Hyundai is considering a small sports car. European MD Allan Rushforth told Autocar that discussions about a sports car have taken place and that there is an appetite for one.
If the car makes production, it will not be a relaunch of the Coupé. The market for such a car is difficult to sustain, according to Rushforth, who also revealed he is leaving Hyundai for a senior role at Nissan.
“Cars like these, such as the Audi TT, create a huge demand when they’re new, but then that dies off quickly,” he said. “It’s about demographics, too. The buyers of the old Coupé no longer want these cars.”
Any new sports car would have to be a global model. Hyundai’s World Rally Championship and other motorsport ambitions make a sports car more relevant, and its planned N performance division creates what Rushforth called “opportunities” for new models.
Inspiration for the new model could come from the firm's recent PassoCorto concept, which made its debut in Geneva earlier this year. Designed by the IED design school in Turin and powered by a twin-turbocharged 1.6-litre engine with 262bhp, the PassoCorto concept was billed as being purely a design study.
Hyundai is also planning a new B-segment crossover to arrive “within two years”, as part of plans to launch 22 new vehicles by 2017.
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