Genesis Magma Sports Car Is Happening, But Something Else Needs To Occur First

Now that Genesis has a fairly strong foothold in the luxury market, it’s laying out some seriously ambitious plans. Among them is the launch of a performance sub-brand called Magma, which will apply not just to a handful of models, but to the entire lineup from GV60 to G90. Plus, that lineup will add a sports car of some sort.

Road & Track spoke with Chief Creative Officer Luc Donckerwolke, and he explained that every model the company makes will get a Magma variant. Not all of them will be hardcore performance machines, though, with the character decided by the type of vehicle. That seems wise to us, since, interesting as it would be, we don’t think many people looking to own a full-size G90 sedan turned into a hardcore track car. We’ll also be interested to see how this applies to the brand’s SUVs, and whether it chooses to make, say, the inevitable Magma GV70 as aggressive as the also inevitable Magma G70 sedan. And when asked if Genesis and Magma would build some kind of sports car, Donckerwolke told Road & Track, “Of course we will.”

Magma’s Big Year

Right from the start, it was clear Genesis had big plans for Magma, and 2024 has had a string of announcements to support that. Genesis launched the Magma brand back at the New York Auto Show with an array of models: the GV60, GV80, and G80. The latter of which was an odd limited-run model for the Middle East, but the other two were early looks at upcoming performance models. The first of those to reach production will be the Magma GV60, sharing parts from the Ioniq 5 N (which is our EV of the year, by the way). Genesis also made clear that Magma would be working with both combustion and electricity in its quest for performance. The Director of Product Planning for Genesis, Ash Corson, told us last month that hybrids are on the docket for Magma, too.

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Putting the performance bow on the Magma package is the Genesis endurance racing program. It revealed its LMDh race car for the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and IMSA series. Called the GMR-001, it will enter WEC racing in 2026, which should include a run at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, followed by IMSA competition in 2027. Next year, Genesis will also campaign an LMP2 car in the European Le Mans Series.

About That Sports Car

The extent of Donckerwolke’s sports car confirmation was as short as that quote. Road & Track speculates that the car would likely have something to do with the line of X concept cars, and we’d be inclined to agree. Genesis has been showing X concepts for years now. The first one, the original coupe, was shown in 2021. A sort of shooting brake followed it in early 2022, and a convertible later that year. In 2023, Genesis showed a far more serious X Gran Berlinetta, with a racing variant the year after, both of which appear in Gran Turismo 7 alongside a race-prepped version of the original X coupe.

Related

Everything You Need To Know About The Genesis X

Remember, Hyundai Motor Group doesn’t build concepts just for show.

Besides being teased for years now, the X is one of the few two-door Genesis concepts we’ve seen. One of the rare others was the Mint, a small luxury coupe. The small size of the Mint would be great for a sports car, but it lacks the presence that a brand-defining vehicle needs, especially to have a price tag to make a niche product viable. The rather large X does have that. The Essentia concept also does and is just as drop-dead gorgeous as it was when it was shown. But it was shown way back in 2018 and never heard from since. The X has been doing the show circuit for years in multiple iterations. Those iterations also show the X can be more than just a sports car. It can also have regular Genesis variants in addition to a hot Magma version. Being able to iterate on the platform is important to get the volume to support a niche product.

Source:
Road & Track