-width styling element that the company says encompasses the shape of the brand’s “crest” grille. The look carries that “wing face” well.

Genesis X Speedium Coupe

Image courtesy Genesis.

The rest of the car carries those same visual cues. The look is very Bentley, but evolved to the 2020s, whereas the Continental still feels very much like a car designed in the early ‘aughts. Maybe the best car designed in the early ‘aughts, but the rest of the world is moving on. For his part, Donckerwolke is looking for something new. Something a bit more balanced. “We are giving each design element space to breathe,” he says. “It’s not about making the design elements compete with each other, but about orchestrating the elements so that they complement and respect one another.”

That’s all well and good. And, besides, no one but me and Steve Hanley will probably ever notice the influence of the Jensen Interceptor in the X Speedium coupe’s roofline and window treatment,right? I probably won’t even mention it, then.

You can check out a few more pictures of the X Speedium coupe (named after a Korean racetrack in the city of Inje, and, “the passion for motorsport it inspired in Genesis designers,” obviously), then let us know what you think of the big electric coupe fromKoreaAlabama in the comments section at the bottom of the page.