Genesis acknowledges Porsche, BMW, Audi targets for Magma buyers

Magma, Genesis' fledgling performance division, certainly isn't lacking in ambition. At the launch of the GV60 Magma, executives had no hesitation naming the brands they see as their rivals.

There was no ambiguity about the response from Justin Douglass, Head of Genesis in Australia.

“I have no doubt that there's going to be comparisons made against BMW. I think Porsche is going to be in the consideration set, and I think Audi RS is in there,” he said.

“[GV60 Magma] sits in this real exclusive part of the market that, again, if you're looking at an EV competitor, you're probably going to be looking at something like Taycan, which is quite positioned very differently as well.

“So I think one of the biggest benefits is the price position for this car, with obviously the performance output.”

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Despite sharing the same racetrack-compatible warranty as its Hyundai Ioniq 5 N cousin, the GV60 Magma appears to have a slightly different brief.

Genesis spokesperson Bill Thomas recounted a story that helped cement the sub-brand’s positioning. 

“In the very, very first marketing materials we saw for Magma, there was a diagram toward the end of the document, and it had a map of the Nordschleife, the Nürburgring, and there were two colours on the map,” he explained.

“One was light blue for [Hyundai] N, and one was orange for Magma. And they, the marketing guys had coloured in the twisty bits in N, and then the more sweeping, flowing corners in the straights was Magma, was the orange colour on it.

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I really like that. Immediately looking at what the car's about… as soon as you go to the first mode in Magma, there's GT. I think that says a lot as well,” he said.

So, in short, a high-end GT focused proposition.

With Genesis Magma Racing 001 prototype seeing the chequered flag at its very first Le Mans this year, and scheduled for an IMSA debut in 2027, Genesis is clearly serious about building Magama’s brand visibility.

The stunning Magma GT Concept, designed under the auspices of ex-Lamborghini stylist Luc Donckerwolke also turned heads at Le Mans, alongside its GT3 race car twin.

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Although confirmed to use a V8, the car displayed at Le Mans also featured a cabin finished to a much higher standard than is typical for a show car.

Donckerwolke has been on record saying that the Le Mans example represents a "base car", with future variants potentially including even higher-performance versions, track-focused derivatives and even a roadster.

When asked what the next milestone for this low-slung coupe was, the answer from Product Development Manager, Tim Rodgers, was intriguing.

“It's hard to explain without incriminating myself, I'll say. But with all the concepts that we develop, we do study the market and the market opportunity for any given thing. So, there's a lot of theoretical cars that we study day in, day out,” he said.

“And so, once the business case makes sense... But it's not a full stop. No, absolutely not. And I mean, I think the fact that we're continually coming out with revisions of the concept kind of show our hand a little bit about what we're thinking.”