New Hyundai Motor vehicle test centre at Nürburgring

Fri, May 31, 2013 09:08 CET

Hyundai prepares for full-time presence at iconic race track
€5,5 million facility will increase capacity for vehicle testing
Construction of purpose-built test centre to be completed by August 2013

Offenbach, 31 May 2013

Hyundai is undertaking final preparations ahead of moving into its new vehicle test centre located at the iconic Nürburgring track in Germany. The purpose-built facility will be a permanent base at the track for the company, providing a dedicated resource for evaluating its vehicles on what is widely recognised as the toughest such circuit in the world.

Due for completion by August 2013, the new test centre has been designed specifically to meet Hyundai’s needs. Covering four floors and 3.622 m2, it will include new workshops, office space and a VIP hospitality area, wrapped in a unique exterior glass and metallic finish.

The new facility provides a natural extension to Hyundai’s European research and development infrastructure. Its current R&D centre in Rüsselsheim, Germany, was established in 2003 and is home to the company’s European powertrain, tuning and evaluation divisions. Each of these will have easy access to the Nürburgring, enabling them to complete a greater number of vehicle assessments per year, including Hyundai’s arduous ‘accelerated durability tests’ which simulate up to 180.000 km of severe driving in a matter of weeks, to provide valuable data on a wide range of parameters.

Allan Rushforth, Senior Vice President and COO of Hyundai Motor Europe, commented: “Quality is one of Hyundai’s core values and it’s key to achieving customer satisfaction. The Nürburgring is the ultimate location to test vehicle durability, and we’re able to apply what we learn there to all of our vehicle development projects.

“Our new facility will increase our testing capacity, bringing direct benefits to our customers in terms of vehicle quality and performance.”

The additional capacity for testing provided by the new facility will enable Hyundai during 2013 to complete accelerated durability tests on 11 vehicles, as well as assessing steering, suspension, ride and handling characteristics to produce set-ups suited to the preferences of European drivers.

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About Hyundai Motor

Established in 1967, Hyundai Motor Co. has grown into the Hyundai Motor Group, with more than two dozen auto-related subsidiaries and affiliates. Hyundai Motor - which has seven manufacturing bases outside of South Korea including Brazil, China, the Czech Republic, India, Russia, Turkey and the U.S. - sold 4,4 million vehicles globally in 2012. Hyundai Motor, which employs over 80.000 worldwide, offers a full line-up of products including small to large passenger vehicles, SUVs and commercial vehicles.

Further information about Hyundai Motor and its products is available at www.hyundai.com.

About Hyundai Motor Europe

The company designs, engineers and manufactures cars in Europe, specifically for European consumers. In 2012, Hyundai achieved European sales of 444.000 units, taking a new-car market share of 3,5%. Almost 95% of the vehicles Hyundai sells in the region are designed, engineered and tested in Europe. And more than 70% are built at its two local factories (Czech Republic and Turkey), including New Generation i30, which was shortlisted for Europe’s 2013 Car of the Year award and has won 14 awards throughout the region. Hyundai sells cars in 28 European countries across 2.500 outlets.

Hyundai offers its unique, Europe-only, Five Year Triple Care warranty package with all new cars sold in the region, providing customers with a five-year warranty with no mileage limit, five years of roadside assistance and five years of vehicle health checks.

More information about Hyundai Motor Europe and its products is available at www.hyundai.com/eu.

For individual information please contact:

Andreas Brozat James Parsons

Phone: +49-69-271472-412 Phone: +49-69-271472-402

abrozat@hyundai-europe.com jparsons@hyundai-europe.com