Genesis Wants to Build the Magma GT Concept — But There's One Major Hurdle in the Way

• What's new: The Genesis Magma GT has passed engineering tests and is ready for production, but Hyundai CEO José Muñoz says the Magma GT and GT3 race car must be financially feasible before they can be green-lit.
• Why it matters: Automakers used to build supercars for the sake of having a halo car at the top of the lineup. Those days are mostly gone, and Genesis has made clear that the Magma GT and GT3 twins can't exist just for show.
• Edmunds says: Tight economic times mean that supercars can only be built if they're going to make a profit, but the chances of the Magma GT and GT3 going into production will no doubt have increased based on the favorable reaction to their design. 

This year was Genesis' first time contesting the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the exotic Hypercar class. In the future, Genesis wants to race in the more accessible GT3 category, which requires a car to compete with racing versions of the Chevy Corvette, Ford Mustang, Porsche 911 and others.

Enter the Magma GT3 concept, which debuted ahead of the race alongside an updated version of last year's road-going Magma GT study. One can't come without the other: International Automobile Federation (FIA) regulations require that any GT3 race car must be homologated to a road-legal model, with Genesis required to build at least 300 examples of the GT for every year the GT3 is in competition.

The annual volume requirement is not particularly onerous, and production could even be outsourced to a partner like Austria's Magna Steyr, which builds low-volume cars — including the Toyota GR Supra and BMW Z4 — on behalf of automakers. But with Korean pride on full display at the country's first Le Mans entry, there would likely be a push to manufacture the GT and GT3 at home.

"If there is a production car, there will be a racing car, and if there is a racing car, we'll make sure [it] races in the best team, in the best championship, in the GT World Challenge," said Cyril Abiteboul, chairman of Hyundai Motorsport.

But Genesis won't enter GT3 at all if Muñoz can't be convinced that the project will generate a profit for Hyundai. The decision has been made that the GT/GT3 program will not be allowed to make losses. Being a halo car to generate interest in other Genesis models isn't enough.

The GT's cabin, revealed at Le Mans, is beautifully finished with digital and analog controls and a gated (but automatic) shifter. "I'm confident if you have a good product, I think everything else should work. But that is what we are considering now … you can say that we are now in [the business-case phase]," Muñoz said.

The strategy marks a change in how manufacturers have historically justified supercar models, which have often been "pet projects" that were considered necessary indulgences even if they bled red ink. Muñoz indicated that he is not seeking to build a supremely expensive and limited supercar, adding, "As we evolve into the financial viewpoint, we need to be looking at the pricing options — we definitely want to be competitive."

Demand for the Magma GT from key dealers and customers — especially in the U.S. and South Korea — will be influential in whether the cars are approved and whether Genesis will "go big" in a bid to compete with the Porsche 911.