Genesis has been building beautiful cars for years now. Much like its parent company, Hyundai, it doesn’t have an ugly car in its lineup. From the base G70 sedan all the way to the big-boy three-row GV80 SUV, the whole brand is killing it right now, looks-wise.
You just have to look at this year alone to see how well Genesis plays the concept game. Earlier in 2025, it revealed two near-production studies, the stunning X Gran Coupe and Convertible, which were essentially two-door G90s. A few weeks after that, it showed off the X Gran Equator, a sort of G-Wagen fighter SUV with some gigantic tires and excellent proportions.
Now, Genesis’s Magma performance division has a new mid-engine supercar concept called the GT, and to no one’s surprise, it looks gorgeous. The reason? The man behind the design also penned some of the greatest-looking modern Lamborghinis.
The Face Behind The Car
On looks alone, I think the Magma GT easily earns the title of supercar. The low-slung front end, the distinctive four headlights, the mid-engine proportions—it’s a true halo car, and a good representation of the brand’s intentions. The clamshell body panels and swing-up doors just drive that point home.
The man behind this car is Luc Donckerwolke, the president and chief creative officer of Genesis. He joined the Hyundai car-making machine in 2015, where he was instrumental in helping to launch the luxury sub-brand and turning it into what it is today. Before Hyundai, he had a 19-year stint at VW Group designing Škodas, Audis, and Bentleys.
Importantly for this story, Donckerwolke also penned a few pretty significant Lamborghinis: The Diablo VT, the Murciélago, and the Gallardo. If you grew up while these cars were on sale new, like me, you’ll understand how deeply impactful they were to the culture and how they influenced people into the world of cars. To this day, I have a Murciélago picture up on my bedroom wall. And after seeing this Magma concept, one thing is clear: When it comes to mid-engine sports cars, the guy’s still got it.
Whoa, It’s Actually Going Into Production
Going by the realistic proportions and the rear side mirrors, the Magma GT looks fairly production-intent, too. We don’t have to speculate, because Genesis comes right out and says it in the release:
The Magma GT Concept aligns closely with the performance roadmap announced at Hyundai Motor Company’s CEO Investor Day in New York this past September, where Genesis confirmed plans to develop the model into a performance icon, or halo car, and signaled its long-term ambition to enter the GT racing class.
Genesis hasn’t said which GT racing series it’d like to compete in, though if I had to guess, it’d be something on the world stage, like the World Endurance Championship or the IMSA SportsCar Championship. With either series, it’ll face stiff competition from the likes of BMW, Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes—arguably more established brands in the high-performance space.
As for an engine, well, we know absolutely nothing right now. But Car and Driver confirmed with the brand that the production Magma GT will have an engine, rather than purely electric propulsion, which is good. No one really wants electric supercars, do they? C/D speculates the mill will be a modified version of the turbocharged V8 found in the company’s GMR-001 Le Mans prototype, which would be very cool.
Wait, There’s More?
Up until now, Genesis’s Magma sub-brand has only released concepts and very-low-production run models, like the G80 Magma, which was limited to just 20 units worldwide. That changes today. The GV60 Magma, based on the company’s stubby electric crossover-coupe, will hit Genesis dealerships in America starting next year.
In addition to the sweet orange paint, there’s black gloss trim and metal accents throughout the exterior, a rear wing Genesis claims is functional, as well as a set of canards on the nose (there’s no mention if they actually produce any downforce, so let’s just pretend they do for now). The height’s been lowered by 0.7 inches, and complemented by a set of 21-inch forged alloy wheels with 275-mm-wide tires.
The cabin’s been livened up, so you don’t forget you’re driving an interesting version of an electric crossover when you’re sitting in traffic. The seats, doors, and center console are trimmed in a material called Chamude, which Genesis describes as a suede-like fabric. Unsurprisingly, there’s orange stitching everywhere, including on the Magma-specific steering wheel, which gets orange accents on the drive mode and boost buttons.
