Photo: Geneise
As the official opening of the 2019 New York International Auto Show approaches, we already have a pretty good idea of what will be on display at the Javits Center. Yet from time to time and out of the blue, an exciting revelation manages to surprise us.
The Genesis Mint, a creation of South Korean manufacturer Hyundai’s luxury arm, is such an example. Presented on Wednesday at Hudson Yards, the Mint is a two-door, two-passenger city car meant as an… accessory.
The concept has been designed over the past few months at Genesis’ centers in Germany, the U.S., and South Korea, and one might have thought this global effort might result in a fragmented concept that doesn’t know where one idea ends and another begins.
Yet the Mint is one of the most coherent concepts we’ve seen in a while, with everything fitting together as if this was a one-designer project.
Visually, the small car looks at times even more potent than the bigger SUV of our time, with muscular shoulders embracing the wheels in G-Matrix pattern.
Mint has been designed as an electric concept with a battery capable of giving it a range of 200 or so miles. With that in mind, and taking into account it is meant for in-city use, the designers opted to give it no trunk whatsoever.
Instead, behind the two seats and accessible via scissor-style side doors lies a shelf that can be used occasionally.
The minimalist design of the interior called for the fitting of a bench for the driver and passenger and a steering wheel. That's it: no center console to separate the two people inside, a dashboard that looks like a shelf made of leather, with no buttons, nobs and protrusions. Not even an infotainment screen.
The screen that makes today’s cars seem alive and connected has been moved in the center of the steering wheel. To either side of the steering wheel, six additional and individual round screens act as instrument cluster as relay information about critical vehicle functions.
The Genesis Mint is just a concept, one of the few such creations we regret will not actually make it into production.
The concept has been designed over the past few months at Genesis’ centers in Germany, the U.S., and South Korea, and one might have thought this global effort might result in a fragmented concept that doesn’t know where one idea ends and another begins.
Yet the Mint is one of the most coherent concepts we’ve seen in a while, with everything fitting together as if this was a one-designer project.
Visually, the small car looks at times even more potent than the bigger SUV of our time, with muscular shoulders embracing the wheels in G-Matrix pattern.
Mint has been designed as an electric concept with a battery capable of giving it a range of 200 or so miles. With that in mind, and taking into account it is meant for in-city use, the designers opted to give it no trunk whatsoever.
Instead, behind the two seats and accessible via scissor-style side doors lies a shelf that can be used occasionally.
The minimalist design of the interior called for the fitting of a bench for the driver and passenger and a steering wheel. That's it: no center console to separate the two people inside, a dashboard that looks like a shelf made of leather, with no buttons, nobs and protrusions. Not even an infotainment screen.
The screen that makes today’s cars seem alive and connected has been moved in the center of the steering wheel. To either side of the steering wheel, six additional and individual round screens act as instrument cluster as relay information about critical vehicle functions.
The Genesis Mint is just a concept, one of the few such creations we regret will not actually make it into production.
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