How many of you have heard of Genesis? The car-maker, not the first book of the Old Testament.

That’s what I thought.

Genesis, the car-maker, is the luxury arm of Hyundai and that means Audi’s A4 Avant, Mercedes’ C-Class Estate, the BMW 3-Series Touring and Volvo V60 are firmly in its sights.

It’s purely anecdotal I know, but given the number of quizzical glances the G70 Sporting Brake reviewed here attracted – some of which may owe a little to the Aston Martin-alike badges – it’s a brand that is yet to make a sizeable impact on the psyche of the car-buying public in the UK.

A Shooting Brake is, for the uninitiated, a sporty estate car. Those sleek looks compromise practicality, however, so it’s best to temper expectations in the load-lugging department. The term has its roots in the 1890s and was used to describe a horse-drawn carriage that transporting shooting parties, their equipment and game.

As well as sporty looks, and a plush interior, the G70 Shooting Brake is also designed to have engaging driving manners so, with that in mind, Sport Line models are fitted with beefier brakes than other trim levels.

Does it have what it takes sees of its talented rivals? Let’s find out.

Getting yourself comfortable behind the wheel is a simple exercise thanks to the inclusion of electrically-adjustable seats right across the range. You also get lumbar support adjustment too.

If that’s not enough, you can opt for the Comfort Seat Pack that lets you adjust the side bolsters, thigh support and steering wheel electrically, and a memory function lets you save those settings.

The seating position is quite low – emphasising the car’s sporting bias – but the view out the front and to the sides is still good thanks to slim A-pillars. Visibility over the shoulder isn’t brilliant but the inclusion of blind-spot monitoring, front and rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera go a long way to mitigating that particular issue.

The innovation pack adds a camera feed from the flanks of the car. It pops into view in the instrument panel when one of the indicators is operated. I’ve yet to decide whether it’s actually of any real benefit.

Those instruments are a combination of analogue dials and an eight-inch screen unless you’ve added the aforementioned Innovation Pack. Doing so will add a fully digital instrument panel with a 3D effect to layer information. The pack also includes a very useful head-up display that projects speed, sat-nav directions and other information onto the windscreen directly in your line of sight so you can keep your eyes fixed firmly on the road.

Unlike many of its rivals and, indeed, a large number of manufacturers in general, Genesis appears to be persisting with physical controls in its cars. It might not possess a hi-tech, futuristic ambience as a result of that choice, but it does make operating oft-used functions, like the air-con, much less distracting than using a touchscreen.

Don’t be fooled by that dated impression, however, because there’s plenty of tech to play with. There’s a 10.25in touchscreen with built-in sat-nav, Bluetooth and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring.

Small icons make it quite difficult – you could it’s touch and go – top operate the screen on the move – the icons are quite small and there’s no separate analogue control – but there are, at least, shortcut buttons to make it easier switching between functions.

As for quality: It’s all very nicely put together with plenty of soft-touch, tactile, materials throughout the passenger space. I would say that, while it can’t be faulted for material quality, it does all feel rather sombre and dark.

There’s ample head and legroom in the front of the Shooting Brake. You’ll find plenty of space to get comfortable even if you’re more than six feet tall. The door bins are only really big enough for a single bottle, there’s a handy cubby in front of the gear selector, a larger storage bin beneath the centre armrest and a pair of cupholders.

It’s a very different story in the back, however, where space is very much at a premium. There’s little in the way of head and legroom and, if you’re unfortunate enough to get stuck with the middle seat on the rear bench, a sizeable tunnel in the floor to negotiate.

Remember I suggested that you might need to temper expectations about the G70 Shooting Brake’s load-lugging abilities? Well, this is why: With the rear seats in place, the boot capacity is just 465 litres. It’s nice and wide, but it’s not very deep nor particularly tall. Fold them away and capacity rises to 1,535 litres.

The boot lid is electrically operated but the opening is narrow, too, and there’s quite a high lip to hoist your luggage over. The rear seats split in a handy 40/20/40 configuration and it’s likely that you’ll find yourself making good use of that flexibility more often than you might in a more tradition estate car.

Under the bonnet you have the choice of a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine with outputs of either 194 or 241bhp or the 197bhp 2.20litre diesel driven here. Power is sent to the rear wheels via a smooth-shifting eight-speed automatic gearbox, whichever version you opt for. The gearbox is pretty sharp to react when you’re pulling out at junctions too but, when you’re driving around town, it does have an inclination to drop down a ratio rather than relying on engine torque.

The diesel can sound a little coarse too and fills the car with unpleasant vibrations. It’s not lacking for performance – 62mph arrives in a decent 7.7 seconds – but some of its rivals are quicker still. Where it does score well is cabin refinement when you reach cruising speeds. Wind noise is particularly well suppressed although road noise can be an issue across some surfaces.

Luxury Line and Sport Line versions are fitted with adaptive suspension as standard. In Comfort setting it does a commendable job of isolating occupants from broken road surfaces but it can still crash and shudder over sharper-edged cracks and bumps.

Switching to Sport, unsurprisingly, tightens up the suspension and, as a result, the G70 Shooting Brake’s body stays flatter through corners. It also adds more weight to the steering but there’s not enough feedback to properly place the front of the car with any real confidence and that sapd some of the fun out of the driving experience.

The G70 Shooting Brake isn’t the most practical, the quietest nor the best to drive among its chief rivals but it is very well put together and comes with plenty of equipment. Perhaps most importantly in a world where BMWs, Audis and Mercedes are becoming increasingly commonplace, it manages to offer something a little different.

Genesis G70 Shooting Brake 2.2D 8AT RWD

Price: £41, 430

As tested: £47,280

Engine: 2.2-litre turbocharged diesel

Transmission: 8-speed automatic

Max power: 197bhp

Max torque: 440Nm

Max speed: 140mph

0-62mph: 7.7sec

Fuel consumption WLTP (mpg):

Low: 30.7-29.8

Medium: 41.3-40.2

High: 49.5-48.3

Extra high: 42.1-40.9

Combined: 41.8-40.7

Emissions (CO2) combined: 177.1-182.1 g/km

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For more information visit www.genesis.com