Hyundai is working on RWD hybrid Genesis sports car

In the second quarter of 2017, Manfred Fitzgerald, boss of Genesis, denied any plans to build a halo sports car. Instead, he said that what the brand will concentrate on is to provide what majority of its customers want.

But without any notice, it seems like the guys from the premium South Korean automaker have changed their minds sometime last year. In fact, two executives from Hyundai confirmed that a new Genesis nameplate is already in the works. It’s possible that the clamor from the fans of Genesis was so deafening that the brand had no choice but to give in.

It was Luc Donckerwolke, vice president of Hyundai, and Woong-chul Yang, vice chairman or research and development, who confirmed the existence of this project to WheelsMagazine. They hinted that the vehicle will likely have two seats, and will be powered by a hybrid system. He mentioned that the key ingredient to the vehicle’s success would be the performance that it gains from its batteries and electric motors working together.

Donckerwolke erased all doubt when he said that that they are “definitely doing it” and that he will be checking on the project a week after CES. However, he didn’t really give us a lot of details. Nevertheless, he stated that the brand won’t go fully autonomous with all their vehicles.

The rear wheel drive Genesis supercar will be developed under the former BMW M boss Albert Biermann, and will be completed with the cooperation of Hyundai’s N division. Yang says that it will be powered by an advanced hybrid system that will consist of a small gasoline engine and an electric motor. He made it clear that the engineers will put in “some electric powerplant in there”. Hyundai has said that it seeks to minimise the use of an internal combustion engine while optimizing its electric motors.

Yang also said during the interview that the company needs a halo sports car at the moment. In fact, this is the focus of its people working at N. He went on to say that the new Genesis sports car will offer “a pretty high performance.” No one has come out yet to say when we can expect this model to arrive. However, it has been hinted that its design ideas are far ahead of the engineering work. Even so, Yang confirmed that a concept will be released relatively soon. Expectations are insanely high whenever any model from Genesis is announced so we’ll be closely following this development.