Genesis G70

Look out Germany, Korea is coming to get you

- Michael Taylor

IT’S anybody's guess how the BMW 3 Series has prospered as long as it has while hauling a target that can be seen from space. From Jaguar’s XE to generations of assailants from Infiniti and Lexus, they’ve all tried to hit the 3 Series bullseye and failed. Its only consistently successful foes have been the fellow Germans, the Audi A4 and the booming MercedesBenz C-Class.

But there’s about to be a new player in the mid-sized premium sports sedan market and it feels a lot more Bavarian in its engineering than other pretenders to the throne, delivering a level of interior quality and comfort that is at least on a par with the C-Class.

We’ve only driven the 3.3-litre, twin-turbo V6 version, but the warning signs are clear: if Genesis gets its brand building right, both here in Australia and globally, then there’s no engineering reason its G70 won’t become a solid player in the premium fight.

It’s fast enough, with a 4.7-second sprint to 100km/h and a 270km/h top end, and it handles well. Even with its softer Korean-spec suspension settings, the G70 showed off its rear-drive chassis balance, accurate and fast steering and remarkable stability in direction changes.