Hyundai has announced that premium spin-off Genesis will enter top-flight endurance racing.
The firm said in a statement that it will develop a car according to the LMDh ruleset, which requires competitors to use a greater number of off-the-shelf components than the alternative Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) specification.
The chassis, for example, must be sourced from Oreca, Dallara, Ligier or Multimatic, and the hybrid system is a common part developed by Bosch, WAE and Xtrac.
Alpine, BMW, Cadillac, Porsche and Lamborghini all race LMDh cars, while Ferrari, Peugeot and Toyota follow the LMH rules.
Genesis has yet to announce which series it will race in, but the announcement has been made ahead of this weekend's round of the World Endurance Championship, the 6 Hours of Fuji.
It's likely that Genesis will also race in the US-based IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship, given the importance of the North American market for the brand.
Genesis did not say when it will begin racing but both the WEC and IMSA seasons are almost over, suggesting that a 2025 entry could be on the cards.
The announcement brings an end to months of speculation about Hyundai adding endurance racing to its motorsport portfolio, which also includes the World Rally Championship and TCR touring cars.
It also comes as Genesis repositions itself as a more performance-focused brand, having introduced the Magma sub-division earlier this year.
It previously hinted at its ambitions to go racing with the X Gran Racer VGT concept, developed for PlayStation driving game Gran Turismo 7.
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I find it hard to take this very seriously. The only hope is to turn over the total design, development and running of the cars to an outside constructor. The current range of cars are not remotely sporting - or, as far as I can see very good. Hyundai and Kia are genuinely competitive but "the Korean BMW" does little to suggest they could remotely challenge the likes of Ferrari and Porsche, Toyota etc. Would love to be proved wrong.
You say in the article Genesis are positioning themselves more as a performance brand. None of their current range could be classed a performance product and the Magma range of cars appear to be badge engineered cars from other parts of the Group empire. Expecting customers to pay maybe £100k for a rebodied Ioniq5n I don't think will work too well - the brand needs to deliver something unique if it aspires to 6 figure retail sales