2011 Hyundai Coupe - Hyundai Veloster

The Hyundai Veloster - teased ahead of the Detroit Motor Show

Hyundai are teasing the replacement for the Hyundai Coupe – the Hyundai Veloster – ahead of its production-ready debut at the Detroit Motor Show.

For all that Hyundai – and for that matter sister company Kia – have managed to become in the last few years, we need only look towards one car that signposted their potential – the Hyundai Coupe.

Cheap as chips – certainly for what it offered – the Hyundai Coupe was a cracking drive and actually looked rather good. Some even claimed it was trying too hard and looked too much like a Ferrari. Some insult. With the willing 2.7 litre it had quite decent performance, even if the entry-level 1.6 litre was best avoided. Unless you were under 25, and then it was a big plus.

And now we’re close to getting the replacement for the Hyundai Coupe – the Hyundai Veloster – with its production debut planned for this month at the Detroit Motor Show. Which is about time too. We were running spy photos of the Veloster more than a year ago and the Hyundai Coupe stopped production two years ago.

Hyundai were calling the Veloster a “compact utility vehicle; a stylish coupe with hatchback practicality” when they revealed it as a concept, but they’re now calling it a “Utility Coupe – the style of a coupé and the practicality of a hatch”. Sounds much the same to us.

Whatever Hyundai call it, the Hyundai Veloster – or whatever Hyundai end up naming it – remains close to the Veloster Concept and will offer four doors – two on the passenger side, one on the driver’s side and a big hatch.

The interior is said to be close in style to the new Hyundai i40 – which means disticnctly promising – although it seems the Veloster will only be available with a couple of 1.6 litre lumps. Which is a shame. Let’s hope Hyundai decide to expand the engine offerings.

More detail from Detroit.