We don’t know all the details but Hyundai’s announcement last week that it will go endurance sports car racing is a big deal for the South Korean company. More importantly, the fact that it will go racing with its still-growing Genesis luxury brand says a lot about the Hyundai Motor Company’s plans for its racing future.
For months there have been rumours that Hyundai would join Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, Cadillac and the rest racing in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) (and potentially the American IMSA) series, at the expense of its World Rally Championship program. So the decision to go sports car racing was expected, but to do so with Genesis was unexpected but ultimately makes a lot of sense.
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Genesis is still a growing brand, it’s a relative minnow in the Australian market, selling just 951 cars in the first eight months of 2024, compared to 17,304 for BMW and 4455 for Porsche – two of its new racing rivals (although it does out-sell Ferrari, Lamborghini and Alpine).
Up until now Genesis has been a brand without a global identity, far from its well-established rivals that include BMW as well as Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Lexus and more. Dare I say, some of you probably hadn’t even heard of Genesis before last week’s announcement (which is a shame because I’ve written several great reviews of their cars).
Win or lose, Genesis is guaranteed a major brand boost around the world by hitting the track for the first time in its existence. And by sending Genesis into the fray in the world championship it will help grow the brand and image of Genesis. Especially when you look at who it will line-up against, some of the biggest luxury names in the world – Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche. Even if Genesis loses it wins, simply by being in the same field as those premium brands. It will help transform the image of the brand, not only putting into people’s minds for the first time, but doing so at a high level and against very established competition. Genesis the car company has aspirations of luring buyers away from the likes of BMW and Porsche, so beating them on the racetrack will only help that.
The deal comes just months after Genesis revealed plans for a new range of performance cars, set to launch under the Magma banner. Introduced by Le Mans legen Jacky Ickx, who is a brand ambassador, clearly fast cars are an growing priority for the luxury brand.
It’s also, at least in the short-term, a win for motorsport fans, as using the Genesis brand for WEC won’t necessarily mean Hyundai has to drop its increasingly successful WRC program. There are certainly no guarantees that Hyundai will stay in rallying’s top level beyond 2025, but this does leave the door open ajar. After all, Toyota manages to compete in both the WEC and WRC, so there’s no reason why Hyundai/Genesis couldn’t do the same.
More than that, the addition of Genesis to the racing world is a big win for the sport as a whole. The more brands that compete the healthier the sport becomes. F1 will soon add Ford to its ranks, but (as I’ve written before) the combined Hypercar/LMDh rules have been a magnet for car makers to get on track.
Hyundai has always harboured big aspirations for Genesis, seeing it as South Korea’s global luxury export brand, and this is a clear sign it wants to push that agenda in the near-future. As the old saying goes, racing improves the breed, so hopefully success on the racetrack will lead to a future of exciting new luxury cars from the brand – and more competition in the showrooms.
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