Genesis shows X Speedium cabin at Pebble Beach

GENESIS has revealed the interior of its X Speedium Grand Tourer concept to the public for the first time at this week’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

The South Korean luxury car maker says the concept model’s cabin – which was some five years in the making – showcases the exceptional design of its Athletic Elegance signature in “an even more progressive way”.

Genesis says the interior of the X Speedium Coupe leverages a classic Korean design principal known as “the beauty of white space”. Inspired by Korean architecture, this closely aligns with the ideology of reductive design, and is expressed through minimalist styling which is punctuated with strong design elements.

The cabin features an asymmetrical, driver-focused layout in which the curved OLED instrument panel and floating-style centre console wrap around the driver cockpit. Genesis says the effect is further accentuated by the interior’s contrasting colour palette, which “clearly distinguishes the driver’s area from the passenger space”.

Further, Genesis is exploring what it calls the “future of audio experiences” through a new sound architecture which blends “technology and art while highlighting the brand’s attention to detail”. The sound experience, engineered in collaboration with Guk-il Yu, features “strategically placed speakers to fill the interior with rich sound.”

The upholstery of the X Speedium Coupe combines vegetable-tanned leather and an innovative new breathable grain leather Genesis says requires less water and lower chemical levels to produce. The threads used to stitch the leather together are made from repurposed plastic, the upholstery sewn in a quilted pattern to “give the impression of a classic sports car”.

Meanwhile, the steering wheel features leather cut-offs that were salvaged from repurposed car seat materials and woven together while the cargo area features ‘X’ shaped straps on top of the loading space, a detail Genesis says is inspired by its unique G-Matrix Pattern derived from the 2019 Genesis Mint Concept.

“The X Speedium Coupe was conceived as an internal design exercise that we later decided to reveal publicly,” explained Genesis chief creative officer, Luc Donckerwolke.

“It was nothing more than a hard model built on our Athletic Elegance design identity (but) given the positive reception it received at the (original launch) event, we chose to complete the concept and present it to discerning attendees at the Pebble Beach Concours.

“The interior captures the Genesis brand’s ‘Beauty of White Space’ design ethos, which suits various luxury lifestyles and adds to the appeal of the dynamic GT.”

Mr Donckerwolke says the model incorporates Genesis’ “athletic elegance” in an even more progressive way and encapsulates the belief that the “emotional value of driving” will remain strong in the era of electrification.

The new EV face will come to symbolise the brand’s transformation towards becoming an all-electric brand with a six-model line-up by the end of the decade.