How Genesis Aims to Use Racing to Bring Attention to Its Fledgling Magma Performance BrandCar and DriverCaleb MillerTue, September 8, 2026 at 1:56 PM UTCAdd us on GoogleGenesis' Racing Success Builds Brand AwarenessCaleb Miller - Car and DriverRacing is a costly endeavor. There's a classic saying that if you want to make $1 million in racing, start with $2 million. That figure could now easily be $10 million or more, as more technologically complex cars have seen costs skyrocket. Still, many automakers see value in racing, and particularly in the World Endurance Championship. The top Hypercar class alone hosts an array of automotive juggernauts, from Ferrari to BMW to Cadillac and Toyota.This year saw the arrival of a scrappy newcomer from a country with little experience on the world motorsports stage. After announcing plans for a team in late 2024, Korean luxury brand Genesis rocked up to its first race in the world's premier endurance racing championship in April. Soon after that, the team notched its first points finish, before managing to complete the grueling 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time in June. We joined Genesis Magma Racing this past weekend at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, for the Lone Star Le Mans, only the team's fifth-ever race, to get a better understanding of what Genesis hopes to achieve by taking to the track.Caleb Miller - Car and DriverThe timeline from announcing Genesis Magma Racing to the team's first race was impressively rapid, just 499 days, but it isn't just the race team that is a fresh face. The Genesis brand itself is still relatively young, splitting off as a full brand under parent company Hyundai in 2015 and only entering the U.S. market for the 2017 model year. The Magma performance subbrand is even newer, initially announced in March 2024. Its first product—the electric GV60 Magma—is only just reaching dealerships now.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe company's limited history was a key factor behind the decision to enter the World Endurance Championship. While technology from racing still does occasionally trickle down to road cars, these days, racing can be seen primarily as a marketing exercise. For some, like Ferrari and Porsche, it is about maintaining a reputation for performance made famous on the racetrack decades ago.For a company like Genesis, the World Endurance Championship is all about getting the brand's name, and that of the Magma subbrand, in front of more eyes. Genesis is a rapidly growing brand, hitting 1 million global sales in 2023, reaching this mark faster than any other luxury automaker, the company claims, and it has since surpassed 1.5 million global sales. Still, against giants like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Lexus, and Porsche, which all have decades of history in the luxury car market, Genesis is a small player.While the goal is to eventually win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as well as the World Endurance Championship, the focus for now is brand outreach as the team builds the necessary experience. "This is a huge opportunity for us to increase brand awareness, globally and within key markets, like here in the U.S.," Genesis representative Amanda Niklowitz told us in Texas. "We are expanding into a lot of different new markets in Europe, and so being able to participate in WEC, especially for Le Mans in France, that's a really great opportunity for us to reach those new audiences."Caleb Miller - Car and DriverThe Lone Star Le Mans race offers a similarly important opportunity. The United States is currently in a close battle with South Korea to be Genesis' biggest market this year, following five consecutive years of growth, and racing in front of fans in Texas provides a chance to accelerate that growth even further. "We know from our market data that folks who are buying luxury cars in North America care about fun to drive, they care about performance, and so motorsport is important," Genesis rep Jarred Pellat said in Texas. And while Genesis Magma Racing doesn't yet compete in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, the premier endurance series in the U.S. that includes the prestigious 24 Hours of Daytona, the company is considering an expansion into IMSA in 2028.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe gradual step-by-step approach to building brand awareness extends to the Magma road cars as well. "Right now, we're not viewing the Magma program through a lens of volume or sales targets," Pellat said when asked about how many GV60 Magmas Genesis hopes to sell. "It's about creating a certain halo for the brand that elevates our entire product portfolio."While we imagine Genesis would be thrilled if sales of its Magma-branded models rapidly took off, that's not the focus for the still nascent performance line right now, and it's evident by the rollout of its first model, the GV60 Magma. Customers will get their hands on the first GV60 Magmas in the coming weeks, but at least initially, the only dealers selling the high-performance electric crossover will be in California, New York, and New Jersey. Those are the markets that Genesis has identified as having the most interest in its EVs, and then the Magma brand will expand from there.The 2027 Genesis GV60 Magma.GenesisThe brand's reach is limited initially by the GV60's electric powertrain, but like most things with the Genesis brand, the company is taking a step-by-step strategy. As Genesis builds brand awareness for Magma, it will continue to expand its offerings, which will likely involve new types of powertrains. Niklowitz hinted at a more diverse future for Magma: "We will expand the lineup, and it could be ICE or EV."Last year, Genesis showed the Magma GT, a sleek supercar that sounded like it was powered by a beefy V-8. It was followed up by the Magma GT3 concept this year, reinforcing the expectation of an eventual production run and hinting at a further expansion of the Magma Racing team into WEC's GT3 class.AdvertisementAdvertisementWhile simply being on track is a great way to make more people notice the brand, performing well helps even more. After a mistake dropped Genesis Magma Racing's number 17 car down the field early in the race, the team clawed back positions and was sitting in 11th with less than an hour to go, just outside the points-paying positions, with 21-year-old Mathys Jaubert behind the wheel.Caleb Miller - Car and DriverThrough a mix of patience and perfectly timed aggression, Jaubert navigated his GMR-001 race car past GT3 traffic and rival Hypercars to cross the line seventh, picking up six points for the team in their second-ever top-10 finish. Not only was it a huge result in a key market for Genesis, but it represented another step in the journey towards a first WEC victory."We are in to win one day. It's a long story in front of us and the mountain we have to climb," said Jacky Ickx, Genesis Magma Racing brand ambassador and six-time Le Mans winner. "Everyone is talented and animated by that common passion. We are ready to go up the mountain."➡️ Skip the lot. 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