Red-hot Hyundai Sonata N possible

The Hyundai i30 N hot hatch looks set to give the Volkswagen Golf GTI a dizzying uppercut to the chin, but the Korean brand's go-fast treatment will not be limited to its small hatchbacks.

In conversation with Peter Schreyer, who oversees all Hyundai, Kia and Genesis design studios, the German-born creative genius behind the original Audi TT observed there is scope to extend Hyundai's N performance brand far and wide.

As well as providing fast-paced variants of popular models – much as HSV is to Holden or AMG is to Mercedes – Hyundai's desire to rival the Europeans is deep.

The end result would see Hyundai vehicles sporting more powerful engines, track-tuned suspension, bigger brakes and all the extra body work and interior appointments expected of modern performance cars.

The company showed its new-look Sonata Series II at the New York motor show, which itself presents a sportier new look and will go on sale in Australia in August.

When motoring.com.au singled it out as a potential candidate for N enhancement, Schreyer didn't take a backward step.

"It's not planned at the moment but theoretically I could imagine it yes," said Schreyer of a Sonata N model.

"It would be fun to do," grinned the man who brought Kia back from aesthetic oblivion and helped Hyundai achieve great success on a global scale.

"At the moment it's a select group of cars [that get high-performance N treatment]," explained Schreyer, "but theoretically every model could have it, yes."

Even the Santa Fe?

"Why not?! It's not impossible to do something like this," he said.

The Korean car design supremo, who pointed out there were several wild SUVs at the New York motor show, including the 527kW Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk.

Hyundai's N outfit is based in Namyang (hence the name) and led by former BMW M division boss Albert Biermann. The company has been caught testing a couple of crazy new high-performance models including an even hotter 300kW, all-wheel drive i30 RN, what appears to be a mid-engine Veloster and the i30 N, which will debut at the Nurburgring 24 Hours race in May.

When conventional cars are whacked with the high-performance stick, they frequently transform into very different looking vehicles. But Schreyer bristled when motoring.com.au suggested they might have more aggressive visuals.

"Why does it have to look more aggressive? N brand means to have better performance, it doesn't mean aggressive design.

"People always combine performance with aggressive, but it should not be aggressive [looking]. A Porsche is one of the world's fastest cars, [but] it's not aggressive [looking] at all," he stated.

"It's about the way it fits with the performance of the car, and the N brand is about performance, it's not about the design."

The first cab off the rank from Hyundai's N division will be the i30 N, which is tipped to pump out more than 200kW -- almost double the output of regular versions of the new i30, which arrives in May.