the 2024 Genesis GV80 luxury SUV is due for a Midlife facelift in the next 12 months – which spy photos show will a sportier looking ‘coupe’ variant.

Images published on the South Korean social media site car spy show a heavily camouflaged GV80 with a more dramatically sloping rear roofline, similar to the BMW X6, Mercedes-Benz GLE coupe and other “coupé” versions of large luxury SUVs.

The camouflage on the rest of the vehicle – and visible changes to bumpers, lights and wheels that pierce – indicate that the new body style will arrive with the mid-life update for Genesis’ largest SUV yet.

Based on the timing of these photos, the facelifted GV80 may be unveiled before the end of this year – but it’s not expected to hit Australian showrooms until next year.

The slope of the roofline – and the prominent lip spoiler on the edge of the tailgate – of the spied prototype is very similar to the scale model featured in the 2021 video.

If its rivals – and the rear roofline angle – are any guide, the GV80 coupe may shed its third row of seats and become just a five-seater.

The coupe prototype previews some of the changes coming with the mid-life update of the wide GV80 range, including a new front grille design, upgraded Matrix LED headlights inspired by the overseas G90 sedan , optimized taillight graphics and what appears to be new alloy wheels.

The interior of the prototype was also photographed – but it is difficult to tell whether anything has changed, as the cabin is mostly covered with black fabric.

But the red seat belts and stitching, black leather seats and carbon-fiber-look trim on the door panels suggest the facelift could introduce a GV80 Sport variant, similar to the GV70, G70 and G80 models.

This model could also add rear-wheel steering – like the G80 sports sedan – and revised tuning for the car’s suspension and steering systems.

The current GV80 range is powered by a 224 kW/422 Nm 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine, a 204 kW/588 Nm 3.0-litre straight-six turbo diesel and a 279 kW/530 Nm 3, 5 liter twin turbo V6 petrol engine powered.

the 2024 Genesis GV80 facelift is expected to be unveiled towards the end of this year – which would correlate with arriving in Australian showrooms from next year. It remains to be seen if the coupe model will be offered in Australia.