Genesis Debuts Luxurious Off-Road SUV Concept and New Race Car

Production cars are every automaker’s bread-and-butter, of course, but it’s concept cars that really capture everyone’s attention. Genesis has been on a roll with them: Earlier this month, it rolled out a stunning pair of them, the X Gran Coupe and Gran Convertible, in its hometown of Seoul, South Korea.

And now, on the eve of the 2025 New York International Auto Show (NYIAS), it took the wraps off two more. One could potentially get you to the great outdoors cocooned in luxury; and the other, if “race car driver” happens to be on your resume, could possibly get you to the finish line and then to the podium.

Genesis X Gran Equator Concept

Named Equator not for Earth’s latitude line but for a champion Arabian stallion, this concept SUV is described as “an elegant overlander for the modern explorer.” It essentially builds on the Neolun Concept, unveiled at the same show last year. That model was Genesis’ first full-size all-electric SUV concept; its designers described it as using “reductive design,” all clean lines and with no “unnecessary details.” The X Gran Equator shares the Neolun’s overall shape, but with straight lines of light in front to its predecessor’s triangular shape. One noticeable difference is that the Neolun had coach doors, with the rear doors hinged at the back so they fully opened to the concept’s interior, with no centre B-pillar. 

Instead, the X Gran Equator has four conventional doors. When it showed the Neolun, Genesis said coach doors had become sufficiently developed that they could be feasible on a production car, but that’s still a really big step. Instead, the Gran Equator’s front-hinged doors could potentially indicate that this model is a further step toward a large electric SUV that Genesis could potentially put into production.

While still bearing many hallmarks of a concept car that isn’t hampered by the realities of mass production, the Gran Equator’s interior also looks more like something you might one day find in a showroom. Compared to the Neolun’s futuristic dash and squared-off steering wheel, the Gran Equator has retro-looking gauges and a very handsome round wheel. 

Its gear selector appears to be the crystal sphere from the production GV60, where it spins in its cradle when the vehicle is started to reveal the shifting side. The concept side of this SUV appears in the four round screens in the centre of the dash rather than a large touchscreen that customers would probably prefer, in the modular glove box with two smaller boxes strapped in, and in its swivelling front seats. In the rear seats, an armrest juts into space, with a water bottle strapped in at the end. It’s a gorgeous cabin that, in keeping with the idea of off-road adventures, somehow manages to look high-end luxury while still maintaining that SUV functionality. At the rear, the liftgate opens clamshell-style, and the lower half has chairbacks that can be raised for outdoor seating.

At the unveiling, it was all about the design. Other than the 24-inch beadlock wheels that “underscore its off-road readiness,” as the automaker put it, nothing was mentioned about its drivetrain – obviously electric – nor what it is capable of doing, beyond an AI-generated video of it tackling impossibly steep mountain trails and towing an airplane. But even if it doesn’t make it to production exactly as it sits today on the stage in New York, it’s very likely a large electric SUV will eventually make it to the Genesis portfolio; and if some of the impressive styling cues from the X Gran Equator’s cabin show up across the production lineup, it’ll all be for the good.

Genesis GMR-001

Earlier this month, Genesis also presented a half-scale model of its planned mid-engine race car, and now it has rolled out the full-size version, the GMR-001 Hypercar. Genesis wants to get into endurance racing, with the intention of competing in the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and, in 2027, the IMSA Sportscar Championship. 

The GMR stands for Genesis Magma Racing, and that second word will be important for enthusiasts as it’s intended to soon indicate performance cars for consumers, along the lines of parent company Hyundai’s N models. 

The largest market for Genesis vehicles may be in North America, but the GMR-001 is intended to put the automaker’s Korean roots on display. As mentioned at the unveiling, it’ll be the first time the Korean flag will be an integral part of this racing scene. 

The car’s body was penned at Genesis Design Europe, under the eye of chief creative officer Luc Donckerwolke. It features an aerodynamic underbody plate, heat extractors to enhance thermal performance, and unique lighting with Genesis’ “Two-Line” light design around the front and rear. The colours are Magma’s signature orange, along with red highlights paying homage to the powertrain’s high temperature. The automaker is tight-lipped about the specifications, but said its chassis and twin-turbo V8 hybrid powertrain were developed in partnership with ORECA Motorsport. Plans are to build the first car this coming July, and then start testing and certifying it soon after. The idea is to win races, of course, but it’s also intended to be a testbed for new technologies that will eventually find their way into the Magma consumer vehicles.