New Super Car
Hyundai Motor’s first high performance car under the N sub-brand will come in 2017, said Albert Biermann, executive vice president at Hyundai Motor, during a group interview with the Korean press at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show on Sept. 15 (local time).
The press meeting came on the heels of his presentation on the vision for the N brand during the biannual auto trade show that kicked off in the day.
Hyundai Motor announced that it unveiled the RM 15 and the concept car, its first models of the N brand, to reporters around the world, and announced its plan to turn itself into a super car brand during the press conference.
Biermann stressed that it is a time to have a super car sub-brand for Hyundai Motor.
He said, “Hyundai Motor is quite a successful brand as a base car with convenience, marketability, and sleek design. However, we need to have a sub-brand for high performance cars in a bid to improve the brand value.”
Biermann also disclosed the development process of the N brand. He said, “Separate teams at the Namyang R&D center in Korea have been developing the N brand for 2 years, and it will work closely together with the company’s technical center in Europe, located in Russelsheim, Germany. It means that the early development stage of the N will be carried out in Namyang, and then the brand will be polished at the Nurburgring circuit at the Russelsheim R&D center.”
He added, “Hyundai Motor is developing the N brand with clear company-level direction as well as full support. High-performance cars in the future can have hybrid engines or become fuel cell vehicles. With Hyundai Motor’s high level of technology, our vision is to see Hyundai’s super cars on a race track.”
Meanwhile, Biermann, the former chief engineer of BMW’s performance car sub-brand M, joined Hyundai Motor at the end of last year.
Currently, he is managing Hyundai’s three centers of high-performance car development, driving efficiency development, and car testing, leading the development of a high-performance car brand.