By Leftlane Staff
Friday, Jun 30th, 2006 @ 9:47 am

What do the Dodge Viper, Corvette, Pontiac Solstice, Ford GT, and Mercedes SLR all have in common? They’re all “halo cars” — vehicles that single-handedly increase interest in a brand, boosting sales of all the vehicles a company makes. Now that it has established itself as a maker of quality, practical cars, Hyundai wants a piece of the halo car pie. According to the Detroit Free Press, the automaker is considering building a performance car to create an aura of excitement for the brand and draw more customers to its showrooms. The car would be more like a Pontiac Solstice than a Dodge Viper — priced around $25,000 and targeting midrange sports cars from American and Asian automakers. Currently, the automaker is trying to decide if it should use front-wheel-drive or rear-wheel-drive, the report says. The latter would enable Hyundai to target such vehicles as the Nissan 350Z and Ford Mustang . John F. Krafcik, vice president for product development at the Korean automaker said he sees the Pontiac Solstice as one of the best examples of a successful halo car. He hopes Hyundai can emulate that success.

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