October 28, 2024 – Hyundai Motor and Toyota Motor co-hosted the inaugural “Hyundai N x Toyota GAZOO Racing Festival” in South Korea on the 27th, aiming to jointly promote the development of racing culture.
For the first time, Hyundai Motor’s Chairman Chung Euisun and Toyota Motor’s Chairman Akio Toyoda appeared together on stage. The latter even took the opportunity to showcase his drifting skills once again by driving the GR Yaris WRC race car on site.
Hyundai Motor exhibited two concept cars from its “Rolling Lab” series: the RN24 and the N Vision 74. The RN24, equipped with a dual-motor all-wheel-drive system, boasts a maximum power output of 641 horsepower. Meanwhile, the N Vision 74 is a retro-styled hydrogen fuel cell concept vehicle.
Toyota Motor brought along several models including the GR Corolla H2 concept, GR Supra, GR 86, and the AE86 H2 concept.
“We are committed to delivering extraordinary experiences to car fans through our high-performance N brand, and we will work with Toyota to promote racing and make driving more enjoyable for everyone,” said Chung Euisun. He expressed his longstanding respect for Akio Toyoda, and viewed this event as a culmination of their shared passion for racing.
According to previous reports, in September, a South Korean diplomat revealed that Chung Euisun had expressed his wish to meet with Akio Toyoda earlier in the year. During the visit, the two chairmen held a private meeting to discuss how the two leading automakers could address new competitions. Despite having been fierce competitors in the past, this meeting could potentially signal the beginning of a collaboration.
Sources also mentioned that Toyota hopes to learn from Hyundai’s successful transition towards electrification, while Hyundai aims to gain further insight into Toyota’s leading position in hybrid technology through this cooperation.
