Hyundai N Brand Exec: We’re Working on a Halo Model

So far, Hyundai’s N division has produced high-performance versions of the i30 and Veloster. Now, the sub-brand wants to make its own standalone vehicle, reports Auto Express.

Thomas Schemera, Hyundai’s vice president of high-performance and motorsport operations, told the outlet that a bespoke model would inject some more emotion into the brand. “I can tell you Albert Biermann [Hyundai engineering boss] and myself are interested in hot things and have some ideas in the pipeline for a halo model—rest assured we are coming up with something,” he said.

It’s unclear what such a halo model would look like, but Auto Express claims Hyundai is debating between a two-seat sports car and a performance sedan like the Kia Stinger. Whatever form it takes, the vehicle isn’t expected to enter production for several more years.

Earlier this year, reports surfaced that Hyundai was working on a high-performance two-door car. According to the report, the model would have some kind of electrification. Yang Woong Chul, Hyundai’s head of research and development, reportedly said the new sports car was being worked on by N employees, although he wouldn’t confirm whether it would be a standalone N product or something else.

The i30 N isn’t coming to the U.S. market, but we will receive the Veloster N and its upgraded 2.0-liter turbo-four making 275 hp and 260 lb-ft of torque. Schemera said Hyundai has only completed “the first phase of N vehicles,” so more models are on the way.

Source: Auto Express

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