Genesis covered two extremes during a preview event at this year’s New York International Auto Show – rolling out the ultra-exclusive X Gran Equator concept, along with a prototype of the GMR-001 Hypercar it’s developing for global endurance racing programs. Headlight.News has more.
Genesis design chief Luc Donckerwolke reveals the X Gran Coupe concept.
Think of Genesis as what one senior official described this week as “a work in progress.” An independent brand only since 2015 it might be gaining traction but it still has a long way to go to catch up to global luxury leaders like Mercedes-Benz and BMW. One challenge is to simply increase its awareness among potential high-line buyers.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, giving Genesis the opportunity to shape its future. And it offered a sense of what it has in mind during a media backgrounder coinciding with the opening of the 2025 New York International Auto Show.
The Genesis X Gran Equator is a massive SUV concept suggesting the brand is looking for ways to move further upmarket, while the GMR-001 is a new hypercar being developed by the new Genesis Magma Racing team for the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship programs. Here’s a bit more on the two debuts.
How high is up?
The Genesis X Gran Equator is intended to tackle ultra-luxury competitors like the Bentley Bentayga while offering serious off-road capabilities.
When Genesis spun off from Hyundai as a standalone luxury brand it initially offered just two high-line sedans, a challenge at a time when the auto industry was rapidly shifting to SUVs. It’s since added three crossovers: the GV90, GV80 and all-electric GV70.
But it has yet bigger ambitions. Genesis is getting ready to launch the new Magma high-performance series, first confirmed at the 2024 New York event. And it’s been sending out signals that it wants to move still up-market.
How far up-market it isn’t saying, though some analysts are suggesting Genesis might want to go so far as to tackle ultra-lux brands like Bentley. A senior exec Headlight.News spoke to in New York said, on background, “We’re not naming other brands, but you can use your imagination. We want to have a much broader reach.”
X Gran Equator
Where are the video screens?
The first show car revealed at the automaker’s distinctive Genesis House location in Manhattan was the X Gran Equator. It builds on the earlier Neolun concept revealed a year earlier. Surprisingly, the badge isn’t necessarily a geographic reference but one inspired by the name of what, said Genesis is “widely recognized as the ‘finest stallion’ in the world of Arabian horses – a symbol of endurance, agility, and refined power.”
The automaker described X Gran Equator as its “first adventure vehicle.” Though officials subsequently told us there are no specific plans to put the concept into production, they confided that it may very well influence a future model that blends extreme levels of luxury with go-anywhere, any-time capabilities. The closest example today might be the Bently Bentayga or the most exclusive versions of the Range Rover.
X Gran Equator features a massively long engine compartment which suggests it might stick with some form of internal combustion or hybrid drivetrain. The distinctive design adds four “windows” in the roof, rather than a 1-piece sunroof There’s plenty of body cladding, as well as 24-inch beadlock wheels that “underscore its off-road readiness. But the show car also maintains some now-signature Genesis design elements, starting with the quad lighting and Crest Grille.
Inside, the X Gran Equator blends luxury with ruggedness, with a refined, two-tone color scheme, a large crossbeam dividing the cabin into left and right halves, twin side-by-side gloveboxes and surprisingly, a collection of round gauges – without the big digital displays that have become today’s automotive norm.
More Genesis News
- Genesis Lays Out Plans to Race at Le Mans
- Genesis Reveals Coupe and Convertible Concepts
- Genesis Slowing EV Plans
Genesis goes racing
The Genesis GMR 001 racer.
Like its plebian sibling Hyundai, Genesis sees the motorsports world as a way to help build brand awareness – an area where it still lags well behind many of its luxury competitors. In 2024, the Korean luxury brand confirmed both plans to launch the Magma series, a counterpoint to e the Mecedes AMG line and BMW’s M. It also said it would be heading out onto the track.
“We will be the ambassador for Korea on the world stage,” said design chief Luc Donckerwolke at the debut of the GMR-001, a sleek racer he described as “a true expression of Genesis design and performance.”
The prototype revealed in New York bears the fiery orange livery that will be used for the brand’s upcoming retail performance cars – adding Korean Hangul script that translates into “Magma.” Under the skin, the racer will use a twin-turbo 3.2-liter V-8 powertrain with hybrid boost. The package will be limited to around 680 hp under current WEC regulations.
Long-term aspirations
Donckervolk, Abetoboul and, to the left, the future GMR-001 drivers.
In an unusual move, Genesis is developing the final running model to compete in both the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship programs.
The project has long-term aspirations. Indeed, a timeline displayed during this week’s reveal indicated Genesis doesn’t expect to put the GMR-001 out on the track until early 2027. At that point it expects to participate in races around the world, include some U.S. endurance events.
Expect the competition to be “fierce,” cautioned Cyril Abiteboul, the head of the new Genesis Magma Racing team, with GMR-001 going up against endurance cars fielded by better-established teams from of Alpine, Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Ferrari, Peugeot, Porsche, and Toyota.
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