Hyundai wants to prove performance cred - Automotive News
Over the last 25 years, Hyundai Motor Co. has transformed itself from an also-ran purveyor of lackluster econoboxes into a stylish leader in high-tech, high-quality cars. Now, Hyundai is bearing down on that challenge. For the last three years, a team of select engineers at Hyundai’s sprawling Namyang technical center outside Seoul has been toiling on a project to spice up the brand’s ho-hum performance. As they tinker with the new technologies, they are funneling them into a series of concept cars that serve as rolling laboratories for engineering better Hyundai road cars. It brought in Lotus engineers to help Hyundai’s engineers in Korea tune the redesigned Genesis to satisfy American and European expectations for driving feel. And to orchestrate it all, Hyundai poached BMW AG veteran Albert Biermann, former chief engineer of the German luxury brand’s M performance unit. Biermann started April 1 as an executive vice president, charged with injecting BMW magic into Hyundai’s ride and handling. If Hyundai can replicate BMW’s successful M formula, it will pose a big challenge to competitors. Source: www.autonews.com
