What Canadians Pay For A New 2012 Hyundai Veloster

The number of Canadians searching, and finding, the price of the 2012 Hyundai Veloster has been startling. This unique and inexpensive sporty hatch has caught the attention of a wide range of buyers. There's proof in the numbers:  Hyundai sold 997 Velosters in the first two months it was on sale in Canada. Four at the tail end of August, 568 in September, and 425 in October. 

The Good Car Guy will be spending some quality time in one of Hyundai Canada's Velosters next week, so now seems like as good a time as any to get down to the nitty-gritty of the Veloster's Canadian pricing structure. Hyundai is obviously gearing the Veloster towards a younger generation, a group of people unlikely to walk in and plop down $23,700 (including delivery, fees, and taxes) or $29,335 (for the top-of-the-line Veloster) in cash. 

Granted, swiping your points-registering Mastercard on a purchase of such magnitude would likely earn you 2000 AirMiles, but you probably don't have the coin. And if you do, with Hyundai's low interest rates, you're better off using your cash as a down payment on a home in Canada's healthy housing market.

Priced from $18,999 to $23,899, the Veloster lines up well against the $23,490-$24,290 Honda CR-Z and the pre-accessorized $20,490-$21,990 Scion tC. The price you pay for a car has as much to do with interest rates as it does with MSRP, however. So what will you actually pay to get a Veloster off the Hyundai lot and into your driveway?

For the purposes of this exercise we'll assume Nova Scotia's 15% HST and use www.HyundaiCanada.com's fairly faithful Build & Price calculator.

Starting with a basic Veloster and its 6-speed manual transmission, a 60-month purchase with zero dollars down nets you a $424.81 payment. Hyundai will gladly fit you in to a biweekly payment schedule, which would drop your payment to about $196 every two weeks. Hyundai's 60-month interest rate on the Veloster is currently at 2.9%

Now, if you want the basic Veloster but require Hyundai's DCT automatic, your monthly payment rises to $453.67. Paying over 48 or 36 months doesn't allow your interest rate to drop (at the moment) so the payment rises rapidly to $559.11 or $734.94, respectively.

With the Veloster's tech package and a manual transmission, 60 payments of $496.96 can be expected. Finally, expect to pay $525.82 for a fully outfitted 2012 Veloster with the tech package and the Ecoshift DCT automatic. 

Compare these payments with those for the CVT-equipped Honda CR-Z and you'll find that Honda's 5.9% interest rate drives the rare CR-Z up to $572.82 over 60 months. Equip the CR-Z with a manual transmission and the monthly payment drops by $17.74. Stick with the CVT but add the style package and the essentials package and the CR-Z's monthly payment shoots up to $650.72. The same CR-Z could be leased for 48 months at $473.03.

An automatic-equipped Scion tC will run you $496.38 with Toyota Canada's 3.9% 60-month rate. The $474.20 of the manual-tranny Scion tC is an easier pill to swallow.

Term	Veloster  6-Speed  Manual	Veloster Ecoshift DCT	Veloster 6-Speed Manual w/ Tech Package	Veloster Ecoshift DCT w/ Tech Package
36 Months	$688.19	$734.94	$805.07	$851.82
48 Months	$523.54	$559.11	$612.46	$648.02
60 Months	$424.81	$453.67	$496.96	$525.82
72 Months	$359.04	$383.43	$420.01	$444.40

Purchase payments are based on Hyundai Canada's current 2.9% rates, $0.00 down, and N.S. residency

Don't take these prices as nails in a coffin. Dealers may have room to negotiate, and rates (Hyundai's in particular) are likely to fall over time. For example, Hyundai's turbocharged Sonata 2.0T can be paid interest-free over 72 months.

It's a useful guide, however, and it goes a long way to explaining why the newest Hyundai has been so popular from the get-go. Though the Veloster accounted for just 4.1% of all Hyundai Canada sales in October, it was more than twice as popular as the Genesis Coupe despite the rear-wheel drive Hyundai's 31% year-over-year increase. The Veloster out-sold the Elantra Touring by five units. With 425 sales, the Veloster was responsible for 38.5% of Hyundai's 12.1% year-over-year increase. 

Moreover, the Veloster's 425 October sales were 208-units stronger than Chevrolet's Camaro total, 296 greater than Ford's Mustang total, and 344 better than what Chrysler managed with the Challenger. Scion sold 143 copies of the tC in September. Sales of a GoodCarBadCar favourite, the Volkswagen GTI, topped out at 160. Finally, another possible rival, the Fiat 500, found 405 buyers in September. 67 of those Fiat 500 sales were actually for the 500C.

Related From GoodCarBadCar.net
Sporty Car Sales In Canada - September 2011
Official Canadian Hyundai Veloster Pricing Released
2011's The Good 12 v4.0 Part 4 - Fiat 500