AUTO MODIFIED 2011

Spy photos indicate that the 2012 Hyundai Veloster will retain the concept's generally chunky lines, high-tail square-back profile, and short overhangs. The main changes are the addition of rear side windows with separating roof posts--and, says Autocar, a passenger-side rear "access" door. The latter is hardly a new idea. General Motors' now-defunct Saturn brand added rear-hinged half-doors to its compact SC coupes starting back in 1999. Mr. Krafcik, however, has said the production Veloster will have a body feature that "won't be like anything out there before in the small-car segment." This leads us to believe that the auxiliary door--if that's what he's referring to--could be a slider, perhaps with articulated hinges a la Hyundai's recent HED-5 Concept crossover, or maybe something else entirely. We'll see.

As for the interior, the one spy photo we've seen reveals that the 2012 Hyundai Veloster will have an elaborately sculpted dashboard with hooded, inward-angled main dials ahead of the driver and a V-shaped center stack flanked by large air vents and surmounted by a good-size navigation/infotainment screen, with climate controls arrayed below. That image also suggests the cabin will be fairly cozy, but adequately spacious for two average-size adults in front. The rear seat will doubtless be best left to toddlers or used as extra luggage space, but even cramped 2+2s sell far better than 2-seaters--and cost less to insure.