Genesis announces high-performance ‘Magma’ GV60 and G80

NEW YORK – Genesis continues the New York reveals with the announcement of a planned line of performance vehicles. They’ll all be referred to as “Magma” cars, taking inspriation from the vivid orange color that appeared on the GV80 Coupe Concept from last year’s New York Auto Show. The color also appears on the X Gran Berlinetta concept, which is playable in Gran Turismo. But the first production Magma cars will be the all-electric GV60 and the midsize G80 sedan.

The GV60 is the real spearhead of the program, and will be the first of the Magma cars to launch globally, and not as a limited-run vehicle. Besides the vivid orange paint (which at least in this concept-guise, continues to the painted seat backs and double-diamond contrast stitching), it features wider fender flares, larger grilles and vents for battery and powertrain cooling, and canards, fins and a rear wing for improved downforce and stability. Even the wheels have claimed aerodynamic benefit, with the covers diverting air to cool the brakes. Unfortunately, no actual performance details have been given. But based on the Kia EV6 GT and Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, it seems that it will have dual motors with at least the 576 horsepower of the Kia, if not the Ioniq 5 N’s peak 641. And naturally, it will probably have sport-tuned adaptive suspension.

But the GV60 isn’t the only Magma car on the way. There’s also the mean looking G80. It gets a similar treatment with a wide body kit, larger grilles and even some extra hood vents. The whole car is lowered with very tight wheel arch gaps, and it has the same brightly painted seats. Again, no performance specs were given. Worse, it’s an extremely limited-run vehicle. Genesis didn’t say how many it would produce, but they’ll only be available to Middle Eastern markets.

The line of Magma offerings will likely expand beyond the GV60 and G80. The GV80 would seem like a natural extension, since the concept for its fastback variant pretty much inspired these other vehicles. And GV70 and G70 would seem reasonable additions later. We’ll be watching closely for the details of the GV60 and G80 in the future.