Strong growth has been a lengthy wait for Genesis Europe, though its parent firm always maintained that the strategy would be long term. Germany, one of only three markets for the brand, Hyundai Motor Group having withdrawn from Russia, is notoriously hard for any foreign luxury marque. Unless it has links to the Volkswagen Group of course: witness Cupra’s recent spectacular progress.
Europe-wide: up, down, up
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The German market is unusual for HMG in Europe in that Hyundai is (way) more successful there than Kia. That’s been the case for quite some time, and it might even be a small reason for what’s been happening with Genesis so far this year.
Registrations in Germany are up by 37 per cent, and yes, that’s from a low base, but 259 cars in Q1 is still a good result. Switzerland, on the other hand, is down by 50 per cent to 52 vehicles. But it’s Britain where things are really starting to happen.
There has been a culling of combustion-engine models, a refocus on EVs and as at the end of March, 419 cars and SUVs delivered, a year-on-year surge of 92 per cent. Which means it’s a good time to become reacquainted with what is still the only electric-native model offered by the Korean make.
Sampling the only EV-native Genesis
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By GlobalDataNow integrated with Hyundai and having many more sales outlets than had been the case in its early years, Genesis UK seems to be gaining traction. There has been an emphasis on honing the product line too, the GV60 being a case in point.
Since I last drove one of these electric SUVs, the interior has been updated and there is now facial recognition for unlocking and memorised driver preferences. Also, a few exterior changes are coming but for now restricted to Korean market cars. Later this year Magma variants will be added, again RHD examples taking a bit longer to arrive. More on this shortly.
Big in the USA and Korea
Genesis continues to gain traction not only in North America, where Q1 sales were up by more than 18 per cent to 17,508 vehicles, but at home too. Way ahead of BMW, Mercedes, Renault Korea and KGM (in that order), Hyundai’s upscale brand delivered 29,639 cars in the year to the end of March. That’s naturally way fewer than Kia and Hyundai but more than enough to maintain its solid number three status in the South Korean market.
News which will thrill the German and British importers especially, is a future emphasis on expanding electrification to hybrid and range extender powertrains. Recently HMG noted that its new 2.5-litre turbocharged HEV system is headed to certain unnamed Genesis models. Sources in Korea claim the first ones will be the GV80 and GV80 Coupe (September 2026 for the home market) followed by the G80 (December 2026). And a GV70 EREV/REEV is said to be due to debut at the end of 2026. Exports would follow in 2027.
Magma incoming
If seems unlikely that the GV60 will be redesigned to take a combustion engine though it probably shouldn’t be ruled out entirely: possibly as an EREV? That remains theoretical and at least a few years away but soon enough we’ll see the debut of another variant.
There will be two kinds of Genesis Magma: a true high performance uplift, just like Hyundai N, and an equivalent to Hyundai N Line called Magma Special. For the GV60, production will commence in the third quarter which likely means 2026 for the UK. And as the original only dates to 2021, the second generation is still two to three years away.
For a model which it’s all too easy to forget is probably now past the half-way point of HMG’s usual (though not always that short) six-year manufacturing time span, Genesis’ electric crossover remains perfectly contemporary.
Digital-analogue mix
What is now a long, curved BMW-style dashboard display somehow works better than the smaller original array. Crucially, the GV60 has retained a lot of beautiful looking and feeling physical controls. I would say going against the trend but here too, the parent firm’s own models have for a couple of years now been in the vanguard when it comes to bringing back a safety-first approach to dashboards.
Recently, Genesis’ head of Interiors Jaeho Oh linked a Korean architecture philosophy* emphasising simplicity and elegance to the brand’s current and future models.
“Genesis doesn’t aim to digitalise everything. Unlike some manufacturers who centralise their controls into a single display, we prioritise user convenience by retaining essential physical buttons and incorporate luxurious handcrafted details,” he notes.
“We will maximise our pursuit of the *Beauty of White Space. We will maintain clutter-free interior designs while integrating key controls through AI and voice recognition. However, for safety and usability reasons, essential buttons will remain analogue. The challenge will be to find the right approach to consolidate and streamline these physical controls,” Oh adds.
Hyundai-Genesis-Kia platform: E-GMP
The GV60 certainly feels as though there was a real effort made to liberate space thanks to the model having a dedicated EV architecture. Moreover, it boasts a 2,900 mm wheelbase in what is only a 4.5 m long vehicle. Drive can be either to the rear or both axles.
Even with the battery below the floor, neither driver nor passengers are aware of any encroachment into the cabin. Plus those in the back are not made to sit more upright than would be the case in a low-floor ICE vehicle.
The boot too offers a lot of space (432 litres) and is a handy shape. All charging cables are stowed below a false floor, while there is a decently sized additional luggage bay under the bonnet (20 litres with 4WD but 53 for 2WD variants).
A claimed 300+ (just) miles per charge
What about the all-important issue of range? Here too there is good news. Winter being over up here in the Northern Hemisphere, around 280 miles was my experience. That would likely drop to about 240 or 250 in near-freezing conditions. Fully charged the digital read-out of the RWD test car reckoned on there being 301 miles of energy.
The lithium-ion polymer battery’s net capacity is 77.4 kWh, recharging can be at up to 350 kW (electrics are 800 volt)s and there is V2L capability. An 84 kWh battery was another change for the Korean market GV60 earlier in 2025. That was expected too, as it already existed in a couple of other HMG electric models. Including an updated Electrified GV70 which I’ll be trying out later this month.
Premium, Sport or Sport Plus
Single motor cars are called Premium with their outputs being 168 kW (228 PS) and 350 Nm (258 lb-ft). Those with two motors plus 4WD produce 234 kW (318 PS) and 605 Nm (446 lb-ft). Top speeds for Premium and Sport are 115 and 124 mph respectively, with 0-62 mph taking either 7.8 or 5.5 seconds. There is a third choice which lifts power to 320 kW (435 PS). Torque for the Sport Plus is the same as that of the mid-range Sport.
Genesis lent me a Premium trim car and its performance / rate of energy depletion mix works well. As an import myself I can struggle with imperial measurements. For example OEMs using a decimal point to quote miles per kilowatt makes no sense. Anyway, the GV60 averaging an alleged 3.8 miles per kilowatt of energy used compares very well to many other EVs. Even if point eight of 5,280 feet fails to be an even number: see what I mean?
Brake-by-paddle
No prizes for guessing I tried to get the average consumption to be exactly 4 miles/kW. And almost achieved it. In so doing, the luxury leanings of this plug-in crossover became ever more evident: smooth, silent, brisk, soft-riding, light steering (though still with a decent amount of feel). You can go a bit firmer by pressing the Sport setting with Eco and Comfort the alternatives.
Being rear-wheel drive, the Premium model grade can also be entertaining when the road becomes curvy and there isn’t even much lean in Sport mode. One pedal driving is easy too. This is activated by paddles so switching it off takes only a second. The same applies to Lane Assist, there being a steering wheel button to do that. And dare to accidentally exceed a 20 mph limit descending a hill? The mandatory naughty step warning bell isn’t loud. For those two reasons alone this is a pleasing car.
Summary
Might the Premium be the GV60 to have? You can certainly make a convincing case for that conclusion, especially with the almost value pricing compared to quite a few alternatives in the electric crossover class. Not to mention the Genesis’ own pricier and more powerful Sport and Sport Plus variants.
Ranged against rivals from BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Lexus and Volvo, the Korean challenger is a great choice for anyone who wants something genuinely luxurious and a bit out of the ordinary.
Genesis GV60 pricing starts at GBP54,855 OTR before options.
