Winning isn’t the only goal for Genesis Magma Racing.
The Hyundai-owned luxury brand is set to join the World Endurance Championship in 2026 and it hopes going racing will not only attract more attention to the fledgling brand but also reshape the company’s internal culture.
Speaking at the launch of the Genesis Magma Racing livery in New York this week, Genesis chief creative officer, Luc Donkerwolke, told Torquecafe that he wants the brand to carry the entire South Korean car industry onto the global motor racing stage and make his employees “less humble” and more “audacious”.
While its parent company has been competing in the World Rally Championship since 1998, no South Korean brand has ever competed in Formula 1 or raced in the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans – something Donkerwolke is looking to change in 2026.
He said the decision to enter the World Endurance Championship in ‘26 (and the IMSA GTP series in ‘27) was driven by the good fit for the brand in sports car racing and against showroom competitors such as BMW and Porsche on the track.
“ We have been racing in rally for quite some time with the Hyundai Motor Group and we think that it’s time maybe to work in a category that is more fitting for Genesis for the typical vehicles that we do,” Donkerwolke said. “So the endurance championships, first of all is the original motor racing, and this led to the gentleman racers enjoying and the spirit is still there today. So we believe that this is exactly compatible with the Genesis brand values and the Genesis character of the brand.”
Donkerwolke also admitted that the current Hypercar rules are attractive to manufacturers due to both the cost containment and focus on road car styling, but said a major factor in the decision to hit the racetrack was the internal benefits. Rather than just selling more cars, Donkerwolke wants to use racing to inspire his employees and teach them to think in a new, more competitive way.
“At the same time motorsport is extremely motivating internally as well,” he said. “It also brings another type of attitude. Motorsport, you know, normally when you work on production vehicles, you do what is allowed to do. In motorsport you don’t do what is allowed to do. You do what is not forbidden. And this is a big change of mentality that we want to introduce, also a research and development mentality. So that is very important.”
He also specifically mentioned the South Korean culture of humility as being an area where racing could help Genesis close the gap to its rivals in the new car showroom battle.
“It’s also the fact that the Korean culture is very humble,” he explained. “But sometimes we have to be a little bit more, let’s say, audacious, and I think that motorsport is going to bring this type of attitude into the company and it’s going to motivate a lot of people.”
Naturally, racing is also expected to improve the quality and performance of showroom models, and the Genesis boss teased that process has already begun as it prepares to launch its Magma performance sub-brand.
“I expect a lot of lessons learned and we already are actually working on programs which are common for some technical parts, vehicle parts of the vehicle, like engines and the next developments of the vehicle already, which are being developed simultaneously with some other projects that we do,” Donkerwolke said.
“So there’s a lot of synergies that are going to come from motorsport into the production vehicles. So that there is not such thing as a decoupled motorsport venture from the brand itself.”
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