What Does N Stand For On Hyundai Cars?

It's hard to overstate just how important branding is for enthusiast vehicles. Over the decades, automakers have introduced a number of different performance-oriented sub-brands for both their race teams and production vehicles, with some lasting longer than others. There's been BMW M, Ford's SVT, SRT from Chrysler, and AMG from Mercedes, just to name a few. In recent years, a new player has emerged on the market: Hyundai's N brand.

Over the last decade, Hyundai has put a massive effort into both motorsport and road-going performance vehicles, and it's done all of it under the N brand. The results so far have been excellent, with cars like the Hyundai Elantra N becoming one of the most fun and most capable enthusiast cars available for the money. The Hyundai N name actually represents two different global locations where Hyundai's performance vehicles are both developed and tested — Namyang, South Korea, and the Nürburgring in Germany.

Though Hyundai's ventures in international motorsport and its efforts to build enthusiast vehicles go back much further, it was in 2015 when the South Korean carmaker launched the N brand , beginning its ambitious move toward becoming a major player in the global performance car market. And Hyundai considers its Namyang R&D Center to be "the birthplace of every new N". 

Located outside of Seoul, South Korea, the Namyang R&D Center is a vast development facility spread out over 3.3 million square meters of land. Namyang employs over 10,000 researchers tasked with both developing and testing Hyundai vehicles, including the performance-oriented N models. 

Namyang's proving ground, which opened in 1995, includes 70 kilometers of testing surface, with 34 different road types represented. It also includes a massive, 4.5-kilometer high-speed test course where the N-branded models are put through their paces. And that means not just the production models, but also experimental vehicles like the Hyundai N Vision 74.  Hyundai calls Namyang the "ultimate think tank" for the development of its N models.

The Nürburgring is the more familiar part of the N name's inspiration and should need little introduction. Having been in operation since 1927, "the Ring" is one of Europe's oldest racing circuits and also one of the toughest. The Nürburgring is home to a dedicated modern F1 circuit, along with the grueling 20.8 kilometer, 73-turn "Green Hell" known as the Nordschleife. Many automakers have permanent R&D facilities at or near the Nordschleife, and Hyundai is no exception.

The Nürburgring is home to the Hyundai' Motor European Technical Center. It's here where Hyundai N vehicles are put to the test on the demanding race track, logging lap times, and trying to climb the leaderboards of the world's best. And along with taking its name from Nürburgring and the Namyang R&D facility, the design of the actual 'N' logo is also inspired by the curves of a race track.

Though the N brand is still relatively young, it's hard to deny the success Hyundai has had with it. Not just in terms of moving units and racking up wins in motorsport, but the greater mission of earning the same kind of brand recognition as BMW M or Mercedes AMG. We may still be a long way from getting to that point, but with great gasoline cars like Veloster N and Elantra N, and forward-thinking electric performance cars like the Ioniq 5 N, the Hyundai and the N brand look poised for continued success.