Speaking of boost, the front and rear motors, when combined, make a maximum 609 horsepower and 545 pound-feet of torque, but those numbers can be increased temporarily, for “approximately” 15 seconds, to 650 horsepower and 582 lb-ft when the boost button is pressed. The only performance spec Genesis quotes is a 0-124 mph (200 km/h) sprint of 10.9 seconds, which seems pretty quick.
If these Magma cars are as fun to drive as they are to look at, the performance world could be in for a few pretty excellent vehicles. I’m excited.
Top graphic image: Genesis
Genesis does what Hyundon’t!
I think you meant «However,unlike its parent company Hyundai». The ionic 5 is not attractive.
You are wrong. The Ioniq 5 is fantastic.
You’re not alone. I like it too. These Krazy Koreans have been knocking it out of the park for a Kouple of years now.
Luc was a great hire for them. Dang! It’s been (checks article) 10 years now since they hired him! He had certainly made his mark and is, apparently, not done yet.
Even for their day-to-day pedestrian cars. Both brands have really nice-looking models. I know of ahem engine and anti-theft issues. So I guess time will either be the verifier or avenger. (Obligatory Chrissie Hynde reference there)
I guess it’s pretty on the inside or something..
I’d like something like the 4 series coupe more. That could have rear seats and a usable boot, a cheaper version with a 250-300 HP 4 cylinder turbo engine, another, wild one with 500 HP, and it could also be used as the base for a GT3 racecar.
(Does this have any chance against a Corvette on the new car market?)
I mean Genesis has one not great looking car…the GV60. It’s a bit soapy and frumpy at the same time. While its platform mate Ioniq 5/6 are both lookers in my opinion. I’d have an N one of those over a Magma GV60 for sure. But the GT is very intriguing, hopefully they do build it. So far all of Genesis’ truly gorgeous show stoppers have just been concepts and design studies while the real cars have been quite nice looking and competitive but not world beaters.
Not to be that guy, but despite the evolutionary thing that caused different sorts of creatures to become crab-like, it’s kind of sad how so many of these supercars tend to look forgettably similar over time.
My opinion is of course meaningless to supercar makers, since I’m not likely to be a customer.
If you think convergent evolution has produced a lot of “crabs,” wait until you find out how many times things evolved to to ant eaters…
Cool, now we know what a facelifted Lotus Evora would look like if they hadn’t replaced it with the Emira.
I could do without the scissor doors, but liftable front and rear clams? Sign me up!
Just remember, the cost of replacing the front clam shell ($15,000-20,000) after a minor accident has totalled many an Elise/Exige.
My drift MX5 had a fibreglass front bumper, and several times a year I’d hit a cone or tag a wall with it. I found it was infinitely repairable.
I’d collect all the bits, strap them together with plates and cable ties, add repair patches to the back using some left over carbon or Kevlar weave, then just fill and smooth the cracks on the front.
Painting it was easy because the whole car was satin black, so minimal prep and no skill required. With a car that looked nice this is where the money would go.
It really bothers me that great cars can end up totalled from a relatively easy repair.
When I took off the rear clam from my S1 Elise to fix a fuel leak I found a load of repair patches. It had clearly been in a light rear impact, but the repairs were invisible from the paint side.
A friend of mine had an early S2 Elise and converted the front an rear clams to be quick release using aerocatches. It only took a couple of days.
It made changing the head gasket much less grief because he didn’t have all the bodywork in the way.
Does Magma have Dr. Evil as their spokesperson?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MYAFfeNO00
It never looks very natural to me when an automaker of mainstream cars tries to force its corporate styling language onto the wedge of a supercar. I always felt this way about the NSX2, the A8 etc.
This is a very pretty car no doubt, but it kinda looks like they pasted the two horizontal headlights from some other Genesis model onto the front of a car that wasn’t designed to have a specific corporate face.
You could squeeze two kidneys and angel eyes onto the front of this same wedge instead and we’d all be talking about what a good-looking BMW it is.
