Hyundai Veloster unavailable for up to a year

Hyundai Australia has confirmed the second-generation Hyundai Veloster won’t be available here for up to a year after originally planned, in the second half of 2019.

Details remain sketchy, but Hyundai cites production scheduling issues for the delay, and previously confirmed the hot new Veloster N won’t be produced in right-hand drive and therefore won’t be sold in Australia.

First revealed at the 2018 Detroit motor show in January, the all-new 2019 Hyundai Veloster was due to be launched in Australia in the third quarter of this year, before being delayed until October.

The latest delay could mean the Hyundai Veloster – Australia’s top-selling sports car in 2012, before the Toyota 86 arrived in mid-2012 and the Ford Mustang arrived in late 2015 – could remain unavailable for up to a year.

Because all versions of the unique Veloster four-door -- which features just one door on the driver’s side and two on the front passenger’s -- are produced in the same factory in South Korea, the original is now out of production.

Indeed, Australian stocks were exhausted in July and just 425 Velosters have been sold here this year – down more than 70 per cent on 2017, when Hyundai sold 1935 Velosters, Mercedes-Benz sold more than 2800 C-Class coupes and convertibles and Ford sold more than 9000 Mustangs.

The good news is that Hyundai Australia will complement its brilliant i30 N hot hatch – which isn’t available in the US -- with the i30 Fastback N in early 2019, and that it hasn’t stopped lobbying for a RHD Veloster N.

“We’re still pushing for the N version [of the new Veloster],” said spokesman Bill Thomas.

When it eventually arrives here, the new Hyundai Veloster will be offered in two versions, both likely to be stay priced either side of $30,000 and both potentially available with a new range of dealer-fit chassis and engine upgrades.

The standard model will be powered by a 110kW/180Nm 2.0-litre engine with six-speed manual and automatic transmissions (up from the current model’s 103kW/167Nm 1.6) and the Turbo with a carryover 150kW/265Nm 1.6-litre matched to six-speed manual and seven-speed dual-clutch gearboxes.

The hotter Veloster N borrows its 202kW/353Nm 2.0-litre turbo engine from the i30 N hatch and Fastback, and all three N models will eventually become available with Hyundai’s new eight-speed dual-clutch auto.

Unlike the i30 hatch, which is available in a range of models, the i30 Fastback will only be available in Australia in N form.

Whether or not the Veloster N arrives here, the two lesser Veloster models will see Hyundai offer one of the broadest ranges of warm and hot small cars available.

But with a lower centre of gravity promising even better handling than the i30 N hatch and Fastback, the Veloster N could well be the pick of the bunch. So keep your fingers crossed.