Filed under: Budget, Hatchback, Hyundai, First Drives
And Now For Something Completely Different…
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To hear John Krafcik tell it, the 2012 Veloster is just another Hyundai. Allow us to rephrase that. According to the company’s North American CEO, the searing Vitamin C orange coupe shown here is something we should’ve seen coming, the predictable end result of the relentless innovators at his Korean employer.
Yet to be fair, even now, “innovation” isn’t exactly the first thing that comes to mind when we think of Hyundai. But perhaps it should be. After all, this is the same company that’s led the way with radical customer relations plans like Hyundai Assurance (income loss payment coverage and buy-back, guaranteed trade-in values, etc.) and brash products like the 2011 Sonata, which passed on cylinders five and six in favor of forced induction - to say nothing of its unique hybrid variant and brave aesthetics. From marketing to product, Hyundai has rather quietly built a solid case for itself as an innovator.
And yet… even though we knew it was coming, we still weren’t prepared for the Veloster. Aggressive family sedan styling aside, we haven’t seen Hyundai allow its design team to so comprehensively stretch its creative legs as we have in this little four-door coupe. Did we say four-door? Indeed we did. Following hatchback naming conventions of three- and five-door bodystyles, this tangerine bolide is actually a four-door. It’s got a conventional, longish driver’s side door and a traditional lift-up hatchback. But stroll over to the passenger’s side, and things get deeply funky - there’s a second aperture behind a subtly shorter front door. We’ve seen similar setups like this in the past, a rear-hinged demi-door to ease access to a tight back seat, but this isn’t a suicide solution. The Veloster employs a normal front-hinged rear door, albeit one with the handle hiding in the gloss black C-pillar.Continue reading 2012 Hyundai Veloster [w/video]
2012 Hyundai Veloster [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 19 Sep 2011 11:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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