TLDR:
- The best way to make a cheap iteration of what you want to sell is hire (or question) straight from the source
- Regardless of what you’re copying, you must also take into account the current-day market dynamics. Hyundai did that with recognizing the ever-growing popularity of the SUVs
What we can learn about leeching off the success of visionaries
Albert Biermann, Fayez Abdul Rehman and Thomas Schemera.
They are three people Hyundai has hired within the last 7 years. All of them share one thing in common: Hyundai poached them from BMW's M division.
The first was Biermann, who joined the South Korean automotive company in 2014. Before that, he was the brains of BMW’s M division, serving as the Vice President of Engineering, responsible for the dynamics of both their road and race cars.
Hyundai initially hired Biermann as the Head of Vehicle Test and high Performance, assigning him the responsibility of their high-performance vehicles and technologies.
In their official press release on December 22nd, 2014, Hyundai stated that the “appointment is part of a drive to develop Hyundai and Kia vehicles that lead their segments for rewarding driving dynamics “
About three years later, Hyundai inaugurated its High-Performance Vehicle & Motorsport Division on March 1st, 2018.
The next day, Hyundai poached Schemera from BMW M and appointed him as the head of their newly formed High-Performance Vehicle & Motorsport Division to "oversee strategy, product planning, sales, and marketing for the new division."
Ironically, Biermann was his boss again.
Schemera brought to Seoul a very strong portfolio. He was the Vice President in charge of Sales and Dealer Development in China and oversaw a four-fold increase in BMW and M sales in those four years from 2005 to 2008. He concluded his time at BMW as the head of BMW M and BMW Individual in the Americas.
Before Schemera, Fayez was roped in by Hyundai on October 31st, 2017 as the Vice President of Genesis Architecture Development (Hyundai’s luxury division brand). At BMW, he led the platform development of the 7 Series, X models as well as the M performance models.
Fayez led the development of BMW M’s performance derivatives from BMW’s general vehicle platforms. He also spent his last years at BMW in charge of the M equipment, M Sport Packages, and BMW Individual.
Hyundai wanted to build a successful line of performance cars, but with the people they hired, the question became: are they the next BMW M?
Why the N line was created
“All N cars are made to be fun to drive” says Schemera“N models are not just made for high-performance car fans, but for everyday drivers too,” Biermanns says.
On the N story page of Hyundai’s website, it states that the purpose of the N line is to create “race-inspired models for the enthusiasts who crave high performance,” and are built-ready. Specifically, “there’s no need to reinforce your car or do other modifications.”
2018 Hyundai i30 N similar to a BMW M vehicle
Hyundai began producing the i30 N in 2017, but the following year when Fayez and Schemera were poached, many resemblances were seen to a BMW M vehicle.
For example, it had LED rev lights and rev counter warm-up lights, both of which are associated with BMW M vehicles.
Heavy Sport+ Steering, adjustable door squabs, and drive mode combinations are other notable examples.
The 2018 BMW M3 had three different settings for the engine, the dampers, the steering, the gearbox ferocity, and traction control (on, MDM (M Dynamic Mode), off), giving a total of 243 potential combinations. But Hyundai took it a level further with the i30 N and had 1944 combinations to work with, by adding other customizable areas.
Biermann takes shots at BMW
About 3.5 years after Biermann left his post at BMW, in June 2018, as Hyundai N’s head, he began, claiming that BMW has resorted to slapping the M logo on every given opportunity.
Biermann even went as far as saying BMW changed the meaning of “M” from “motorsport” to “marketing”.
“It’s all marketing, first of all,” Biermann told Drive. “How many people really buy it later on? Much of this exists for media, to give hype, to show the technology level. But how many people really buy it later on?”
He also says that he had a much greater degree of control at Hyundai than he did at BMW.
“My degree of freedom here is much bigger than at BMW,” he said. “Now M badges go everywhere in the BMW range, but when I was there, I had to fight like crazy for every car. Here I am more than welcome to do whatever I think we need to do.”
He said that the degree of freedom included being allowed to decide how the N brand could be expanded beyond the current i30 N and Veloster N models at the time.
In the same interview, Biermann said that the brand could one day develop its own stand-alone sports car that isn’t based on an existing Hyundai model.
A Marketing Strategy Just Like BMW M’s
In April 2020, it was said “like BMW M, there is an awareness among Hyundai’s product planners that its crossovers and SUVs will also have to be accommodated in the N-development product plans.”
Crossovers and SUVs accounted for a significant volume of BMW M’s sales, as it continues to rise in popularity.
Two years later, Hyundai began producing and selling its first N-badged SUV: the Tucson N.
Hyundai Sticking to Its Guns
As for the stand-alone sports car, though it was in the production stage for quite some time, it was ultimately scrapped.
Planning went as far as being first unveiled as a concept named RM19 N at the 2019 Los Angeles Auto Show, but the Hyundai board decided it was too much.
The RM19 N was described by Hyundai as “a development platform for future N brand products, including a potential brand-halo car.” It was never given a real name, though, in the Hyundai circle, it was called “The Chairman’s Car.”
It would’ve been a direct competitor to the BMW M3 range, but it was for this reason that production never began: it was too expensive and Hyundai has never sold high-end cars.
Pioneered by Biermann, he revealed in an interview with Top Gear earlier this year that it was a supercar with a price tag in the range of $150,000, which would’ve been the most expensive Hyundai model to date by a long shot.
The board said the thoughts of a $150,000 Hyundai don’t ever cross the minds of people, since Hyundais are meant to be easily affordable as Biermann said.
He agreed with this decision, as the next cars of the N line in the i20N and Kona N have enjoyed a lot of success due to their affordable price tag like Hyundais are meant to be.
Ironically, Biermann tried a similar thing during his time at BMW M with a mid-engine supercar. It could’ve been engineered, but the BMW board said there was only one space for a high-end mid-engine car in its plug-in hybrid i8.
He retired from his Hyundai post in 2021 and now serves as an advisor.
Hyundai Joins The Bandwagon
The introduction of the Kona N showed that Hyundai hopped on the growing trend of SUVs and crossovers, so much so that the Veloster N had to make room for it in 2021, but it's proven to be the right call as the Kona N continues to sell like hotcakes.
BMW M also followed suit with its first-ever custom M-only model last year named the BMW XM SUV.
The contrast of the finances
BMW has more manpower (they reported to have 118,909 employees worldwide at the end of last year), in comparison to Hyundai’s workforce size of 71,982 employees (according to Forbes).
However, Hyundai has had stronger sales growth: 13.7% in 2020 compared to BMW’s 9.7%.
So is Hyundai N indeed the next BMW M?
It certainly is, if you can’t afford the BMW M or after-market modifications that is. Instead of a Chinese knock-off, the Hyundai N is a South Korean knock-off designed by former BMW executives for those who want to fool themselves into believing they’re behind the wheel of high-class performance.