Hyundai will be showcasing
its new high performance sub-division at the Frankfurt Motor Show in
September. A futuristic Gran Turismo concept and racy WRC car will preview hot
new road models in years to come.
The company claims to have
carried out intensive testing and product development to come up with Hyundai
‘N’, a sub-brand aimed at providing a cut-price alternative to the likes of BMW
M and Mercedes-AMG.
Hyundai’s prototype WRC car,
based on the new i20 Coupé, will appear on stage at the event giving us a good
idea on what’s to come, which according to Hyundai will be a full
“performance-orientated and race-track-capable” lineup.
Another debut at Frankfurt will be the ’N 2025
Vision Gran Turismo’. It’s a concept car that will be featured on PlayStation’s
Gran Turismo video game. It’s a move by Hyundai that is expected to
drum up lots of interest from a younger audience that could be future buyers of
the N performance models.
The third car to have a
place on Hyundai’s stall is the 2-seater RM15 Concept, a lightweight
mid-engined rear-wheel-drive car that uses a 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbocharged
petrol engine to produce 296 bhp. It’s effectively a heavily modified Veloster,
which was previous dropped by the firm due to slow sales.
This has all be aided by
ex-BMW M Chief Engineer Albert Biermann’s move to Hyundai earlier this year.
He’s now based in South Korea and responsible for Kia and Hyundai’s
high-performance models as well as the general improvement of ride, handling,
comfort and safety across the range.
It’s highly likely that the
i30 family hatchback will be the first car to receive the ‘N’ treatment, with
performance expected to rival the SEAT Leon Cupra and Ford Focus ST. This could
be as early as 2017, the the i20 N following shortly after.
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