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Hyundai-Kia recruits expert from BMW to develop high-performance cars

Hyundai-Kia recruits expert from BMW to develop high-performance cars

Posted December. 23, 2014 06:26,   

한국어

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, which have topped 8 million cars in combined global sales this year, have started bid to make quantitative leap by recruiting top-caliber human resources in the world. After recruiting Peter Schreyer, a world-renowned automotive designer from Audi in 2006, the Korea-based automotive group has recruited one of the world’s best experts in the high-performance vehicle field. Hyundai Motor`s Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun, who has keen interest in motor sports, has expressed strong interest in recruitment of the expert in high-performance vehicle development.

Hyundai Motor Group said on Monday that it is recruiting as vice president Albert Biermann, 57, the head of high-performance vehicle development at BMW. Biermann will start working at Hyundai-Kia’s Namyang Research Center as vice president in charge of testing and high-performance vehicles from April 1 next year. He will also oversee driving performance, safety performance, durability, noise and vibration, and vehicle systems development as well as development of high-performance cars.

Since he joined the BMW group in 1983 after studying at RWTH Aachen University in Germany, Biermann has been mostly in charge of high-performance vehicle development. He is a top-caliber expert in the world who has been developing high-performance cars including the "M" series for more than 30 years. As a core segment of BMW, the M segment is responsible for development of high-performance vehicles and motor sports-related business, accounting for nearly half of BMW’s profit.

Hyundai-Kia said, “With recruitment of Vice President Biermann, we expect to elevate driving performance of Hyundai-Kia vehicles to the premium level of European cars, and take on an aggressive push to develop highly efficient cars.”

Hyundai-Kia has been making far-reaching efforts to enhance driving performance of its vehicles, including completion of the Europe Test Center in the iconic Nurburgring circuit in Germany last year. As a result, the company has fast overtaken rival firms in areas that can be easily quantified, including vehicle durability, power train performance and collision safety. However, some critics say that the company would be able to produce top-class products only when it secures emotional quality, which is difficult to quantify, including precise handling and smooth ride.

From Biermann’s recruitment as a turning point, Hyundai-Kia will likely step up efforts to develop high-performance sports cars with hundreds of horsepower, while enhancing emotional quality of its vehicles. Hyundai Motor has deployed more than 70 staff at its Namyang Research Center in Korea since 2012, and has been developing high-performance models for motor sports and mass production, including frames and chasses. The company became the first in the Korean auto industry to win the title at the World Rally Championship’s German rally in August this year. Despite criticism saying these projects "entail hefty price tags," Vice Chairman Chung is spearheading the drive.

A source at the Hyundai-Kia automotive group said, “Vice President Biermann is expected to be deeply involved in ways to utilize the ‘N’ symbolizing Hyundai Motor’s high-performance technology, which the carmaker unveiled when participating in WRC.”