Production Genesis Magma GT Supercar Will Have A Full Lineup Of Variants, From A Roadster To GT3 And Clubsport Models

Last week at the global reveal of the production Genesis GV60 Magma in an airport hangar next to Circuit Paul Ricard, brand president and chief creative officer Luc Donckerwolke surprised us with the utterly spectacular G90 Magma Wingback wagon as part of a showcase of all the Magma division’s concepts and development vehicles so far. But following that unexpected debut, Donckerwolke pulled a Steve Jobs–style “one last thing,” introducing the so-called Magma Boys, Genesis Magma Racing’s two lead drivers André Lotterer and Luis “Pipo” Derani, who drove on stage in a bright orange supercar called the Magma GT.

This is not a mere concept. Donckerwolke said that Genesis intends to go GT3 racing using the mid-rear-engine Magma GT, increasing the automaker’s ambitions beyond the LMDh class in WEC and IMSA. That means it will have to sell roadgoing Magma GTs to normal people, but Genesis won’t be doing it as some limited-run thing. No, there will be an entire lineup of Magma GT supercars, echoing the Porsche 911 in scope all the way from a base model and lightweight variants to a roadster and GT3 model, along with the race car. At a roundtable with Donckerwolke, head of performance development Manfred Harrer, and chief operating officer for North America Tedros Mengiste, I got the full scoop on what could be the most audacious new car from a Korean brand ever.

Full disclosure: Genesis flew me to Marseille, France, so I could attend the Magma reveal, ride in the GV60 at Paul Ricard and capture content with the various cars at the event. Genesis’ team also took very good care of me and four other journalists when we were stuck in snowy Paris for an extra night on the way home.

This isn’t the first time the Genesis brand has expressed a desire to do a supercar. First there was the Essentia concept in 2018, then the X Gran Berlinetta and X Gran Racer concepts in 2023 and 2024, respectively, that were Vision Gran Turismo creations — though the X Gran Berlinetta is actually a functional V8-powered thing in real life. But the Magma GT show car that was brought out in France is by far the most real and ready one yet. It seems like Genesis is quite far along in the project, as there’s nothing about its design that doesn’t look like it could go into production tomorrow.

The automaker dreamt of going into both the Hypercar class and GT racing at the same time, and Donckerwolke said once business plans were thought up, it quickly became apparent that it would make more sense to create the Magma GT as a fully fleshed-out, mass-produced vehicle instead of just building a couple hundred to fulfill GT3 homologation requirements. “The Magma GT was born from the need to be competitive in GT3,” he said, “Everything we do is defining what we need to be competitive. Why not use that work to sell production cars that are street legal?” Harrer added that there’s a dedicated team developing the Magma GT who are working closely with the brand’s designers.

“If we do it, it’s a complete lifecycle of products,” Donckerwolke said. What you see here is a representation of the base model Magma GT, but Donckerwolke said they’re already planning on “adding an S, GTS, roadster, lightweight version, clubsport version, GT3 specs but still street legal, to GT3 R only for racing.” The base GT and the GT3 R race car will be the first to come out, with the rest of the lineup filled in down the line. I’m sure the enthusiasts at Genesis could think up even more variants, too — Donckerwolke himself admits he owns more Porsche 911s than anyone should have, and Porsche obviously knows how to come up with new kinds of sports cars. Still, despite acknowledging the 911 analogue and the smartness of Porsche’s strategy, Donckerwolke and Harrer both say they aren’t just chasing the 911 with the Magma GT, as it’ll be in a league of its own (and that’s an impossible task, anyway).

When it comes to what will power the various Magma GTs, well, the company hasn’t decided yet. This concept car is clearly powered by a V8 — Donckerwolke confirmed as much — and judging by how it sounded at the reveal it’s almost certainly based on the engine used by the GMR-001 Le Mans racer. That twin-turbocharged 3.2-liter V8 is essentially two of Hyundai’s WRC four-cylinder motors stuck together, with LMDh regulations requiring a spec hybrid system, but hybrids aren’t allowed in GT3 racing. It could be tough to engineer such a race-ready engine for a roadgoing production car given stringent emissions around the world, but Genesis definitely could do it, especially if the road car employs a plug-in-hybrid system like in the McLaren Artura and Lamborghini Temerario.

