The Hyundai group considered entering Genesis before finally deciding to go to the WEC and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Luc Donckerwolke, creative director of Hyundai Motor Group and Genesis, explained that he weighed the pros and cons with various managers of the group, including Cyril Abiteboul.
“Obviously when we talk about high performance and we were discussing possible participation in motorsport, with people, key people, with some experience of motorsport and Formula 1, we obviously talked about F1” Donckerwolke said.
“But it is clear that we have decided to opt for endurance. Time will tell. But above all, we have a mission, and that mission is endurance. Then we will meet in a few years, and then we can open up, but for now it’s very clear our mission is endurance.”
Genesis seeks to create a link between competition and road cars, while the brand will be placed at the top of the range: “I think the first is to have a direct relationship with our car range.”
“It's much closer, and the public is also closer to the type of vehicles we sell. We thought endurance racing was compatible with our brand values.”
“We don't want to go into motorsport in the same way. We are more than just a car brand, we have a lot of technology and potential that we would like to apply, not only to vehicles, but also to the environment and sustainability.”
“Our goal is to have, for example, a more sustainable logistics system thanks to hydrogen. We have Boston Dynamics thanks to robotics, which aims to facilitate and improve the life of the crew team by helping with robotics.”
“So there are a lot of things we want to apply. This is not just a marketing tool, but a serious discussion, because we want to add additional value to our motorsport program.”
The hybridization of the WEC was one of the convincing arguments: “It's very important for us to race and get a return on investment. And by that I don't mean marketing or anything else. I mean technological know-how and inspiration for design.”
“We are entering a phase where everything is possible with new powertrains, so it's a good time to get, let's say, a different feeling, to inspire us. This is actually one of the main motivations to enter in this category of motor racing.”
“But there's also the aerodynamic research that we're doing, which is more applicable than if you're doing, say, open-wheel racing. It's a completely different discipline, and that's where the lessons are difficult to transfer to normal vehicles, which are our core business.”
Genesis had put itself forward in the game Gran Turismo with a Vision concept, designed especially for the video game title from Polyphony Digital. Donckerwolke confirms that this is a spirit for the brand and the project.
“This is why we believe in endurance, and also because we have always identified our cars as being a bit like grand touring cars, Gran Turismo cars, therefore gentleman driver cars.”
“And that's actually the essence of endurance racing. It's the discipline of gentlemen drivers. So we think there's absolute compatibility from that point of view as well.”
And to confirm that everything converges towards a single relevant strategy: “It's about branding. I think what we're doing and what we're announcing now makes perfect sense from a branding perspective. And I think that's the goal of these days, of these years, and that it is more than enough to execute it correctly.”