Funny you say that but I think this is the first Genesis where that two horizontal headlight strip “works”. It’s a not-so-subtle cue that’s well integrated into the front design. Better than Porsche’s initial attempts to make the front of their SUVs and sedans more 911-like.
Other than the Genesis signature pass through light elements, it’s pretty generic supercar and literally every Gandini Lamborghini was better looking or at least more interesting than his work, though I will say that after him, it got a lot worse. I’d even take a Jalpa over anything they build today. Hell, I’d take a damn Prius over anything they make now.
I was thinking the other day how TVR had 3 distinct, successive eras down to changes in ownership with each standing out on their own merits, getting progressively better/more distinct as they went on. I tried to think of any comps, but couldn’t. The big companies don’t tend to have distinct eras as they’re not run by an autocrat, though certainly there are design periods or such, entire brand character can’t really be credited to an individual, so smaller companies it is. I think (real) Bugatti could have achieved it, but Jean tragically died too soon. Ferrari after Enzo, meh. Maybe the Montezemolo era could stand out on its own, but it wasn’t entirely distinct and now I couldn’t give less of a shit about the ugly, boring stuff they sell (the cars, though also the branded underwear that I heard if you wear to bed or don’t hand wash, they deny your inclusion on approved lists to buy their
static garage displayscars). Lamborghini had the Gandini/Bizzarrini era, then some bland, uncanny valley German interpretations of Italian passion, and whatever the boring looking crap they make now is. Most companies tend to get less distinct, stuck on the past as if heritage is as much burden as asset. Maybe it makes sense that a company like TVR, a company too small and inconsequential to carry that kind of baggage heritage or beholden to boardrooms and investors would achieve such a thing by being cheap enough for passionate fans to have bought them up and molded them into what they envisioned without losing the basic brief that they were founded on. Of course, persistent rumors without real evidence aside, TVR is dead and these other clowns are still putting out douche canoes with automatic paddles. One died like a mortal hero, the others live as AI slop versions of their name’s past, more undead than alive. Hm, maybe I should start listening to podcasts or something while I commute.I’ve driven my MIL’s GV60 long term and think a performance version makes sense.
The supercar looks cool, but I literally thought it was a new Koenigseggegggiegggegg Agera.
I think that you’ve miscalculated what my favorite Lamborghinis are
Jeebus, that banner image gave me a jump scare until I read it twice.
Yeah, gotta change the name. You don’t want a fascist association.
We have different perspectives on Hyundai’s styling of such vehicles as the SantaFe and Venue.
Someone mentioned this a while back either here or on the old lighting site, so I won’t take credit for this sentiment, but I can’t get Dr. Evil saying magma out of my head whenever whenever I read about these cars. I am 100% certain that that isn’t what Genesis intended, but here we are.
That being said at least they have a cool color for these cars. I’m so tired of seeing various grays in most of the press photos for M/AMG/RS cars. Hell Ze Germans usually have a “special” gray that’s exclusive to their sporty cars which is the biggest joke ever. It’s not special. It’s fucking gray.
Anyway it would be neat if they built the GT. Absolutely no one would buy one, but it would make me happy just knowing it exists and I imagine it would probably have Lexus LFA potential down the line as one of those supercars no one asked for that have a redemption arc down the line. But it would get people into showrooms just like the Audi R8 did, so it’s probably worth losing some money on.
Anyway I really dig the GV60 Magma. I…like the Ioniq 5 N but I find that it’s a little goofy looking in person. Pictures make it look like a hot hatch, but in real life it’s basically a hot hatch scaled up by 20%. It just doesn’t really work for me for some reason and the Ioniq 6 N is just flat out ugly. I’d be happy to eventually consider trading up to either if they were a little more mature, but they aren’t and the 6 N’s packaging in particular isn’t great for my needs.
But this? It fits the bill, even in that thermonuclear orange color. It’ll also have enough space for family duty. Allegedly it’s going to cost $70,000+, which is a non starter for me, but once someone else takes that initial depreciation hit I’d consider a used one in the 50s in a heartbeat.
