The root of its name means
"speed," so perhaps it should be no surprise that the Veloster is off to a fast start,
selling nearly a thousand units in its first days on sale, reported Hyundai
Motor America president John Krafcik.
The sporty little car with
the unconventional two-doors-on-one-side-and-one-door-on-the-other
configuration is capturing consumers' attention as demonstrated by red-hot
sales. And the much-watched benchmark of average age for the car has come in
years, in some cases decades, lower than some key competitors, he said.
The car is available in a
more conventional four-door configuration in other markets, and there was some
skepticism that Americans would embrace the Veloster's odd layout. But it
now appears that availability of the car will be limited as production is
overwhelmed by huge demand.
The car is reaching its
intended demographic, too. Hyundai marketers employed the language of endurance
sports like marathon and triathlon, sports that are exploding in popularity, in
the naming of the Veloster's
color palette. Those colors are Century White, Ironman silver, Triathlon gray,
Ultra black, Marathon blue, Electrolyte green, 26.2 yellow, Vitamin C and
Boston red.
The endurance community has
taken notice, according to Krafcik, with favorable comments and tweets from top
competitors.
Hyundai dealers, meanwhile,
can add to their list of good problems to have, as they add another model to
their roster that can't meet customers' demand. The dealers are expressing
immense frustration to the company about the shortage of cars, but their sales
are at all-time records, Krafcik pointed out.
For consumers who want one
of these red-hot coupes, better to get your name on a list as soon as possible.
Next up is the all-new Azera, which will debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show in
November. Krafcik promises its styling will be as dynamic as that of the
company's other popular models.
And when things cool down
for the Veloster, as sales
inevitably do for fashion-driven coupes? Then the company will consider a
sporty variant to refocus attention on the Veloster, Krafcik said.
"We've been looking at three or four possibilities," he acknowledged
with a grin.
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