Hyundai-Kia “Steal” BMW’s Top Engineer For Thier N Performance Vehicles

Albert Biermann was once the engineering chief of BMW’s legendary M division, but now the industry veteran is plying his trade with Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group.

His job will be to oversee the development of performance models for both Hyundai and sister company Kia.

The 57-year old German native has taken the position of head of vehicle testing and high-performance development. His end goal will be to ensure that the Korean end up at the top of their segments in regards “rewarding driving dynamics.”

He will be overseeing the development of all new performance models, as well as the technologies associated with them.

Hyundai has been wanting to move upmarket for a while now, and performance models are just one part of making that happen.

The result of this has been a number of great concept vehicles, as well as Hyundai now being involved in the WRC.

They have a new performance division that looks after the WRC side of things as well as a new test center at Nurburgring.

Biermann will take up office at the Hyundai R&D Center in Namyang, Korea, where his first order of business will be to speed up the process of rolling out come new high-performance vehicles.

One of those new models may well be a new sports car, or perhaps a production version of the Kia GT concept. The next-generation Hyundai Genesis Coupe is also slated to be released soon.

Hyundai’s WRC team is also expected to get a boost from the hiring of Biermann, as it will mean a greater level of sharing of performance technologies and ideas between the road and racing divisions.

Biermann will start his new job on April 1, 2015.

Mr. Biermann issued a statement saying that he was excited to be a part of the Hyundai Motor Group. He also said that he has paid close attention to the rise of the brand as it built a solid customer base in Europe.