THAT BEING SAID…will we get the damn NACS port on them? Hyundai only equips the Ioniq 5 N with a CCS port and due to the abysmal range of these models I really couldn’t make one work without access to superchargers.
Same. I guess I could step up and spend $70k to $90k for one, but don’t really want to. I can hold my breath for a year or two and grab one for $50k like you. My $38k Santa Cruz will have to do in the meantime.
I’m sorry, but the Ioniq 6 and 5 are great. GV60 and Kia EV6 are the ugly ones…
Oh I like the base models. Turning them into Ns just didn’t seem to translate for me for some reason…
I think that a commercial with a serious Mike Meyers explaining the benefits of EVs that cuts into a montage of burn outs and power slides while Mike devolves into a Dr. Evil impression that repeats “liquid-hot magma” would go over well
I think the LFA only got it’s redemption arc solely due to its V10’s exhaust tuning. If the rumors are true, it’s gonna get a turbocharged V8 from an endurance series that doesn’t encourage pushing the engines, which is rather boring IMO. Unless its looks resonate, I feel like it’s gonna end up more boring than the 2nd gen NSX.
For context, in the Hypercar class power is limited to around 670hp ±20hp with BoP adjustments, and the torque curve is highly prescribed, effectively eliminating the need to go past 8k RPM. The ideal engine is a largish displacement (minimize turbo lag) V8 that’s lightly turbocharged (which only exists to make BoP adjustments easier), or a V6 turbo for better packaging & CoG.
It has a V8, which is inherently less boring than the V6 in the second gen NSX
You don’t need a native NACS port to use the superchargers, just an appropriate adapter, but it would be more convenient if it had the port, but all of the performance variants are built in Korea vs the standard version of at least the Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6, which with NACS are assembled in the USA but all GV60s are Korean built as well so IDK.
A real color. In a sea of platinumsilvergoldishbeigeblackgreywhite. Sell this to me
In regards to the headline, this guy did not design the Countach LP400 or the Miura.
And thank you for being specific about the LP400, which is a great looking car, as opposed to later models that progressively got uglier and uglier.
Or any of the other real Lamborghinis. The Murcielago and Gallardo were the decline. The Murcielago looks like a German trying to Gandini. Of course, after that, at best, they got yawningly predictable before being sent to a middle schooler for add-ons, so they could have been worse.
I currently DD a ’23 Hyundai Santa Cruz. I would love to see a Genesis version of my truck, and even better, a Magma version. I’d trade up to that in a heartbeat.
I wasn’t convinced that Genesis’ design language would work on a supercar… I was very wrong. What a stunner! Shame that the owners will have to get it serviced at their local Hyundai/Kia dealership.
That body shape (windshield and roof especially) screams Koenigsegg to me.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought that. It’s that Group-C inspired teardrop greenhouse that Koenigsegg is known for.
I glanced at the topshot and thought it was another Koenigsegg.
It screams “This is what the Corvette C8 should look like” to me.
“The man behind the design also penned some of the greatest-looking modern Lamborghinis.” I know this is a hot take, but to me there *are* no good-looking Lambos. And that’s why I dislike the C8 – too Lambo-like, with too many straight-edges that look like and 8-year-old with a ruler designed it.
But *this* car looks fantastic.
So give it a rear window and it will be almost perfect (nothing’s perfect).
For something to scream “that’s what a Corvette should look like” to me, it should have something that says “Corvette” about it.
I like this design; it’s certainly a lot better than the C8 (and C7) Corvette. But absolutely nothing about it has me thinking that GM should have designed something similar for the C8.
To me, the C8 (and the C7) look too HotWheel like. They aren’t horrible, but they lack a certain something that I can’t really explain. Whatever it is, they look comparatively cheap.
The original Countach was not a bad looking car. but then it got all sorts of “aero” addons and other body molding doo-dads and became a hideous caricature of itself. And of course, some of the older models like a Miura and the GT 400 are beautiful.
Agree on the new ones being a bit, um, brash looking and way too angular.