N Will Strengthen Hyundai Brand, Says Exec

HWASEONG, South Korea – Hyundai is preparing to launch its high-performance N sub-brand in Europe in September.

Strengthening the core Hyundai brand and broadening its appeal to younger and/or enthusiast car buyers are two of the reasons behind the creation of N.

“We feel that our products are much better than our brand strength in the marketplace,” Albert Biermann, executive vice president-high-performance development at Hyundai, tells media here during a briefing.

“The mission of this car is to be approachable (and) affordable for younger enthusiasts,” Biermann says of now being the right time for a performance focus at the Korean automaker.

He classifies the launch of N and the coming debut of the compact i30N hatchback at the 2017 Frankfurt auto show as a natural evolution for Hyundai and not unexpected given 1990s and early 2000s sports cars such as the Scoupe, Tiburon/Tuscani and, more recently, the ’08 Genesis coupe.

Hyundai is keeping specifications of the i30N under wraps, but it will have a 2.0L turbocharged 4-cyl. mated to a 6-speed manual transmission and take on such “hot hatch” competitors in Europe as the Volkswagen GTI, Ford Focus RS and Honda Civic Type-R.

Reports suggest the i30N will make 274 hp when it arrives in the market, below the 350 hp from the 2.3L turbo-4 Focus RS and the Type-R’s 306-hp rating from its 2.0L turbo-4.

Hyundai’s Minsoo Kim, director-brand strategy, doesn’t hold back in his criticism of future competitors, classifying them as “all cliché” as well as formulaic. He says the i30N’s brakes will be similar to those used on Hyundai’s mass-produced models, rather than match the Focus RS and Civic Type-R with Brembo performance brakes.

N stands for both Namyang, home of Hyundai-Kia’s sprawling research and development center here, but also Nürburgring, Germany’s famed race circuit.

Despite proclamations by Kim that N means “the feeling when a car meets a driver at the apex of a corner,” Biermann is quick to note the i30N will be equally at home on the streets.

“Every N car has to survive on a race track, (but) the i30N also has to be good enough for daily driving, to go to the office or store,” he says. An adjustable chassis is one of the elements that will make that possible.

The i30N, Biermann says, will boast dynamic handling, powerful and linear acceleration, good brake performance, responsive and powerful sound, a sporty-feeling seat and a fun-to-drive character reflected in information provided in its instrument cluster.

Kim tells WardsAuto it will be “quite soon” when Hyundai follows up the i30N in Europe, although he won’t say what model will get the high-performance treatment next.

Hyundai has been dabbling in motorsports leading up to the i30N’s September launch, including putting a near-production i30N in last month’s 24 hours of Nürburgring race. Biermann touts the car finished ahead of 22 BMWs and 11 Porsches. Biermann is a former vice president of engineering for BMW’s M performance unit.

He says Hyundai plans to enter TCR series racing in the U.S. next year by participating in the Pirelli World Challenge.

Biermann vows the N brand will come to the U.S., but timing is not being given. Recent spy photos suggest an N version of Hyundai’s Veloster coupe is in the works for the States, with launch timing reportedly in 2019. Hyundai has shown racing concepts of the Veloster in recent years, under the RM (racing midship) name.

The i30’s American twin, the Elantra GT, is all-new this summer, but its two versions will boast outputs of just 160 and 207 hp.

Electrified powertrains are a likely future strategy for N. Says Biermann: “I think it’s just a matter of time when it will happen.”

Hyundai’s new Genesis luxury brand models won’t get N versions, Biermann says, but N versions of Hyundai’s CUVs are possible. BMW’s M brand consists of sedans, convertibles and coupes and also offers M-badged X5 and X6 CUVs.

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