Only three years after it went on sale in the UK, the Hyundai Veloster is no longer available to buy there. The Korean automaker has confirmed the withdrawal of the Veloster from the UK market but didn’t provide details.
The coupe is no longer present on Hyundai UK’s customer website, being removed from the main model page. Hyundai confirmed the news at the recent media event in Frankfurt, where it has unveiled three new models, including the i30 Turbo, which will represent an alternative for Veloster customers in the UK.
While Hyundai didn’t say why it pulled out the Veloster from the UK, disappointing sales are most likely to blame for the coupe’s short presence on the market. The limited choice of engines, quirky looks and unusual 2+1 layout may be to blame for that.
The car launched at the end of 2011 with a relatively underpowered 138hp 1.6-liter naturally-aspirated petrol engine, but received an 183hp turbocharged version in September 2012. Mated to a standard six-speed manual transmission, the turbo unit allowed the Veloster to sprint from 0 to 62mph (100km/h) in 8.4 seconds and to reach a top speed of 133 mph (214km/h). However, that wasn’t enough to steal sales from the VW Scirocco and Vauxhall Astra GTC.
It is not clear yet whether the Veloster will be axed from other European markets as well. We checked Hyundai’s German, French and Spanish customer websites and the Veloster is still on offer there.
Story references: Auto Express
PHOTOS
