Hyundai looks to coupe 'halo'

Unveiled in concept form at the New York Motor Show earlier this year, Hyundai's Genesis large car (more here) will not be coming Down Under. However, a smaller vehicle engineered using the rear-wheel-drive underpinnings of the home-market flagship might arrive -- in the form of a new local halo coupe.

Hyundai Sales and Marketing boss Kevin McCann confirmed the rear-wheel drive coupe based on Hyundai's BH architecture (also underpinning the Genesis) which has been caught testing in the USA, is firmly on the Australian arm's shopping list.

"We already know we can't get the V8 [Genesis]. I don't think our brand is ready for it – might be in a couple of years but not now. The big car is really for the Korean market where Genesis will ultimately replace the Equus.

But the rear-wheel drive coupe is different -- and a logical successor to the Tiburon as a halo car for the brand locally, McCann opines.

"The Tiburon has a broad positive reception -- it's not a huge seller but in its segment it does very well.

"We think on the back of that, a relatively cheap offering as an image leader, then BH [coupe] certainly has an important place in our line-up. We're pushing for it," McCann told The Carsales Network.

Just exactly what Hyundai Australia is pushing for is still yet to be seen in detail. We can tell you from US-based sources that the car is a mid-sized front-engined, rear-wheel drive coupe that in styling terms owes more to the new Euro-penned i30 hatch than the existing Tiburon.

Spy pics were recently featured on the enthusiast website 'WorldCarFans.com' (pictured).

The most likely engine configuration for our market is a derivative of the 3.3 V6 Hyundai uses in its Santa Fe and Sonata models now. A turbo four is an alternative.

It's far from certain the new coupe will keep the Tiburon tag, however. Indeed, it is more likely to follow the alpha-numeric route taken by the new hatch.

Adding weight to this suggestion is the likelihood of the platform also spawning convertible and mid-sized sedan variants -- a new rear-wheel drive 'halo' family for Hyundai in Australia and European market where the V8 is deemed too OTT for the brand.

To comment on this article click here