Detroit Auto Show: Hyundai innovates with its new Veloster

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Hyundai introduced its Veloster three-door coupe at the Detroit Auto Show on Monday. Designed with a passenger-side, forward-hinged rear door to enable functionality similar to a hatchback, the Veloster is a sort of utility coupe targeting twentysomethings.

The sporty, front-wheel-drive car features Hyundai’s first dual-clutch transmission, which uses one clutch for gears 1, 3 and 5 and another clutch for gears 2, 4, 6 and reverse. The dual-clutch transmission yields up to a 6% improvement in fuel efficiency and as much as a 7% improvement in acceleration over a traditional automatic, according to Hyundai. The Veloster will get up to 40 mpg highway using a new 1.6-liter, four-cylinder engine.

The Veloster incorporates a BlueLink telematics system for voice text messaging, alarm notification, vehicle diagnostics, stolen-vehicle slowdown and automatic crash notification and assistance, among other things. A multifunction 7-inch screen operates Pandora Internet radio, virtual CD downloading, AVI and MPEG video playback, video-game-console connectivity and Bluetooth.

Production of the 2012 Hyundai Veloster begins in May. Pricing is likely to be in the $17,000-to-$18,000 range, according to Hyundai Motor America spokesman Miles Johnson.

-- Susan Carpenter