Hyundai Will Likely Build Two More N Models but Probably Won’t Do a G70 N
The company also isn’t ruling out a high-performance version of the all-electric Ioniq.
While it's still early days for Hyundai's recently-minted N performance brand, the company apparently isn't planning on slowing down its expansion. Speaking to Automotive News, Hyundai performance boss Albert Biermann says two new N cars are likely in the manufacturer's game plan, one of which might be a high-performance crossover of some kind.
"There's a car within the next two or three months that we probably have a chance to show to Vice Chairman Chung [Eui-sun] and our top management," Biermann told the publication. "Depending on what is the current mood and situation, we might get a spontaneous 'Okay, go for it.'" The German Hyundai exec went on to say that his team "could come up with a car in a pretty short time," but shied away from giving any concrete timelines as they would be heavily influenced by the development cycle of base, non-N models.
Last May, Biermann was quoted in saying, "We have a good platform with the Tucson to make a high-performance SUV." Whatever the two new cars end up being, they'll join N versions of the i30 hatch, Veloster, and the upcoming i30 fastback on Hyundai's performance roster.
What the future of N won't soon consist of, however, is a hot version of the company's Genesis G70 sports sedan to take on the BMW M3 and its numerous rivals. "Before the Genesis brand was started, we had made some concept investigation for a G70 N. Of course, we would love to do that, but right now I cannot see that," said Biermann.
As for what lies in store for Hyundai N in the farther-flung future, Biermann says a fully electric model is all but inevitable, even mentioning an Ioniq N as a genuine possibility.
"When we think of cars after 2021 for N, I think we cannot avoid electrification. We will have an EV sooner or later," Biermann told Automotive News. "It's just a matter of timing. As an example, we have an Ioniq EV. Were we to find a nice battery, a bigger motor and inverter, we could make an Ioniq EV N with a nice chassis and more power. Something like that is not fully crazy."
We've reached out to the company for further comment and will update this story once we receive a response.
UPDATE: In an email to The Drive, a Hyundai spokesperson said, "At this stage, we cannot elaborate any further on Mr. Biermann's comments. However, we do have strong aspirations for the N brand, both in the U.S. and globally."
