We are a long way from the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show and many things may change in the meantime, but for now, the word from the team over at Insideline is that Hyundai will head to California this fall to unveil a new coupe version of its freshly launched Elantra model. The two-door model will offer Hyundai a direct rival to the 2012 Honda Civic Coupe in the U.S. market.
Recently, Autonews reported that Hyundai has already shown the Elantra Coupe to U.S. distributors who were pleasantly surprised. “They showed us a photo of it and it’s gorgeous,” Doug Fox, a multi-franchise dealer who owns a Hyundai dealership in Ann Arbor, Mich., told the news site of the Elantra coupe. “We weren’t expecting that.”
The Elantra Coupe is expected to be offered with the sedan model’s 1.8-liter engine delivering 148-horsepower and 138 lb-ft of peak torque, coupled to either a 6-speed manual gearbox or a 6-speed automatic transmission. Insideline also reported there’s a good chance Hyundai may also add a sporty Elantra Coupe R-Spec model in 2012 equipped with the upcoming top-end Veloster’s 1.6-liter turbocharged engine with 208-horsepower, details of which we first revealed back in January (read more here).
Via Insideline
2011 HYUNDAI ELANTRA SEDAN 
