2020 veloster turbo premium 22
2020 veloster turbo premium 03
2020 veloster2l 034
2020 veloster turbo premium 43
2020 veloster turbo premium 37
Marton Pettendy27 Sept 2019
NEWS

New Hyundai Veloster arrives

Sleeker second-generation sports coupe-hatch now available in Australia

The second-generation Hyundai Veloster has arrived in Australia but isn’t expected to out-sell the original crossover coupe-hatch due to increased competition.

This is despite an expanded six-variant range that still starts from under $30,000, and dramatically improved refinement and more advanced technologies wrapped in a more aggressive design.

Built in right-hand drive exclusively for Australia and New Zealand, the new JS-series Veloster again features an asymmetric door design, with a single door on the driver’s side and two on the passenger side (kerb side Down Under).

It replaces the original Veloster that attracted more than 19,000 Australian buyers since February 2012, when it was the nation’s top-selling sports car despite the launch of the similarly all-new Toyota 86 coupe just four months later.

Hyundai says its popularity was longer-lived than its rivals, including Ford’s dominant Mustang, with sales topping 4000 in several years and declining just 15 per cent on average over its seven-year lifecycle, which included a 2015 facelift.

2020 veloster2l 003

Like its predecessor, which was discontinued last year and unavailable this year as Hyundai developed the RHD version, the Korean car-maker expects most people to buy the MkII Veloster for its design (67%) and most customers to be female (63%).

Apart from females, it forecasts demand from first-time car buyers, middle-aged professionals, young families wanting a second car and owners of small funky SUVs like the Nissan JUKE and Toyota C-HR, and other warm hatches like the MINI Cooper, Kia Cerato GT and Hyundai’s own i30 N Line, plus sports cars like the 86 and Mazda MX-5.

Hyundai is also expecting a rich mix of sales to match the old Veloster, which was originally priced from just $23,990, last priced from $29,590 and had an average price of $32K over its model life, with half of all buyers choosing high-spec and Turbo variants.

Unlike the i30 Fastback and hatch, there will no hot N version for Australia, but the Veloster’s return now gives Hyundai five models priced from under $25,000, including the i30, Elantra sedan, Kona small SUV and recently launched Venue light SUV, which effectively replaces the soon-to-be-axed Accent hatch and sedan.

2020 veloster2l 034

As announced on September 5, 2019 Hyundai Veloster pricing opens at $29,490 plus on-road costs, with the Veloster Turbo now priced $6000 higher at $35,490 and the Turbo Premium adding another $3500 at $38,990.

Despite the $100-lower base price, the entry-level Veloster comes with a bigger and more powerful Atkinson-cycle 2.0-litre four-cylinder ‘Nu’ petrol engine outputting 110kW/180Nm (up from 103kW/166Nm for the old 1.6).

Once again it’s matched to a six-speed manual gearbox as standard, or a six-speed torque converter auto for an extra $2300. Average fuel consumption is listed at 7.0L/100km for the manual and 7.1 for the auto.

2020 veloster2l 001

The 2019 Hyundai Veloster Turbo retains its 150kW/265Nm (275Nm on overboost) 1.6-litre T-GDi turbo-petrol four and six-speed manual and seven-speed dual-clutch auto transmissions, the latter costing $3000 more.

But the bonus is that while manual consumes 7.3L/100km, the auto that tops the range at $41,990 plus ORCs is the most efficient in the range at a claimed 6.9L/100km, at least according to official figures.

Although it presents the same asymmetric 2+1-door body design with twin central exhaust outlets, the new Veloster has a sleeker profile, lower roof, longer bonnet and more aggressive front-end design with big air intakes and Hyundai’s latest cascading grille.

2020 veloster turbo premium 03

Key dimensions are virtually unchanged at 4240mm long, 1800mm wide and 1399mm high on a 2650mm wheelbase, but rear headroom is up 15mm, front shoulder room is up 11mm and rear shoulder room is up 9mm, but boot space reduces by 17 litres to 303.

