Hyundai is planning to create a new performance oriented brand. The exercise would primarily be to lift its image as the maker of cost-effective, utilitarian cars. The new brand would be on the lines of Honda/ Acura and Nissan/Nismo where the latter are the performance brands of their former mainstream car brands.
The birth of the new brand would also coincide with the Korean carmaker’s participation in the World Rally Championship. With this move, Hyundai plans to target the young buyers, who don’t prefer being associated with a dull, no-frills brand.
The first car from the brand may well be based on the new generation i20 which will also be the base model for the AWD i20 WRC car. The turbocharged WRC i20 is Hyundai’s first attempt at the coveted championship, and the Korean brand wishes to leverage its experience in the sport as much as possible. In its performance avatar, the i20 will look much different and will have a superior engine and better running gear to boast of.
The new performance brand from Hyundai will take at least a year to take shape, according to the company officials who spoke to news.drive.com.au.
We’ll keep you posted about the developments on this front as they emerge. Stay tuned, and do let us know if a Hyundai performance brand makes sense to you.
This Hyundai’s second entry into WRC, not their first.