The Genesis brand is ready to celebrate its 10th birthday. It wasn’t too long ago that the brand itself didn’t even exist with the Genesis name being part of the Hyundai model portfolio. However, the Korean brand saw the opportunity for Genesis to fly on its own and the brand took the ball and ran with it rapidly becoming a brand known for offering luxury at a deceptively high value. However, value and coddling occupants can only take a brand so far, and Genesis has its eyes on the high-performance vehicle market as the next chapter in its ongoing evolution.
High-performance models to create new sales avenue
At the moment, Genesis is far from a high-performance brand with the company recently confirming that it intends to build a Magma version of the GV60 EV which will be the first formal Magma model to follow the high-performance mantra in the U.S. ( a G80 version is exclusive to the Middle East.) Ash Corson Director of Genesis Product Planning is out to change that with new products that will help move the needle at Genesis with the exec revealing his goals in recent remarks to the press.
“My job I would say is operationally complex, but fundamentally simple. It’s to grow the portfolio,” said Corson, “Starting with obviously some of our great products like the GV70, which to me is kind of the sweet spot of the lineup. I’ve had two personally in the family and I can’t wait to get my hands on what I would call a very appealing upgrade,” he added.
He elaborated further stating “Introducing and upgrading our current product lineup is job one,” he said, but there’s also some exciting new product on the horizon. “Growing up with Matchbox Cars as a little kid, being a serious auto enthusiast, Magma for me is one of the reasons I’m here, to help elevate the performance aspect of the lineup. That’s something that me and my team are working quite hard on.”
Magma at the forefront
The aforementioned Magma sub-brand will be a key piece in Corson’s plans. While Genesis is still known for being a luxury brand first, Magma will take select models into a new realm where the priorities are reversed with Magma focusing on performance and some of the state-of-the-art technologies needed to make it all possible. Some of them will come from racing with Genesis also announcing plans to enter the IMSA series recently with these efforts being subtly intertwined with Magma, “I think racing helps and Magma helps,” said Corson. “Enthusiasts become advocates. That spreads awareness too.”
But Corson knows the brand needs to expand beyond the track and some of his other ambitions are also rooted elsewhere in the market. We’re not pulling back from EVs, but they’re not for everyone,” he acknowledged. “If you have a home garage, which the majority of our customers do, it’s an awesome experience. It’s terrific, but it isn’t for everyone. We started with sedans as a brand, we added SUVs, then we added BEVs. And so hybrids are something we are also announcing. The move to hybrids is a growing trend in the market as more automakers rapidly switch to these models in the short term to make up for sluggish EV demand.
It remains to be seen how these plans will gradually flesh out over the next few years but Genesis is still riding on a solid wave of momentum and the addition of Magma modes and hybrids will allow Corson to have the profits and time needed to put all of the pieces of his plan into action which is more important than ever as a new presidential administration in the U.S.
Carl Malek has been an automotive journalist for over 10 years. First starting out as a freelance photographer before making the transition to writing during college, his work has appeared on numerous automotive forums as well as websites such as Autoshopper.com.
Carl is also a big fan of British vehicles with the bulk of his devotion going to the Morgan Motor Company as well as offerings from Lotus, MG, and Caterham. When he is not writing about automobiles, Carl enjoys spending time with his family and friends in the Metro Detroit area, as well as spending time with his adorable pets.