Meantime, the left rear door opening is 58mm wider, the tailgate hinges are moved 450mm rearwards, the driver’s seat is 5mm lower, the instrument cluster 10mm higher, the A-pillars 30mm narrower at the base and both the A- and C-pillars angles obscure less vision.

The biggest change to the front-wheel drive chassis, which like all Australian Hyundai models has been locally tuned, is the adoption of independent multi-link rear suspension, torque vectoring control and even quicker electric steering, while an armada of extra features makes all variants well equipped.

Chief among these is a new touch-screen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, plus Hyundai’s SmartSense safety suite including six airbags and Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA), Forward Collision Warning (FCW), Lane Keeping Assist (LKA) and Driver Attention Warning (DAW) systems.

2020 veloster2l 023

However, like the Hyundai Venue, because the autonomous emergency braking system fitted to all models except the Veloster Turbo auto is camera and not radar based it does not include cyclist detection or adaptive cruise control and therefore would not achieve a maximum five-star safety rating if crash tested by ANCAP.

Other standard equipment across the range includes multi-spoke 18-inch alloy wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport 3 tyres, LED daytime running lights, reversing camera and sensors, tyre pressure monitoring, Bluetooth phone and music connectivity, cruise control with speed-limiter, USB port, climate control, sports bucket seats and a leather-appointed multifunction steering wheel.

While the base Veloster has a 7.0-inch tablet-style central display and six-speaker audio, the Turbo gains a larger 8.0-inch screen, satellite-navigation and premium eight-speaker Infinity audio with digital radio, plus camera/radar-based AEB system with pedestrian detection and adaptive cruise control system (DCT only).

Other Turbo extras include blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and high-beam assist, plus gloss-black wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres, LED low-beam headlights and tail-lights, and a sports body kit comprising grille, lower air intake (with red highlight), diffuser, spoiler and side skirts.

2020 veloster turbo premium 43

Inside, Turbo variants add sports front seats, black cloth/leather seat trim with red piping, large speedo and tacho dials with red and white lighting, metal pedal covers, push-button start, 4.2-inch colour driver’s display, real-time performance display (turbo boost, g-force, torque) and shift paddles (DCT).

Finally, the top-spec Hyundai Veloster Turbo Premium adds five-spoke dark metallic/machined alloys, black leather seat trim, heated and air-ventilated front seats, eight-way driver’s power seat adjustment, Qi wireless phone charging, head-up display, heated steering wheel, auto wipers, electro-chromatic mirror and a full-width glass sunroof.

Seven bright paint colours are available but only two of them are no-cost solid hues (Red Ignite Flame and Yellow Thunder Bolt), with Chalk White metallic, Dark Knight mica, Tangerine Comet mica, Phantom Black mica and Lake Silver metallic/mica all costing $595 extra. The latter is only available for the base model and yellow and orange only for Turbo models.

2020 veloster turbo premium 37

The only other option is two-tone paint for the Veloster Turbo Premium, which for $1000 adds a black roof to white, yellow, orange and red cars.

Hyundai offers a lifetime capped-price service plan for both 2.0 and 1.6T models, the latter costing $299 every 10,000km or 12 months ($375 at 40,000km/48 months) and the former costing $279 every 15,000km or 12 months ($365 at 45,000km/36 months and $459 at 60,000km or 48 months).

Like all Hyundais, the Veloster is backed by a five-year, unlimited-km factory warranty, complimentary 1500km service and (when serviced at a Hyundai dealer) 10 years of free roadside assist and sat-nav map updates).

How much does the 2019 Hyundai Veloster cost?
Veloster -- $29,490
Veloster auto -- $31,790
Veloster Turbo -- $35,490
Veloster Turbo auto -- $38,490
Veloster Turbo Premium: -- $38,990
Veloster Turbo Premium (auto) -- $41,990
* Prices exclude on-road costs

Share this article
Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalistsMeet the team
Stay up to dateBecome a carsales member and get the latest news, reviews and advice straight to your inbox.
Download the carsales app
    AppStoreDownloadGooglePlayDownload
    App Store and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc. Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.
    © CAR Group Ltd 1999-2024
    In the spirit of reconciliation we acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.