Hyundai is an emerging rival for Toyota but that doesn’t mean the two automakers are sworn enemies. They’re actually collaborating by jointly hosting a car event later this month in South Korea. The “Hyundai N x Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival” will bring together road-going sports cars and motorsport-spec vehicles from both companies. There will also be a bunch of interesting prototypes and concepts cars.
Scheduled to take place on October 27 at the Everland Speedway in Yong-in, the event will host Toyota’s GR Supra and GR86 models alongside Hyundai’s Elantra N (Avante N in Korea) and the fully electric Ioniq 5 N. Attendees will also check out the AE86 H2 concept and an experimental GR Corolla–both with combustion engines running on liquid hydrogen.
Hyundai will have its own hydrogen-fueled N Vision 74, which is set to go into production, unless it’s been axed per recent reports In addition, the Ioniq 5 N TA Spec will be there as the record holder at Pikes Peak in the modified electric SUV / Crossover category. Also on the motorsport side, the i20 N Rally 1 Hybrid and i20 N Rally 2 have been confirmed as well.
It remains to be seen whether this is the beginning of something more substantial. Interestingly, Toyota and Hyundai do mention the festival serves as an “inaugural collaboration” between the two companies in Korea. It’s probably best not to read too much into this for now, especially since Toyota and Subaru have been collaborating on the GR86/BRZ since 2008 when the deal was signed.
Then again, Toyota and Hyundai chairmen are reportedly meeting a couple of days before the festival. The Korea Economic Daily reports Akio Toyoda and Euisun Chung will likely discuss hydrogen since the companies remain committed to FCEVs. Toyota recently deepened its ties with BMW while Hyundai is putting the finishing touches on a new Nexo programmed to come out in 2025.
Time will tell whether the two will collaborate on hydrogen and/or something more exciting. We could certainly use more affordable sports cars, and Toyota with Hyundai have the means to deliver performance vehicles that don’t break the bank.
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