Genesis makes a big step towards realizing its racing dream.
Enjoying a meteoric rise within the highly competitive luxury automotive space, Genesis has carved out an admirable niche in an arena full of heritage brands that boast a hundred years of history or more. However, the enviable engineering, elegant style, and sumptuous luxury that Genesis models offer make the manufacturer one of the most popular luxury marques currently on the market.
However, Genesis has incredibly ambitious plans for its future. A number of concept cars have envisioned Genesis creating electric flagship SUVs, grand touring coupes and convertibles, and even an off-roader. However, even closer on the horizon is Genesis’ new performance arm, Magma, which is not only set to be headed by a cohort of performance-oriented Genesis models, but also by a racing team that has its sights set on victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Creating a new racing hypercar called the GMR-001, Genesis is preparing to take on the grid at the legendary and incredibly challenging endurance race during its 2026 iteration, and it’s made a milestone step closer to achieving that goal. At Hyundai Motorsport’s Frankfurt, Germany headquarters, the new GMR-001 hypercar’s engine, a twin-turbocharged V8, was successfully fired up for the first time. Derived from the inline-four engine that powers Hyundai’s WRC challenger, the V8 is based on a tried and tested foundation.
The next step is testing, and since the successful fire-up, the development is on schedule for Genesis Magma Racing to enter the FIA WEC in 2026, and then the IMSA SportsCar Championship in 2027. With the engine officially fired up, Genesis is ready to build its anticipated racing legacy.