Hyundai has come a long way since they were slotted in the same division as Toyota. The South Korea car manufacturer were best known as economic and fuel efficiency, but not for their style. After regrouping in 2003 following the east Asia financial crises, they came back strong and today Hyundai is rivaling the luxury imports such as Mercedes and BMW, but they are also challenging other Asian imports like Lexus, Infinity and Acura. Already the fifth largest automobile company on the global market, they are gearing up to challenge the sports car market with the 871 hp Vision GT Concept.

If this car looks like a formula one race car, it’s because that is what it is. The Vision has a respectable horsepower of 871 from its hydrogen-fuel cell engine. The GT will never be mass produced and it is a bit unclear why they built it in the first place except to signal that they have ambitions to build cars to compete with BMW M series and Mercedes AMG GT S. Do not expect “N” series cars to be dirt cheap, but do expect these cars to be competitively priced.

“Hyundai doesn’t stand for high-performance cars. Not yet. But this will change,” said a spokesman for the company. It is still unclear if the N series will be branded with the Hyundai logo or if it will be an offshoot like Lexus is to Toyota, but plans must already be in the works because they expect to roll out the N within the next 2 years. Hyundai showcased the N 2025 Vision Gran Turismo sports car at the Frankfurt Auto Show. And Sony announced that the Vision will be featured in the latest installment of PlayStation Gran Turismo videogame series.

If Hyundai builds a quality sports car and markets it in a way that will reach their targeted customer, I’d say BMW, Jaguar and Mercedes Benz watch out.