The Genesis Coupe current holds the position of Hyundai ’s sporty offering, but a second sports coupe will join the automaker’s lineup by 2011. The new coupe will fill the void left by the departure of the Hyundai Tiburon and will be heavily influenced by the company’s Veloster concept.
According to Hyundai CEO John Krafcik, the new coupe will slot beneath the Genesis Coupe and take about 70-80 percent of its design from the Veloster concept (pictured). Krafcik told Edmunds the production model will have one dramatic styling element – saying “it won’t be like anything out there before in the small car segment” – but failed to give any other details. The Veloster concept featured a sharply-raked rear end, so we suspect that could be the design element Krafcik was hinting.
Size-wise, the Tiburon replacement will be a rather small car. It will be smaller than Kia ’s upcoming Forte Koupe and will compare favorably in size to the Hyundai Accent. However, the little Hyundai will pack a big punch as good performance is one of the coupe’s top priorities. “Think of it like a four-passenger Honda CRX,” Krafcik told Edmunds. “It’ll be a little car you can take out and wring its neck and still get good mileage. Fun and economical, with a great power-to-weight ratio.”
That great power-to-weight ratio will be provided by a direct-injection 1.6L four-cylinder engine, developing 140 horsepower. Although the four-pot will be able to provide plenty of fun, it will also return over 40 mpg.
The interior of the new coupe – Hyundai has yet to decide on a name for the new model – will be young and fresh (think Kia Soul ) and will likely feature a standard dash-mounted LCD screen.
The new Hyundai coupe should be in dealers by late 2011, just in time for the 2012 model year.
