Hyundai Motor Company Announces Participation in '2022 WRC' Based on New Hybrid Regulations

Hyundai Motor's Commitment to Leading the Future Mobility Industry with the Vision of 'Progress for Humanity'

Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC competing in the '2021 WRC'

[Photo by Hyundai]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Hyundai Motor Company announced on the 1st that it will participate in the '2022 WRC (World Rally Championship)', where new technical regulations based on hybrid powertrains will be applied.

The WRC organizers announced in 2019 that from 2022, new technical regulations would be applied, introducing hybrid powertrains that combine the existing 1.6ℓ 4-cylinder engine with a 100 kW-class electric motor. Hyundai, which has held the WRC manufacturers' championship title for two consecutive years since 2019, is set for a new challenge starting with the 2022 WRC season under the new hybrid technical regulations. To this end, Hyundai is developing a hybrid powertrain rally car based on the i20 N vehicle at its German Hyundai Motorsport division.

Hyundai explained that this participation declaration reflects its commitment to leading the future mobility industry under the vision of 'Progress for Humanity.' Earlier, in 2019, Hyundai also declared participation in the 'PURE ETCR' series, a touring car competition based on pure electric vehicles. The PURE ETCR season will kick off this June at the Vallelunga circuit in Italy. Hyundai will compete with the Veloster N ETCR, an electric race car equipped with an electric motor and high-voltage battery, based on the Veloster N.

Thomas Schemera, Vice President and Head of Hyundai Motor's Customer Experience Division, said, "Participating in WRC and ETCR embodies Hyundai's determination to develop future technologies and realize progress for humanity. Motorsport is the optimal stage to test and advance the technologies we aim to lead, and we will continuously strive to provide sustainable mobility technologies through cleaner and more eco-friendly motorsports."

Til Vattenberg, Executive Director of Hyundai Motor's N Brand Management and Motorsport Division, also stated, "We will do our best to lead sustainable eco-friendly mobility technologies by competing at the highest global level with the hybrid WRC rally car based on the i20 N and the Veloster N ETCR race car."

Meanwhile, Hyundai has been actively utilizing the experience gained from continuously participating in top-tier motorsport stages such as WRC since 2014 and WTCR since 2018 in the development of internal combustion engine-based production vehicles. Similarly, the new WRC rally car based on a hybrid powertrain and the pure electric ETCR race car are expected to play a leading role in Hyundai's development of high-performance eco-friendly electrification technologies.

Hyundai Motorsport Corporation located in Alzenau, Germany

[Photo by Hyundai Motor Company]

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.