The Elantra N TCR was unveiled by Hyundai Motorsport in September 2020, following an intensive three-month test programme covering 5,000 km. Development involved experienced TCR drivers including Gabriele Tarquini, who had won the 2018 World Touring Car Cup title with the i30 N TCR, and work was carried out on both longer competition packages in parallel.
Hyundai Motorsport stated that the Elantra N TCR project began with a completely blank sheet of paper, allowing designers and engineers in the Customer Racing department to take full advantage of the Elantra's chassis and three-box saloon body. This represented a different approach from the i30 N TCR and Veloster N TCR, which had used hatchback-bodied cars; the Elantra N TCR's limousine body style offered different aerodynamic characteristics. In designing the car, the team was able to draw on more than two years of customer racing experience gained with both predecessor models, incorporating upgrades wherever possible.
The Elantra N TCR complies with TCR regulations, which mandate a turbocharged 2.0-litre engine, front-wheel drive, and standardised aerodynamic limits. The car used the base engine from the then-new Hyundai Elantra road car, a two-litre turbocharged unit, in keeping with TCR power requirements. It shared the same six-speed sequential transmission with shift paddles used in the two preceding Hyundai TCR models, ensuring continuity for customer teams and mechanics familiar with the i30 N TCR and Veloster N TCR packages.
The Elantra's stable, high-performance chassis was cited as a key advantage in optimising the car's competitive package for TCR competition.
The Elantra N TCR made its competitive debut at the 2021 Michelin Pilot Challenge season opener at the Daytona International Speedway. In its debut season, several examples were fielded in the WTCR — the World Touring Car Cup — and in the TCR Europe Touring Car Series. The car won its first race in TCR Europe, and was also entered in the TCR South America Touring Car Championship, where multiple teams purchased examples.
The car's debut across multiple series simultaneously reflected Hyundai Motorsport's established customer racing network and the strong reputation built by the i30 N TCR and Veloster N TCR in preceding seasons.
The Elantra N TCR represented the third generation of Hyundai Motorsport's TCR programme, each car built around a different body style to match available road car models. The i30 N TCR used a five-door hatchback body; the Veloster N TCR used a distinctive three-door body with a rear-offset fourth door; and the Elantra N TCR adopted the more conventional three-box saloon shape of the Elantra, a format particularly well suited to certain markets and regulations where saloon bodies carry aerodynamic or class-eligibility advantages. Together, the three models established Hyundai as one of the most prolific and successful manufacturers in global TCR competition during the late 2010s and early 2020s.