Hyundai plotting performance brand

News is out that ambitious Korean brand, Hyundai is plotting a performance brand. This was confirmed by Hyundai Motorsport team principal, Michel Nandan, when speaking to Drive.

In recent years, the firm has been working hard to shed its cheap and cheerful image with a string of appealing products. The formation of a performance brand is the next step in this direction. As part of its strategy, Hyundai has already announced plans to participate in the World Rally Championship in 2014, with the Hyundai i20.

Like Nismo is to Nissan, Hyundai’s performance brand will produce performance variants of the company’s select day to day models. The first car of this new lineup is a performance variant of the next-generation i20 which is set to launch in 2015. The same model will also serve as the foundation for Hyundai’s 2015 WRC challenger.

Hyundai believes that the launch of the performance brand, as well as its participation in the WRC will further improve its brand image and increase sales.