Hyundai Veloster to roll in Saudi Arabia & UAE soon
Hyundai is the talk of the town these days. Having rolled out several new models in a seemingly short span of time, all so well engineered, well designed and well priced, Hyundai has already caused quite a stir in the market dominated by the Japanese giants. And the increasing damage they are continuing to cause the Japanese monopoly is evident from the shaken chiefs of some major Japanese automakers stepping into the limelight themselves for praising their own upcoming models, in a sad bid to counter competition. As part of Hyundai’s scheme of kicking the Japanese and everyone else out of the game, they have now decided to launch their all-new sensational Veloster sports coupe in the GCC.
Contrary to earlier misleading info by the Saudi dealer, the Veloster is not going to come to the GCC with Hyundai’s renowned GDI engine technology. The standard motor is a 1.6-litre unit good for 130 hp and 157 Nm of torque, mated to an all-new 6-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission – a Hyundai first. Other highlights of the Veloster include weird asymmetrical doors – featuring a passenger door only on one side of the car, LED daytime running lights, projector headlamps with High-beam assist, sunroof, rear-view camera, Bluetooth with support for music streaming, cruise control, 8-speaker premium sound system with subwoofer featuring a 7-inch TFT screen and AUX/USB/RCA support, heated front seats, button start, front, side and curtain airbags, electronic stability control system, heated external rear-view mirrors and a Blue Max eco guide system which advices and guides the driver for an efficiency-oriented driving style.
We are not sure if Hyundai would opt to offer all those options in the GCC even in the top-spec trim, considering their penchant for keeping the prices low. Pricing details are unknown at this point. As it seems, Saudi Arabia will get to see the Veloster in action real soon while UAE and rest of the GCC may be patience tested until fall of this year.
Comments
Davis
Well, that’s certainly great news. If the GDI does debut and fares well, it will open the possibility of the technology trickling down to the other models.
They have been launching new vehicles, but rather quietly, which is quite lame. What’s the use of launching it without anyone knowing.
On a positive note, they still getting their competitors’ jumping up and down, highly frustrated 🙂
ROJ
Im looking for a test drive review about this car and i couldnt find any… Some reviews are making comparsions of it as a Mini, Megane, Scirocco competitor but is not a fast car in straight lines..
TheDude
So will the rear passenger door be on the left side in countries like UK and Japan?
Mashfique Hussain Chowdhury
It’ll be flipped for RHD cars, unlike the stupid Mini Clubmans.
Samer
Hyundai is raising the bar for all other car makers, and frankly they need to change their marketing strategies here in GCC, brand stigma is no more present for them and they can to start offering more well equipped car and raise the price a little bit as they will still be competetive, Honda Civic is for 90 K for God sake, hyundai will stay represent better value for money, and they have proved their reliebility since they produced the Sonata in 2006 and above. according to Saudi forums Veloster has already been launched in big event, and it is not likely to come with GDI, you can see in the photos of the first link that the engine has no GDI logo on it.
http://www.koreanbeast.com/showthread.php?t=26756
http://www.koreanbeast.com/showthread.php?t=26279
http://www.koreanbeast.com/showthread.php?t=19371
http://www.koreanbeast.com/showthread.php?t=20960
Mashfique Hussain Chowdhury
good find.
Zao
they planning a turbo version too…dont think it would come to GCC…
lotfi
its pretty ugly to be honest, hyundai shold get its 2.0 twin turbo here that thing will be an absolute beast
Shahzad Haider
MASH, we cannot give our feedback to these people who are responsible to bring the new Hyundai cars to G.C.C. There must something where we can suggest them to launch at least Turbo Versions.
Mashfique Hussain Chowdhury
The dealers have final say.
mashaan
it’s already on sale here in KSA.
the price range from 66k SR – 78k SR.
Amy
Great news for Saudi Arabia, UAE and Hyundai! Shared this news with the audience over on the Facebook fan page for project Advanced Technology and Design Korea (www.facebook.com/advancedtechKOR). If you really like Hyundai and Kia, browse through the auto section of the blog for tons of related content and reviews (www.advancedtechnologykorea.com). Have a good one and keep up the great posts!
Joe
I’ve seen the car on display in the local dealer here in Bahrain, the top specs is loaded with options like ABS, DVD, leather, Auto A/C, Cruise Control, Bluetooth, Engine start/stop button, smart key and more.
I’ve snapped a few pictures of it as well, the dealer still doesn’t know the price but he says that it’ll be around BD7000-7500 (69000-7350 DHS)fro the fully loaded version.
vivek
can you confirm if it is coming with a GDI engine?
Joe
I’m going to the dealer tomorrow to pick up some parts, I’ll check it out .
Here are some of the pictures I took
http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/904/img20110704124205.jpg
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/224/img20110704124228.jpg
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/6241/img20110704124251.jpg
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/5509/img20110704124311.jpg
http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/4927/img20110704124434.jpg
http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/9766/img20110704124348.jpg
Rasheda
Where are you located? I’m in California and have not been lucky enough yet to see the Veloster in person. It is my top pick for my New Car i’m planning to buy @ the end of the year! Hoping the drive is as good as the looks of this car seem to be.
Rahul Jones
Hey….. Thanks for the pics…. It looks pretty nice.
Joe
@ Vivek
Sorry, the engine is not GDI (there’s no GDI on the engine cover like the US models), so I guess its MPI. 🙁
It should be the same as the 2012 Accent engine.
@Rasheda
I’m located in Bahrain, the local dealer brought the car as a display, we can’t even test drive it yet.
I’m sure the car will be great, especially for the price, just don’t expect it to be fast, its only 1.6L engine.
@Rahul
You welcome.
mani
can any one from bahrain/saudi tell us, what engine being offered in veloster there…? and how much it is being priced…?
Mashfique Hussain Chowdhury
Story updated with correct GCC specs.
azizdarwish
hi gentlmen;
from where i can bay it in dammam is any body have the address realy i like this car but its not more fassssst…thanks
azizdarwish
sorry…i saw it in the road today and i went afterthat to hun…show room but its notavailable.
ROJ
I have checked the reviews on this car and it is nothing impressive in-terms of performance…
The car is outstanding as a practical car with a sporty feel,.. As it is ride focused rather than handling focused… It is no modern day CRX…
And I wouldnt be surprised as Hyundai does not have a racing history like other carmakers to be able to come up with a competent fully capable sports car..
ROJ
The car is selling for some AED 74K at the dealers and the 1st batch is already sold out big-time..
But a 1.6 engine and the fact it is not a proper sports car really let me down.. I wish it costed more and it came with a decent drive-train and suspension tuning..
Though they are testing a 1.6 turbo model in the US, we could forgive it a bit..
Stream
i saw this car in the showroom last month in Hyundai-Ajman,well its really nice car from in & outside
its avaliable with Dvdscreen,alloy wheel,foglight,half-leather seats+rear parking camera…..aaaand one door left side,and two doors right side!nice
they told me it will be offically release to customers in November.. (from that time)
Stream
oooh yes and it cost 75.000Dhs