During a year that took more than 20 million recall casualties from the biggest names of the industry, Hyundai quietly fixed minor faults on barely 150,000 vehicles in 2010. Pocket change when you consider the Korean giant’s 2009 sales of over 3.1 million vehicles.
J.D. Power and Associates ranks Hyundai in the top three in the brand loyalty study, an area arguably more valuable in brownie points than reliability standings. Every model is flying off dealership forecourts. In some markets the Tucson is 150 per cent up, the Genesis one of the slowest movers with a massive 40 per cent year-on-year increase. Hyundai’s even gone drifting and Pikes Peak climbing for crying out loud.
It seems there’s no stopping this Korean juggernaut, but there is one void left to fill: a front-wheel drive youthster (a wheels-coined term which means ‘affordable sporty coupé for the first-time car buyer’ - look out for youthster to appear all over the motoring media in 2011).
That’s where the Veloster comes in, the three-door coupé just launched at the Detroit show in production form. And lo and behold, wheels has already driven it in Dubai. OK, so ‘our’ Veloster looks like it’s made of mostly duct tape, but this pre-production, ‘spy shot’ Hyundai is pretty much the real thing, complete with three doors (seriously, one door on the driver’s side, and two on the passenger side), a new-generation 1.6-litre four-pot and enough standard equipment to shame the competition.
So in this world exclusive of a Middle East exclusive story, we shall be the first to decide whether Hyundai’s gutsy bravery – Did we mention the Veloster has three doors? – can pay off. Judging by its recent steady and symmetrical climb up the rankings, the Korean firm can’t possibly fail. But then again, it’s never tackled something as asymmetrical as the Veloster…
Watch out for the full review of the Veloster in wheels Issue 307 out January 28th.
