The wacky one-off looks otherworldly during its first European outing.
Not to be confused with Audi’s forgotten Skorpion diesel supercar, the X Skorpio is an entirely different animal. We first saw the raw off-roader at the beginning of the year, when Genesis surprised us with a go-anywhere machine riding on 40-inch off-road tires. It’s about as far removed from a luxury SUV as you can get, so much so that it looks like a trophy truck wearing a Genesis suit. Some say that’s actually the case, but Genesis never confirmed it.
Anywho, the X Skorpio is as real as it gets. While the press images made it look like a fictional concept, a new official video proves Genesis has actually built it. The X Skorpio made its European driving debut at the 2026 Tutto Bene Hillclimb in Italy. Hyundai’s luxury spin-off took the 9-kilometer (5.6-mile) Strada Borromea route up Mottarone mountain, near Lake Maggiore, where Genesis Magma Racing driver André Lotterer drove the Mad Max-ready monster.
Although the X Skorpio was designed primarily for desert running, the hill climb offered an unusual chance to see the wacky machine tackle a completely different type of terrain. And yes, it looks every bit as ridiculous as you’d expect from a 1,100-horsepower off-road brute with a V8 engine. Underneath the aggressive bodywork is a tubular chassis with a full roll cage and components lifted straight from off-road endurance racing specialists.
The body combines fiberglass, carbon fiber, and Kevlar into a sinister package housing a suspension engineered to take serious abuse. Yes, there’s evident body roll, but that’s how the cookie crumbles with something developed to face the zombie apocalypse or the rise of robots, which seems increasingly likely in the AI world.
Genesis didn’t just give the X Skorpio an outrageous engine and massive tires before calling it a day. The concept was built around being repaired quickly in the middle of nowhere, with replaceable exterior panels and hardware designed to swap out without turning the vehicle into a lengthy workshop project. That makes sense for a machine intended to venture deep into the desert, where the nearest parts department is likely several hundred miles away.
Despite its brutal exterior, Genesis didn’t completely abandon luxury inside. The cabin features ergonomic seats, four-point harnesses, climate control, and a sliding display that can move between the driver and passenger depending on whether the vehicle is being driven solo or with a co-driver. The instrument display is mounted directly on the steering wheel so the driver can keep their eyes on the road.
Although it’s technically a one-off concept, Genesis has plans to sell the X Skorpio to wealthy off-road enthusiasts. It previously confirmed that it had already received several orders shortly after unveiling the vehicle, with the limited production run intended for deep-pocketed customers in the Middle East. Not that we were expecting a license plate, but the planned production vehicles won’t be street legal.
The X Skorpio isn’t even Genesis’ first off-road rodeo. The X Gran Equator took us all by surprise when it debuted last year, with the Rivian R1S and electric Mercedes G-Class in its crosshairs. That one won’t be going into production, although some of its rugged elements might.
Motor1’s Take: We have to give Genesis credit for actually building the X Skorpio and, even better, letting it loose on a mountain road. Plenty of wild concepts are confined to auto show stages, never turning a wheel under their own power. It would’ve been a shame not to see it in action.
The hill climb is also a refreshing change of scenery for something designed for desert running. It looks hilariously out of place on a narrow Italian mountain road, but that’s part of the appeal. If Genesis is serious about selling a limited number of these to wealthy Middle Eastern customers, we can only hope it keeps showing the X Skorpio in places where you’d least expect to see a 1,100-hp off-roader.
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Sources:
Genesis, NM2255 / YouTube
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