Daniel Golson / Jalopnik

Harrer said that extremely high-performance powertrains were considered from day one, but they’re keeping it open as to whether it’ll use six or eight cylinders. To keep costs down it would make sense for entry-level Magma GTs to get a six-cylinder engine — the company is already working on Magma-upgraded versions of the mild-hybrid twin-turbo 3.5-liter V6 in the G90, after all — with the higher-performance models getting a GT3-derived V8. There’s a chance it could even have a range-extender hybrid instead of a more basic PHEV, as Genesis is working on those, too. Regardless of what powertrain it ends up using, Donckerwolke said the Magma GT will set itself apart from other supercars and appeal to more customers by emphasizing luxuriousness as much as sportiness.

It should come as no surprise that the Magma GT looks fantastic. Donckerwolke designed the Lamborghini Murciélago and Gallardo, of course, and many other designers at Genesis over its ten-year history have great supercar experience. Genesis’ three design studios in California, Germany and South Korea vied for the winning proposal, with the design from the Seoul team being chosen. But all three studios are involved in the design development of new cars, even the Magma models.

As far as supercars go, the Magma GT show car is pretty restrained. It has phenomenal proportions and surfacing, intricate details like the G-Matrix grille and canard headlights, a nicely tapering greenhouse with a NACA roof duct and no rear window, and flame-shooting triple-pipe center exhaust. It’s easy to imagine how the Magma GT would look in more extreme forms, and Donckerwolke made it clear that his teams focus on functional design without excess adornment. Butterfly doors open for seemingly good access to the interior, which Genesis hasn’t yet shown — at the reveal the car was facing toward us in the crowd, and Genesis wouldn’t open the doors for us the following day, but Donckerwolke said it has an essentially finished interior. The front clamshell is front-hinged, while the large rear clamshell is rear-hinged. To give a bit of size context, the front wheels are 20 inches with 275/30 tires while the rears are 21s wearing 345/25 tires.

Genesis has only been around as its own brand for ten years, and in that span of time it has been the fastest luxury automaker to reach one million sales. Its expansion has been especially strong in the U.S., with Mengiste saying that America is “supremely important” for Magma’s prospects. “Drivers don’t just like to drive, they like to enjoy the experience,” he said, “it’s not just about driving fast, but the engagement.” Harrer talked about how passionate he is about feedback and feel, with steering being the “non plus ultra,” and Donckerwolke added that the learnings from Magma models will influence every Genesis product. (Not only that, but there will be a Magma version of every future Genesis.) “The audacity of coming out with a luxury vehicle was daring, but look at us now — we did it very well,” Mengiste said to us, “the next paradigm is our interpretation of performance.” 

Daniel Golson / Jalopnik

The automaker says the Magma GT will guide its performance identity for the next ten years, serving as a commitment to performance, so it sure doesn’t sound like this will end up a half-assed attempt that’s only on sale for a couple years. In a separate statement, Donckerwolke said: 

The Magma GT represents the pinnacle of our performance vision and stands as a symbol of our commitment to true motorsport capability. It isn’t defined by raw aggression or uncompromising speed—it is defined by balance. This is a car that feels instinctively connected to its driver, composed under pressure, and meticulously tuned so that every component serves a single purpose: to make performance effortless. The Magma GT doesn’t ask the driver to prove their skill; it enhances it. This is not simply a faster Genesis. It is the most complete expression of Genesis performance to date.

We won’t have to wait long to learn more about the Magma GT — Donckerwolke said Genesis will be doing a dedicated event for the car at some point next year. Given how far along the Magma GT seems to be, it doesn’t seem like a stretch to predict that it could enter production as soon as 2027, and racing the same year.