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Hyundai has revealed that its replacement for the Tiburon (Hyundai swears the Genesis Coupe has nothing to do with the Tiburon) will be very similar to the small Veloster concept that debuted at the 2007 Seoul Motor Show – and very different from the last Tiburon.
The replacement will be “positioned below the current Tiburon,” said Hyundai Motor America CEO John Krafcik. “It will have a lower price point, kind of eco sport positioning, where it is not going to be all about performance. It is going to be very fuel efficient. It is going to be very stylish, a real nice complement to the Genesis coupe.”
Krafcik said it will share the fwd platform that underpins the Accent and Elantra. Styling will have a lot on common with the Veloster concept, he revealed. The Tiburon name may be dropped in favor of something new.
Hyundai discontinued the Tiburon after the 2008 model year, and the Genesis coupe has been considered its “spiritual successor.” However, with a base price of $22,000 – $5000 more than the 2008 Tiburon – the Genesis coupe can’t quite compete in the same arena the Tiburon did. Keeping the Genesis coupe and the Tiburon didn’t make much sense, as they would likely steal market share from one another, but replacing the Tiburon with two distinctly different coupes might not be a bad idea for the South Korean automaker.
Source: AutoWeek
That car looks like the offspring of Citroen and Saab! I guess it’s a smart move now, seeing as Saab may leave the US and Citroen never came, there is or will be nothing like it…
Makes sense! A good high performance eco-friendly powertrain would be like a 1.8 L turbo (diesel?) full hybrid with auto stop, fuel shutoff while coasting, and the usual regen braking, and even electric assist for added torque at low speeds. And if the car could hit 40 or 45 MPG and yet be as fun as a high performance go-kart it’d sell like crazy