By depositing PVD coatings on already conventionally galvanized steel sheets novel zinc alloy coatings have been developed. One of the biggest advantages of PVD coatings lies in the broad choice of coating materials as there are no constraints due to chemical reactions between the substrate and the coating. This leads to a variety in the coating compositions. Accordingly, PVD processes enable customized solutions for various purposes. Magnesium on galvanized sheet steel has been identified as a very promising coating system. Corrosion performance is improved considerably while other properties like forming, joining and painting are comparable to or better than the untreated galvanized material.