Performance car from Hyundai’s Genesis brand has run in NZ. But will it sell here?

SOUTH Island mountain roads - and a world-famous winter testing ground near Queenstown - were used in final testing of the first mass-produced model from a performance brand spun from Hyundai’s premium marque.

But will that Kiwi flavouring help the car come here?

Magma is a high-performance sub-brand of Genesis, which in turn is the prestige bench of Hyundai.

The name might ring a bell. Genesis kind of came and went from New Zealand a decade ago, with a poorly received high-end sedan that was badged Hyundai Genesis.

Genesis was expected to relaunch here two years ago as an electric choice.

Evaluation cars were spotted, including a GV60, the coupe-styled sports utility that has been in production since 2022 and is effectively a high-end rendition of the Ioniq 5 (and Kia EV6), all on the same E-GMP 800 volt platform.

Whether Magma will entice Genesis into our market is far from clear; the electric vehicle sector is a hard terrain for any brand at the moment. And conceivably Hyundai NZ has the performance base covered with the extreme Ioniq 5 N.

However, the performance marque is expected to raise Genesis’ status - there’s high anticipation for it’s first product, a version of the GV60The Magma version of the five-seater is set to officially debut in South Korea very soon, and in lead up to that Genesis in Australia - yes, it’s there and doing okay - has just shared information about the work that went into its development.

The car’s development was conducted in many of the usual extreme weather testing grounds used by car makers.

The final sign-off regime started this year in Arjeplog, Sweden, then took it to the searing heat of California, then to “the high-altitude mountain ranges of New Zealand” and subsequently onto diverse roadways of Spain.

Hyundai’s big proving ground in the Mojave Desert is a 1800 hectare facility that features various test tracks, including a high-speed oval and a vehicle dynamics area, along with off-road loops and surfaces designed to replicate diverse North American road conditions. Genesis says the GV60 Magma was “pushed through extreme heat to validate power output, cooling efficiency, and thermal protection.”

In contrast, at the Southern Hemisphere Proving Ground in New Zealand, the vehicle faced sub-zero conditions at 1500 metres above sea level, where engineers examined chassis precision, traction stability, braking robustness, and agile cornering on icy, wind-swept terrain.

“These evaluations ensured the GV60 Magma delivers unwavering stability at high speeds and uncompromised ride comfort in any condition.”

In September, Genesis engineers conducted the final stages of real-world assessments in Korea, driving from Namyang, it’s research and development centre, to the city of Chuncheon, to complete intensive laps at the Inje Speedium Circuit.

Genesis says these tests “validated the GV60 Magma’s ability to balance powerful acceleration and handling precision with the refined comfort expected of a Genesis model.

The GV60 is designed to challenge the Mercedes-Benz EQA and Volvo C40.

The Magma will site above three existing variants - single motor, rear-drive Premium and dual motor Sport and Sport Plus - each offering different levels of equipment, different amounts of power and very different driving experiences. All started with the same 77.4kWh battery pack; it’s not clear if the Magma goes to a larger type.