High-performance two-seater hybrid sports car to take on Toyota Supra; could be positioned "above N" division models

If you thought Hyundai wasn’t going to challenge the likes of the upcoming Toyota Supra and other high-tech Asian sports cars coming to market, think again.

In conversation with a small group of Australian journalists at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, two of Hyundai’s most senior executives confirmed that a new apex-hunting, fire-breathing sports car is on the horizon.

Luc Donckerwolke, former Lamborghini designer and now Hyundai and Genesis design supremo, confirmed the company is weeks away from narrowing down the design of the new model during top-level meetings in South Korea.

“I can’t tell you more about it but we are definitely doing it,” the designer said of a Hyundai-badged, track-ready sports car.

“I’m actually reviewing a project after next week, after CES,” he added, grinning broadly.

It’s not clear which platform will slot underneath the new sports car, but it could be similar to that of the Kia Stinger GT and Genesis G70, both of which are rear-wheel drive and powered by lusty twin-turbo V6 engines with around 270kW of power.

There’s also a small chance it could share components with a mooted Genesis supercar, or perhaps it will be a production version of the wild 280kW, all-wheel drive Hyundai RN30 concept (pictured) that wowed audiences at the 2016 Paris motor show.

Whatever eventuates, the super-fast hero car will sit above the all-new 2018 Hyundai Veloster, which will be revealed in Detroit next week, and will take advantage of an electric motor.

Woong-Chul Yang, the chairman of Hyundai’s Research and Development department who has around 13,000 staff working for him at the Namyang research centre in South Korea, backed up Donckerwolke’s confirmation, stating: “Our brand is in need of this type of car.”

He divulged more details too, adding that Hyundai’s go-fast division, N, will be working on the vehicle. Named after the Namyang development centre, the N division’s first model will be the Volkswagen Golf R-rivalling i30 N which has had very positive reviews, including from motoring.com.au.

“The people working on N will be working on that [new sports car] but how we fit it in the N [product range], or above N? This is a pretty high performance [car]. It’s a serious sports car,” said Yang.

Hyundai’s R&D boss cautioned that although the new sports car will take advantage of both an internal combustion engine and electric propulsion modules, the new tyre-shredding sports car won’t necessarily be described as a hybrid.

“Certainly we will put some electric powerplant in there,” he explained.

“We cannot say just hybrid but we will use some electric motors and batteries to improve performance,” he said, hinting at the potential of new and/or advanced EV technology.

“Some [performance] areas we can’t just overcome by putting in big ICE engines … we like to minimise as much as possible I think,” he added, suggesting we’ll see a smallish turbo-petrol powerplant, potentially four-cylinder.

“But we use the best application of electric motors, in many ways not just [for] pure efficiency but also performance. It can be very much optimised using both powertrains,” added Yang of a petrol-electric combo.

Timelines for the new high-performance Hyundai sports car and indeed powertrain types are not yet evident – nor locked in by the sounds – but the Korean car-maker is clearly serious about bringing a hard-core sports car to market.

It’s also unclear whether the car will be rear- or all-wheel drive.

That Hyundai will soon offer a hi-po halo model at the top of the range, to bathe its regular cars in its dynamic brilliance, will nevertheless be exciting news for fans of the South Korean brand.

Hyundai Australia wouldn’t comment on the advent of the new sports car, but you can bet your bottom dollar demand for such a vehicle in this country would be significant, even if a hefty price tag is attached.

Yang confirmed the new sports car would be a two-seater, so expect a slinky design to wrap around its advanced powertrain, whether it’s an RN30-inspired hyper-hatch weapon like in the images here or a traditional coupe-shape like past versions of the Hyundai Coupe.

“You want too much detail!” laughed Yang when quizzed about the car’s cars layout, but conceded, “It will pretty much be a two-seater.”