You’ve Been Tango'd! Genesis has launched its first performance car

If you are going to reinvent yourself, you might as well do it in lurid orange on the start line of a French race circuit. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the future of Genesis.

It kicks off with this – the Genesis GV60 Magma (yes, say mahg-ma in your best Austin Powers ‘Dr Evil’ voice). It’s the first production car from Genesis’s new performance wing and the opening chapter in what the brand rather grandly calls its next decade of “Luxury High Performance”.

Genesis has been quietly seeding the Magma idea for a while. We have already seen a GV80 Coupe Concept in bright orange, G80 Magma specials, a wild X Gran Berlinetta show car and various prototypes running at places like the Nordschleife. This GV60 is simply the first time the engineers have been allowed to put a number plate on their ambition and sell it. And now we've got proper details for the very first time.

Underneath, it is still the same compact electric crossover that shares its bones with the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6, but like the N and GT versions of those cars, the Magma has been given a whole load of sporty upgrades to push the brand in a new direction. Even if it wasn’t painted bright orange, the new stance would be the giveaway. 

The Magma sits 20mm lower, on a wider track, with swollen arches stuffed with 21in forged wheels and 275-section tyres. The standard GV60 is already a tidy bit of design from the styling board of legendary Luc Donckerwolke – he of Lamborghini Murciélago, Bentley Flying Spur and the man who helped take Hyundai from a visual joke to Korean cars being something to be reckoned with.

As you can see, the front bumper has grown deeper scoops and a little three-hole signature that doubles as extra cooling, while the side skirts and rear bumper are shaped to funnel air where the engineers want it rather than where the stylists think it looks pretty.

Out back there is a notable rear wing and working diffuser that generate downforce. Genesis is keen to stress that the aero has been signed off in a wind tunnel, not in a marketing meeting. Well, it does have a WEC programme to call on.

Performance numbers are not shy. Especially for this body style. The Magma uses dual motors, so is all-wheel drive, with a wild 609bhp and 545lb ft out of the box and up to 650bhp when you press the Boost button. Top speed is a claimed 164mph and 0-62mph takes 3.4 seconds if you engage Launch Control, grit your teeth and hold on tight.

Inside, the vibe is less track-day cosplay, more discreet members’ club. That’s what Genesis says is luxury performance. There are deep front seats with quilted suede-like trim, orange belts and stitching to match the paint, and some dark, low-glare finishes in place of the piano black that every other premium car seems contractually obliged to use. You still get the twin screens, the funky rotating crystal gear selector and all the usual Genesis tech, but there is a sense that someone has gone through the cabin and gently dialled everything towards “driver who is concentrating on not crashing”.

While dialling up performance and crazy numbers is easy in this EV age, the company line is that Magma is about confidence and control rather than intimidation – performance that feels useable and not as aggressive or snatchy as the 5 N, apparently. Well, if you do shunt one, it won’t be hard to find in the local scenery.

But the chassis engineers have gone to town to try and not make that happen: geometry and handling manners that can cope, rather than simply cranking up the torque and hoping the traction control can keep up. The suspension gets revised roll centres, retuned dampers with special end-of-travel hardware and bushings that are stiffer where they need to be and softer where they can be. The brakes are swapped out for seriously big discs, and body rigidity is quietly beefed up. All of it, Genesis says, is tuned to hold the line at speed without turning the car into a pogo stick on normal roads.

The tyres are bespoke Pirellis, developed specifically for this car, which is the sort of thing you normally only hear from hypercar makers. There has also been a lot of work to make sure all that extra rubber and hardware does not ruin the refinement. Remember, this still has to behave like a posh Genesis in town, and be fast on the race track.

Because it is 2025 and this is a fast EV, there is of course a special mode. Hit the Magma button and the digital dash morphs into a three-dial layout with motor and battery temperatures, G-meter, lap timer and other nerd sweets, while the head-up display foregrounds speed and critical information. There are Magma-specific drive modes too – Sprint for maximum attack, GT for high-speed cruising and an individual My Mode that lets you tune the e-LSD, ESC, steering, suspension and power distribution like a mildly obsessive race engineer.

Then there is the obligatory Drift Mode, which shifts the balance towards the rear axle and loosens off the electronics, and Hyundai’s rebranded Virtual Gear Shift. Yes, like the Ioniq 5 N and 6 N this is an EV with pretend gears. The idea is to give you the rhythm and timing of an old-school performance car and trick your brain, so the Magma mimics the sensation of a high-revving engine running through fixed ratios, complete with synthesised powertrain sound and a rev limiter. Having tried the 5 N and 6 N extensively, it’s a really cool party trick.

So far, so hot crossover. But the loud orange car is only half the story.

Genesis is very aware that everyone already has a performance sub-brand. BMW has M, Mercedes has AMG, Audi has RS, Hyundai itself has N. The world is not tragically short of badges for making cars go faster. So rather than pitch Magma as yet another “our Nürburgring time is better than your Nürburgring time” operation, the Koreans are trying to frame it as something broader.

Internally, they talk about Magma as the brand’s “superhero alter ego”, which will have some reaching their fingers to the backs of their throats. The existing design mantra is “Athletic Elegance”; Magma adds “Luxury High Performance” on top. And a new badge so you know this is the go-faster brand. But there is proper motorsport activity too. And the other half of the plan wears slick tyres and a big rear wing.

Alongside the road car programme, Genesis is launching Genesis Magma Racing – an endurance racing outfit that will run an LMDh prototype in the World Endurance Championship from 2026. The logic is familiar. Endurance racing is brutal on cars and provides useful data for performance projects. And Genesis has shown some punchy, fast concepts.