Hyundai N Festival: Could this be the world's cheapest track day (with warranty intact)?

The Hyundai N Festival is now in its third year.

Automotive companies talk a lot these days about building an emotional connection with customers. While it's easy to think this is just a marketing gimmick, Hyundai is showing off what it really means with the 2021 N Festival. 

More than 120 Hyundai N Performance owners recently came to Winton Raceway in Victoria to celebrate their new connection with the South Korean brand. 

The next day, 60 of those owners spent more time together as they toured the Victorian highlands.

Such a large increase is not only due to the flood of new N models in 2021 - with the introduction of the updated i30 N and the all-new i20 N, Kona N and i30 N sedan - but also because Hyundai has invested time and effort. interact with this growing community of so-called "N-thusists". 

Hyundai Australia strengthens these customer relationships by engaging in social media under the banner of "N Australia", all culminating in the annual N.

The i20 N is Hyundai's answer to the Ford Fiesta ST.

“Our N Australia platform, which includes social media as well as events such as the N Festival, has been a key driver of the N brand's success locally,” explains Hyundai Australia spokesman Guido Schenken.

“Hyundai had no experience in developing high-performance vehicles before the N, so we had modest sales expectations when we launched in 2018. We certainly didn't expect the N-enthusiast community to grow so fast, they adopted cars and all that. N, they are the reason N has been so successful in Australia."

The i30 Sedan N is the latest model to join the ranks of N.

The recent Winton event was the third host of the N Festival after the 2019 event at Wakefield Park and the 2020 event at the Queensland Speedway (which was actually held in January 2021 due to pandemic restrictions).

So what is Festival N? Simply put, this is a trial day where customers are encouraged to explore the performance potential of their Model N in a safe environment. But in fact it is much more.

More than 120 N owners got off at the Winton Raceway in Victoria.

For new customers or those thinking of upgrading, there were test drives for newer models. Hyundai is hosting a series of "Tech Talks" with its experts to answer any questions owners may have. 

The track also employs outside companies such as Pirelli and Revolution Racegear, who provide assistance to those who want to take their track performance to the next level.

Customers are only charged $25 per track day.

There are also activities for kids like RC cars and sausage sizzle to make this a family activity.

Hyundai also put on some stellar power, with HMO Customer Racing TCR drivers Josh Buchan and Nathan Morcom taking customers on hot laps in their i30 N TCR race cars. 

Josh Buchan and Nathan Morcom lap their i30 N TCR racing cars. 

Australian rally star Brendan Reeves and rising star Holly Asprey also raced Hyundai's i30 Fastback N built for World Time Attack.

It doesn't make any money for Hyundai either: customers are only charged $25 a day, which not only covers track time, but also includes a free hat and long-sleeved shirt to remember the day.

The Kona is the first SUV in Hyundai's lineup to receive an N-treatment.

But make no mistake, this is not a charity or something that Hyundai does out of the goodness of its corporate heart. N Festival and all other N Australia events and social media programs are designed to sell more cars.

Creating an emotional connection through an experience like the festival is meant to turn customers into brand loyalists who then go out and convince others to choose the N model over the likes of the Volkswagen Golf GTI, Ford Focus ST or Renault Megane RS.

The Hyundai i30 Fastback N built for World Time Attack was driven by Holly Esprey.

The plan is also working because Hyundai just enjoyed its best Model N sales month ever in November, delivering over 300 units divided across four models. 

This brings the total number of N models in Australia to 4000 since the first i30 N hatch found a buyer in March 2018; which also makes Australia one of the largest nitrogen markets in the world.

Australia is one of the largest nitrogen markets in the world.

Schenken believes that the success of the N Festival and engagement with the owner community has helped to rapidly increase sales of both N models and similar "N Line" variants offered by Hyundai Australia. 

Since 2018, N/N Line's combined sales have grown from one percent of total Australian sales to 17 percent in 2021. Hyundai currently plans to have a quarter of all local sales come from N/N Line models in 2022.

N/N Line sales account for 17% of all Hyundai sales in Australia.

More events will be held to that end, including the 2022 N Festival, which is scheduled to take place at Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia.

“We have been planning to increase the number of N-events for a long time, but the last two years have really limited our options,” Schenken says.

There are N more events to come.

"The annual N festival will remain, but in addition, next year we plan to have more local N events in each state, which will include Tech Talks, road trips and track events."

Given the impact it has on bottom line sales, expect Hyundai to continue hosting more events such as the N Festival to deepen the emotional connection with its growing audience of N buyers.