- The new Magma high-performance line from Genesis plans an overpowered version of every car the company builds
- To prove its intentions, it has released teaser photos of an ultra-luxury high-performance wagon based on the G90 full-size sedan
Genesis North American Director of Product Planning Ash Corson: “We plan a Magma version of every vehicle.”
Kelley Blue Book: “Every vehicle in the lineup?”
Corson: “Yes.”
KBB: “It’s easy to imagine a G70 Magma. But a G90 Magma seems like a much more ambitious project.”
Corson: “It’s created some exciting possibilities. We may have news on that very soon.”
When Kelley Blue Book interviewed Genesis product chief Ash Corson at last week’s Los Angeles Auto Show, he dropped that tantalizing hint that something unique was coming. Later that day, Genesis made good on his words.
Magma, in case you haven’t encountered the name, is a planned high-performance division of Hyundai’s luxury marque. Genesis used the LA show as an opportunity to showcase its first official product, the GV60 Magma. A wide-body edition of the GV60 electric SUV, it accelerates from zero to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds and promises extraordinary grip thanks to all-wheel drive (AWD) and Pirelli performance tires.
But Corson’s offhand comment may be the bigger news. Even BMW’s legendary M high-performance division doesn’t inject its supersoldier serum into every model Munich builds.
But Genesis plans a Magma for every car — even that flagship full-size near limousine, the G90.
The G90 Wingback – Just a Concept, for Now
- The company kept details of the Wingback quiet, but the photos tell enough of the story to get us excited
Genesis officially says the G90 Wingback is just a concept – a design exercise that might or might not result in a car for sale someday.
It’s listed as “part of the Magma umbrella” in a press release on the sub-brand.
Photos show the lovechild of a G90 sedan and the beautiful but short-lived Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo.
As the name hints, a prominent roofline wing sits above a ducktail spoiler that emerges organically from the bodyline that creates the G90’s angular rear lights. Front fender vents taller than the tires they cool give it a shark-like look. If it weren’t for the signature Genesis two-line lighting theme, you might assume it was European.
It looks for all the world like the sort of thing an automaker shows the press but never builds.
Automotive journalists (ahem, hi) tend to fall in love with high-performance wagons. Shoppers less so.
But there are reasons to believe it could be a real project.
For one thing, gorgeous high-speed luxury wagons are in the midst of a minor revival in the U.S. BMW brought its M5 Touring longroof to the U.S. last year after decades of keeping it Euro-only. Mercedes countered with its AMG E53 Wagon. When they arrived, the Audi RS 6 Avant said, “Where have you been? I’ve been here the whole time.”
For another, Magma could use a low-volume project to help it sort out its approach to gas-powered cars. The GV60 Magma is, after all, an electric vehicle (EV). Thanks to the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, the company already has experience building high-powered versions of those.
High-powered EVs are, in many ways, easier. Their immense batteries keep the car’s weight centered and low. Making one handle like a race car isn’t terribly hard.
Tuning a high-powered gas car presents a different challenge, involving a heavy engine at one end that tries to throw off the balance with every turn.
Genesis might well prefer to start mastering that skill with a very low-volume car before challenging the M3, where the real sales numbers are.
