Hotter Hyundai SR range set for Sydney

A turbocharged Hyundai i30 SR hot-hatch has emerged as the model most likely to spearhead a range of higher-performance SR-badged concept cars that will debut at the Australian International Motor Show in October and could morph into showroom models early next year.
 
Details of the steamrolling Korean brand’s first performance sub-brand - first reported by motoring.com.au two weeks ago - remain scarce until its official launch at the Sydney show, but the first turbo-petrol i30 is expected to headline Hyundai's new SR line-up.
 
Hyundai Motor Company Australia executives will not discuss specifics of the company’s SR performance car strategy before its formal announcement at the AIMS, but confirmed at today's launch of the Veloster SR Turbo (a nameplate employed only in Australia) that a number of other SR-badged passenger cars are currently undergoing local development testing ahead of the Sydney show and their potential release in 2013.

“For us it’s one step at a time and Veloster (SR Turbo) is a first but very significant step," said HMCA Director of Marketing, Oliver Mann.

"We are looking through the SR badging program at extending this further through our range. If we can engineer products that add performance and add driving enjoyment, and yet make sense as a business case, then clearly it is something that offers us both volume and brand image opportunities. If we think there is a return in terms of volume and profitability then we will do it.

“(But) We’re not going to announce anything before Sydney - we’re not in a position. If we’ve got something to announce, then we’ll do it in Sydney. I’m not going to guarantee that we’ve got big plans, but we have got some evaluations on the go which will certainly be completed by then.”

Hyundai Australia's Product Planning Senior Manager Scott Williams - a former Mazda Australia executive - said he expects the SR line-up to provide a similar 'halo effect' for Hyundai models as Mazda's SP nameplate does for its models.

"SP did wonders for Mazda and the SR sub-brand will take Hyundai to a new level," he said.

Mr Mann suggested the second-generation i30 hatchback - released here in May - would play a key role in Hyundai's upcoming SR line-up.

“We’ve had SR on i30 before and that sub-branding is being continued. It’s something we’re looking at and keen to explore," he said.

“Certainly the i30 is one of the cars we would look at. The starting point is vehicles that can add to our brand image by generating driver enjoyment and perhaps adding a lustre to our brand, and there are incremental volume opportunities as well."

HMCA Product Planning Manager Andrew Tuitahi said: "SR will be very strategic in terms of (sales) volume. The small (car) segment makes the most sense."

Unlike the previous-generation i30 SR, however, the headline act of Hyundai's new SR line will not only offer cosmetic enhancements, but engine and chassis upgrades as well.

Mr Mann said said any Hyundai model would need to offer “bespoke suspension tuning and engine enhancements” - as well as more aggressive styling - to qualify for an SR badge.

“Our aim this time around for any performance program would be for there to be differentiation between the sport version and the standard version,” he said. "Yes, they will all receive performance enhancements, to both engine and chassis."

Mr Tuitahi said: "Sticker-tuning and bodykits are not what we're about. It needs to be the same step up as SR Turbo is to Veloster".

When news of the SR line first emerged at Hyundai’s one-million-vehicle Australian sales celebration late last month, Mr Mann said the nameplate would be reserved for variants with “meaningful performance upgrades”.

While the SR range is an Australian initiative, motoring understands the first SR model to be revealed in Sydney will be a global model produced in Korea featuring a more powerful engine and a number of locally specified suspension, steering, braking and/or wheel/tyre components sourced from Korea, with durability and suitability testing conducted in Australia.

Like all Hyundai models released Down Under since the i45 sedan, the Veloster SR Turbo underwent an extensive ‘localisation’ program before production of Australia’s version commenced in Korea.
 
While the force-fed Veloster’s upgraded braking and steering systems – the latter comprising a tighter steering ratio with 2.78 instead of 2.88 turns lock to lock – are fitted to the SR Turbo globally, HMCA’s local development program also specified a unique mapping for the car’s motor-driven electric power steering system, as well as unique-to-Australia damping tune.

Logically, in addition to a sportier, localised chassis tune, the new i30 SR hot-hatch will be powered by the same 150kW turbo-petrol engine as the Veloster SR Turbo, or a larger - perhaps 2.0-litre - engine than the new i30's 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol engine.

"Either one would be an appropriate application in an SR-badged i30," said Mr Tuitahi.

Hyundai said recent speculation of an even hotter version of the Veloster SR Turbo – potentially badged as the R-Spec – was wide of the mark and once again denied reports it is planning to launch a range of all-new premium models (including the next-generation Genesis coupe and sedan) under a new luxury sub-brand also called Genesis.

“I can confirm it (the next Genesis model) will be a Hyundai and not a Genesis sub-brand," said Mr Mann. "All things being equal logically it will be called a Hyundai Genesis Coupe.

"It’s something that has been considered, but fundamentally we believe it is a sounder business model to sell Genesis products – coupe or sedan – through the Hyundai dealer network.

“Genesis and Equus are already recognised as luxury Hyundai sedans (in Korea and the US). What does it do for the Hyundai brand if you spin them off into a Lexus or Infiniti-type brand through separate distribution channels?”
 
Hyundai has previously confirmed that, unlike the model it will replace, its next Genesis rear-wheel drive coupe will be also produced in right-hand drive configuration for markets including Australia.
 
The new Genesis two-door and redesigned four-door Genesis sedan upon which it is based are expected to appear in concept guise soon before being launched globally in 2014, when at least the Genesis coupe will crown a new range of more sporting Hyundais in Australia.

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