New Trademark Suggests Hyundai N Vision 74 Is Going To Production

Sep. 21, 2023 11:24 AM ET by Sebastian Cenizo Patents and Trademarks / 12 Comments

The automaker has dropped the Vision part of the name, suggesting a roadgoing production version is on the way.

A trademark application first discovered by a user on the 7thMustang forum, of all places, has revealed that Hyundai has filed to protect the 'N 74' name. Since automakers tend to use the Vision name to identify concepts, dropping this part of the name suggests that the concept car revealed as the N Vision 74 will be coming as a production car, and this is good news.

The N Vision 74 is a hydrogen fuel cell hybrid that draws design influence from the Hyundai Pony Coupe concept of 1974, and its retro design combined with forward-thinking powertrain technology made it a hit. Despite this, Hyundai has been umming and ahhing about bringing it to production, likely because it's not yet sure how successful the Ioniq 5 N will be.

In February of this year, we learned that senior Hyundai officials were very excited about the prospect of bringing the car to market. Then, in May, we started hearing rumors that the vehicle would see production as a modern Pony Coupe. A few days later, we heard contrarian reports. Another few days later, Hyundai Chief Creative Officer Luc Donckerwolke said that Hyundai is serious about making the concept car a reality.

But now that a trademark for the N 74 name has been filed, it seems almost guaranteed that the edgy design will make it to public roads someday soon.

A couple of months ago, several patents also supported the theory that the concept would enter production, so it seems reasonable to assume that some sort of formal announcement will be made sometime in the near future.

We suspect that the styling will carry over to a production car with minimal changes, but the most fascinating unknown in this story is what will power the new coupe. If Hyundai does offer it with hydrogen power, will that stunt its success? If it's just a regular EV, will it be ignored by the buying public? And will it be a series production model or a special edition?

The answers to these questions and more need to be answered soon, and we hope Hyundai responds in the affirmative.