Hyundai Confirms Development of Rear-Wheel Drive Sports Car

The Tiburon is the brand's only "niche" vehicle, and can be traced back fifteen years to the S-Coupe, a two-door notchback coupe

The new small to midsize sporty car should arrive within three years' time. (Photo: Hyundai Auto Canada)

based on the X-2 Excel, one of Hyundai's first front-wheel drive cars. Hyundai's intentions to make the S-Coupe a pseudo-sports machine came to fruition after launching the Turbo model, a cult classic that helped Hyundai launch its rally car program. The S-Coupe evolved in 1995 to become the first generation Tiburon, based on the J2 (Elantra) chassis. Two evolutions along, the Tiburon has become a formidable competitor, elevating Hyundai to a position where it competes head-on with Acura and Volkswagen, and their respective RSX and GTI models.

To fill in the gap left by shifting the Tiburon upscale, Hyundai is considering a high-performance all-wheel drive sports compact loosely based on the MC4 (next-generation Accent) platform. The small sporty car should arrive within three years' time. The next-generation Tiburon, in combination with a new large sedan and the potential small sports car, should contribute significantly to Hyundai's plans to become one of the world's top five manufacturers by the decade's end.