[News Article] Hyundai’s N brand hits 100,000 unit sales
Hyundai’s N brand
hits 100,000 unit sales
By Byun Hye-jin, The
Korea Herald - Hyundai Motor Group said Sunday its high-performance N brand has
hit the 100,000 sales mark since its official launch in 2015. The brand’s six
cars, including the very first i30 N and the recent Kona N, sold a total of
103,947 units globally as of the day. The South Korean
auto giant offered an upbeat outlook for sales of the N brand, with the latest
launch of the Ioniq 5 N -- the brand’s first full-electric car -- scheduled to
make its commercial debut in September. Under the slogan,
which offers a “fun to drive” experience for drivers, the N brand aims to
deliver race-track driving performance as well as practical features for
everyday sports cars. “Launching a
high-performance electric car is a challenging task, considering that it is
heavier due to batteries and more sensitive to heat than internal combustion
engine cars,” a Hyundai official said. “But we managed to overcome those
limitations and plan on adopting more features of gas-powered performance cars
– such as powerful sound and turbulent flow – to the N brand cars.” Boasting 487
kilowatts of power and 770 newton-meter torque, the brand-new Ioniq 5 N is
equipped with an 84 kilowatt-hour high-power battery pack and the N Battery
Preconditioning, a heat management system specifically designed for performance
EVs. Several features
that improve cornering in the car include the N Pedal mode, which uses
regenerative braking to help harsh turning, and the N Drift Optimizer, which
makes the car easier to drift by allocating an optimized amount of driving
force to the front and rear wheels. The carmaker also
touted its yearslong experience in motorsport racing as well as advanced
electrification technology based on the signature EV platform E-GMP -- both of
which have helped birth the Ioniq 5 N. Under a vision to
create a strong foothold in the global auto tech market, Hyundai Motorsport
GmbH was established in 2013 under the leadership of Hyundai Motor Group
Executive Chair Chung Euisun. Its goal has been to participate in racing
tournaments, a testbed to enhance its modified car models’ performance such as
speed and durability that can be adopted to the company’s mass-produced cars. Chung highlighted
the importance of high-performance cars during the CES 2018 held in Las Vegas. “We need horses that
can win the race. Hyundai truly needs to acquire performance car technologies
because they can create synergy for our car models,” Chung said. In 2019, Hyundai’s
motorsport unit was the first Korean team to win the manufacturers’
championship at the World Rally Championship. It claimed its second
championship title in 2020. Ushering in the
electrification transition for performance cars, Hyundai participated in the
Electric Touring Car Racing, a touring car series for EVs, in 2021 and 2022. It
also offered charging services with its hydrogen fuel cell generator for all
racing cars during the event. Starting from the
WRC 2022, which mandates cars to run on hybrid powertrains of internal
combustion engines and electric motors, it has rolled out the i20 N Rally1
equipped with a 1.6 liter, 4-cylinder engine and 100kW electric motor. In addition to the
Ioniq 5 N, the carmaker plans to roll out the N Vision 74 hydrogen hybrid EV,
inspired by the carmaker’s first-ever car model, the Pony coupe. The concept
car was unveiled at the Concorso d’ Eleganza Villa d’Este classic car show held
in Lake Como, Italy from May 19 to 21. Source:
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20230716000120&np=1&mp=1
2023.07.19
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