Hyundai N Vision edges closer to reality
Global Hyundai N boss voices support for production of a born-again Pony CoupeThe production approval and public release of the Hyundai N Vision 74 has been one of the biggest automotive sagas of the year, and now the boss of Hyundai N has weighed into the debate.
Following a series of false hopes raised by media and Hyundai itself, Hyundai N and Motorsport vice-president Till Wartenberg says the stunning ‘rolling lab’ sports car was the “favourite car at this moment” for many Hyundai executives and that he personally wished to see it on the road in the “near future”.
“The design is stunning. The technology represents what we could do in the long run, as it is a hybrid battery-hydrogen system with a Nexo fuel-cell stack inside, and of course we’re developing that stack as well for the future,” he said in a recent roundtable interview.
“My personal wish is that we will see that car in the near future on the street but, as you know, it needs a lot of discussion. It needs to have and meet certain criteria to make it possible.
“I hope it comes true, but let’s see if it does.”
Wartenberg went on to say the N Vision 74 fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) reflects everything Hyundai wants to do with the N brand “overall”, given it’s a “technological lighthouse” for the wider Hyundai company and the pinnacle of the Korean car-maker’s advanced powertrain technology.
The retro-inspired coupe first broke cover in July last year alongside the battery-electric Hyundai RN22e and is underpinned by a modified Kia Stinger/Genesis G70 platform.
Measuring almost five metres long and delivering outputs of more than 500kW/900Nm, the N Vision 74 forms the basis of Hyundai Australia’s brand marketing campaign and continues to turn heads at various functions and motor shows around the world, increasing pressure on Hyundai to put the zero-emissions sports car into production.
Wartenberg’s comments come in the wake of Hyundai chief creative officer Luc Donckerwolke declaring the futuristic two-door a genuine chance to reach production as a limited-run special.
“We are serious about this,” he told Top Gear in May.
“This could come into production. There is nothing unfeasible about this car. It’s pure. We’re hoping and we’re working and it’s only a matter of the right constellation.”
Donckerwolke’s revelation was in turn preceded by an unsubstantiated Korean report claiming the N Vision 74 had already been greenlit for production and that a production version would be presented in late May.
Hyundai shot down the claims in a separate report just two days later, declaring “there is no plan to mass-produce the Pony Coupe, and there is no Pony Day event planned”.
Pony Coupe is the nameplate touted by many as the one that would be applied to the showroom version of the N Vision 74, given the car’s exterior design was heavily inspired by the Hyundai Pony coupe of the 1970s – a vehicle the concept appeared alongside at the inaugural Hyundai Reunion in Lake Como earlier this year.
Related: Hyundai unleashes 430kW IONIQ 6 N concept
Related: Hyundai RN22e 2022 Review
Related: Hyundai 'Pony' coupe touted for production – again
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