Photo: Hyundai
The rumors surrounding the Hyundai Veloster were not unfounded, as the days of this unique but ill-conceived car seem to be numbered.
The UK car market is among the biggest in Europe and still growing. It was the first to recover from the economic downturn and takes a no-nonsense approach to what's good and what's not in terms of cars. Hyundai UK seems to have had enough of the quirky Veloster and has stopped selling the model altogether.
The move was never publicly discussed by Hyundai, but considering the slow pace of sales, it's not a surprising one. The Veloster now needs a miracle to survive being axed.
Hyundai UK's model roster is a little more streamlined than the one in other European countries. For instance, it doesn't offer the new Genesis, since it hasn't been engineered with RHD in mind. However, considering the Brits are huge BMW and Audi fans, it probably wouldn't have worked anyway.
We've long considered that the 3-door coupe is too much of a niche car. It was designed based on the premises that MINI's huge 10-model range works, which of course it doesn't. The BMW sub-brand is killing its wackier creations like the Coupe and Roadster, strengthening the core models instead.
Hyundai appears to be doing the same thing now. At a conference held yesterday, the Korean company unveiled the new i30 Turbo model, which uses a 1.6-liter engine that develops 186 PS and 265 Nm (195 lb-ft) of torque. We'd honestly pick that car over the Veloster Turbo any day of the week.
For now though, the Veloster will survive. Throughout the year, a couple of heavily camouflaged prototypes were seen testing at the Nurburgring, indicating the mid-life facelift will likely arrive very soon. However, we've only seen the Turbo model. Makes you wonder...
The move was never publicly discussed by Hyundai, but considering the slow pace of sales, it's not a surprising one. The Veloster now needs a miracle to survive being axed.
Hyundai UK's model roster is a little more streamlined than the one in other European countries. For instance, it doesn't offer the new Genesis, since it hasn't been engineered with RHD in mind. However, considering the Brits are huge BMW and Audi fans, it probably wouldn't have worked anyway.
Veloster Turbo is safe for now
After discovering the Veloster had been pulled, we quickly moved to check if this has happened in other markets as well and discovered that, to a degree, it has. Both France and Belgium currently only list the Veloster Turbo model. Germany is currently the only large market in Europe to continue offering the base 1.6-liter Veloster. But until when?We've long considered that the 3-door coupe is too much of a niche car. It was designed based on the premises that MINI's huge 10-model range works, which of course it doesn't. The BMW sub-brand is killing its wackier creations like the Coupe and Roadster, strengthening the core models instead.
Hyundai appears to be doing the same thing now. At a conference held yesterday, the Korean company unveiled the new i30 Turbo model, which uses a 1.6-liter engine that develops 186 PS and 265 Nm (195 lb-ft) of torque. We'd honestly pick that car over the Veloster Turbo any day of the week.
For now though, the Veloster will survive. Throughout the year, a couple of heavily camouflaged prototypes were seen testing at the Nurburgring, indicating the mid-life facelift will likely arrive very soon. However, we've only seen the Turbo model. Makes you wonder...
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