Hyundai To Debut New Entry-Level Coupe In Paris

2012 Hyundai Veloster spy shots

Back in April we reported on the 2011 Hyundai Veloster as the scheduled predecessor to the Hyundai Tiburon. Since then we have heard fairly little about the progress or continued plans for the Veloster, especially on the final name selection. That is until this past weekend when HyundaiBlog.com reported on sightings and the debut plans for the newest entry-level coupe.

2012 Hyundai Veloster spy shots

Hyundai’s sporty Veloster coupe concept

According to HyundaiBlog.com, the debut of the new car will happen at the 2010 Paris Motor Show. They also report that they car has been sighted undergoing “final pre-production testing” near Hyundai’s Namyang research and development facilities. The cars were heavily masked, as one might expect, but eye-witnesses say the car looks very close to the initial concept vehicle that debuted at the 2007 Soul Motor Show. In fact, the president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America, John Krafcik, has been quoted as saying “The production-ready Veloster coupe will have quite dramatic styling; even more so than the concept car. We want that car to be bought for its looks!”

For the looks huh? Well, anything is possible and Hyundai has been surprising a lot of people with the quality, performance and luxury of the their current line-up of cars. This is especially true with the Genesis that comes in both the sedan and coupe configuration. So the recipe for success is there for the Veloster (or whatever they end up calling it). Current expectations are that the new coupe will come equipped with a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine with direct injection that generates more than 140 horsepower. There is also speculation that there will be a turbocharged variant that will generate close to 200 horsepower. Power is expected to be mated to Hyundai’s first dual clutch gearbox (DSG), as well as, a manual transmission for those who still like to do all the work.

Bottom line—a new entry-level coupe will be a welcome addition to the Hyundai line with sales expected to commence for the looks driven coupe early next year in Europe and the second half of 2011 for the U.S. market. Pricing information to come, but speculation says somewhere near $15K.

[Source: HyundaiBlog.com]