Genesis is the brainchild of Luc Donckerwolke, Chief Creative Officer and Chief Design Officer for the Hyundai Motor Group, who is clear about how the brand must evolve after its first ten years. “A luxury brand must have many facets: it must be premium, sporty, and cool. So you have to create a passion, as emotions fuel the desire that is at the heart of the brand.
Off-road weekend
Ten years ago, Genesis was just luxury sedans. Five years ago, we introduced SUVs, a lifestyle. Then we moved into the sporty side, with the Magma cars. But many of our customers, especially in the Middle East, have active lives that push them off-road on the weekends, and that’s why we created cars for them and for their dune bashing.”
The crown jewel
Thus, in the Rub’ al-Khali desert in the fearsome “Empty Quarter” of the Arabian Peninsula, a new series of concepts debuted. Three are derived from production SUVs: the GV60 Outdoors Concept, the GV70 Outdoors Concept, and the GV80 Desert Edition, which join the newly launched Gran Equator, a luxury SUV with off-road capabilities. But the crown jewel of this new facet of Genesis is called X Skorpio Concept.
The desert skorpion
The name says it all, because it truly is a mighty desert scorpion. This extreme off-roader is destined to be produced in extremely limited numbers and only to order — 5, 10, maybe 20 at most, priced around 1.5 million dollars — and brings Genesis luxury to the world of off-roading. It won’t be homologated for road use to maintain its exclusivity and extreme power.
Californian toy
The X Skorpio concept was designed and built in California (“That’s where they make those toys,” smiles Donckerwolke) by Senior Chief Designer John Krsteski’s team, joined by Edward Tseng for the exterior and Christopher Ha for the interior. The work had already begun at the end of 2023: the car would have been ready a year ago had it not been for the Los Angeles fires, which meant the best time for the presentation was missed (before Ramadan, because afterward it would have been too hot in the desert).
Three distinct parts: front, centre and rear
“From the beginning,” Donckerwolke recalls, “the resemblance to the black desert scorpion was intentional.” The designers maintained a clear distinction between the front and the middle and rear, just like a scorpion. And the air vents, created by offsetting the surfaces, accentuated that effect: “Creating elements similar to the scorpion’s armour,” suggests Donckerwolke, “in a play of contrasts and opposites.” The black paint fused with a vibrant blue gleams in the desert sun as X Skorpio bounds across the dunes: it’s like redefining the concept of luxury in the world of the most aggressive off-road vehicles.
(Full article in A&D no. 278)
