automotive

Q&A: Hyundai Preps Veloster Launch; Tiburon, It's Not

Nowadays, for automakers to have the certain youthful je ne sais quoi they have to have a car that can legitimately show up at hipster parties, even if younger buyers aren't actually the ones who end up buying them.

Hyundai, whose Tiburon coupe filled that role until it was discontinued in 2008, will position the new Veloster coupe as the Gen Y personality car when it goes on sale next month. Actually, the car is only half a coupe, as it has three doors rather than just two and an unusual interior capacity for vehicles usually associated with the two-door world. The company is most certainly positioning it as a versatile, personalizable and connected "smart" car with technology like location sharing and voice texting.

At the car's official unveiling in Detroit early this year, the company made the point about the vehicle as a protean vehicle for younger multitaskers by bringing up to the stage a trio of Gen Y employees of the company and its agencies. The trio was intended to embody the target consumer and their multifarious product demands.

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To reach that target and spotlight the vehicles' communications and entertainment technology, Hyundai will make music and youth-lifestyle a central component of the launch campaign over the coming two months. The company is also making that idea central to a launch event for media early in September in Portland, Ore., where scribes will be steeped in the lifestyle during three days of weird food, funky music and accommodations -- and little shut-eye.

But Marketing Daily, putting sleep first, got on the phone with Steve Shannon, who in April this year became VP marketing at Fountain Valley, Calif.-based Hyundai Motor America, and Chris Hosford, executive director of corporate communications, about the broad plans for the vehicle.

Q: How critical is this vehicle in the lineup?

SS: I would say it's a real positive addition because if you look at the target for this segment -- lower-priced sporty coupes -- [Veloster] provides an opportunity for us to get people into the brand who are a fair amount younger than our current portfolio allows us to do. From a volume and business standpoint and from the perspective of bringing in younger buyers, it's all upside. There's an energy and vitality that sporty coupes bring, so because of the vibe it brings to the brand and buyers, it brings us something we're excited about.

Q: Hyundai has Genesis Coupe; does it need a second coupe?

CH: In the past we had Tiburon, and it was just a fluke of timing that Tiburon went away around the time we introduced the Genesis Coupe. But we have said often that Genesis Coupe is not a Tiburon replacement. The Genesis is real-wheel drive, with a much more sophisticated engine layout and a significantly higher price point. It is also much more of a sports car than a fun little coupe. So psychographically, you can see that the kinds of buyers the Veloster will appeal to are similar to those who bought the Tiburon. It's an inexpensive, front-wheel-drive vehicle for fun and hanging out with friends.

Q: Has Hyundai had anything at all post-Tiburon (pre-Veloster) with that kind of "personality," for lack of a better word?

SS: We have had Accent, and that, from a price and value standpoint, has probably had its share of entry buyers, but something that is clearly in the bull's eye for 20-somethings who need a remarkable amount of functionality? No. Veloster -- with that third door, the extra storage capacity, 40 mpg, headroom, and technology --meets an extra set of needs and visually looks pretty cool.

Q: What is the natural competitive set for Veloster?

SS:If you are forced to name competitors, the Scion tC is probably the closest, but once you get beyond that there isn't much like it. This is a really unique combination of sporty looking and functional.

Q:There's going to be a big music focus on marketing the car. Is that supposed to spotlight in-vehicle entertainment technology as much as lifestyle of the ideal buyer?

SS: That's part of it. In some ways, that's a secondary benefit. The lead idea is just -- what are the passion points for these Gen Y, 20-something people? In some ways, when you do launch cars, traditionally it's "what's the TV campaign," and then everything flows from that. But we did it the opposite for Veloster. We asked what the real passion points for this customer are. Music would be one and there are others as well. That was a starting point: how do you get engagement, and excitement? What's the way in, so to speak? How do you find people in places where they are willing to listen to your message?

Q: Given the importance of getting younger buyers into the brand with Veloster, what's the median age of Hyundai's buyer now and are you happy with that?

SS: We are happy with it, and I'll start with one statistic: the average age of new-car buyers is in the low to mid-50's. If you were to ask a hundred people on the street what the median of new-car buyers is, they might say 35. If you look at our vehicles in their segments, we are generally in line with segment averages. And I would say for Veloster and for Scion and others, frankly your target is going to be younger than you actually get.

There's this overwhelming inertia right now with our economy, where the fact is [that] people who have the $25,000, $30,000 to buy a new car tend to be a little older. So there's always that difference: the younger target and the recognition a year later when we look at the people who buy these vehicles that it's maybe a little older than our bull's eye.

Q: What would the median age be that you'd feel good about for Veloster a year from now?

SS: An average would span the high and low, but I'd say late 30's to around 40, because when you get an average like that, it means you certainly have a nice little bump in the twenty-something range but also people in the older range.

Q: What's the launch schedule?

SS: Press launch is Sept. 8, and cars will start to go on sale around the beginning of September. We are looking at October for the major campaign. You want to have a little inventory [before launch campaign].

 

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