A NICE CULTURE SHOCK

“You can change people’s minds at Hyundai if you have a strong enough argument,” said Tyrone Johnson, European R&D boss for Genesis, Hyundai and Kia, when mulling the dramatic differences from his former employer. “At Ford, if a decision is made, that’s the way it’s going to stay. At Hyundai, one big advantage is that once a decision is made, the process is much quicker.”

Johnson, who developed the third-generation Focus RS and Mustang SVT, is currently working on more than 20 projects for the three Hyundai Motor Group brands, including Hyundai N performance models.

How big a change is an N over a standard car? “The amount of change in an N is a bigger difference than a Fiesta and a Fiesta ST.”