Hyundai Veloster a sell-out success

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Hyundai Veloster a sell-out success
Joshua Dowling
March 28, 2012 - 11:40AM




Asymmetrical coupe a hit with buyers aged 17 to 70.

A car with a split personality has become the surprise hero of the Hyundai line-up.

The brand that built its reputation with budget-conscious buyers has sold out of its new premium sports coupe.

The Veloster - which has one door on the driver's side and two on the passenger's side - was part of Hyundai's plan to bring emotional appeal to its vehicles.

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But the $23,990 coupe has been too popular and some customers will have to wait up to three months to take delivery.

The Korean car maker has been caught short, selling out of its first allocation of vehicles.

The chief executive of Hyundai Australia, Mr Edward Lee, says: "We forecast to sell 150 Velosters per month, but after one month we have sold 411. We have less than one month's supply in dealer stock."

The company has put in an urgent call to its Korean headquarters to more than double the number of Velosters coming to Australia.

Mr Lee says he initially expected the Veloster to account for just 2.2 per cent of the company's annual sales in Australia - 2000 of the 90,000 cars it plans to sell this year. But it turns out that was too pessimistic.

"We could sell more than double," Mr Lee says, indicating he has ordered at least 4000 Velosters to arrive this year.

However, Hyundai Australia is unsure if its request will be granted. Hyundai factories around the world are constrained by capacity.

Last year the company declared it would not challenge Toyota, Volkswagen or General Motors for global sales leadership, instead focusing on building its brand image.

The Veloster was key to that plan but the move has temporarily backfired, with the car becoming too popular. Sales of sports coupes are fickle to fashion trends and tend to go out of vogue in half the time of regular cars.

"We always expected [the Veloster] to attract the young and the young at heart," says Hyundai Australia director of marketing Oliver Mann. "Anecdotally, we're getting people aged 17 to 70, but most buyers are under 25."

Meantime, Hyundai says it is well progressed with plans for the Veloster Turbo, due in Australia in July priced at about $35,000.

The turbo version is intended to build Hyundai's credibility with driving enthusiasts, however the company will also be restricted by how many performance models it is allocated by the factory.

Mr Lee says the turbo Veloster will account for one-third of the compact coupe's sales locally - but any turbo models would come at the expense of regular versions as the factory can only build a fixed number of Veloster body shells.
"We are doing our best to get more [Veloster coupes]," Mr Lee says.