Hyundai Veloster To Be Pulled From Canadian Lineup, But The N Stays (UPDATE)

• The 2021 Veloster N gains an 8-speed wet dual-clutch transmission.

• The new transmission opens the Veloster N to a whole new crowd of potential buyers.

The Hyundai Veloster N has proven so popular that it has led to an 89% increase in the number of units imported into Canada for the 2020 model-year. With the arrival of the available 8-speed wet dual-clutch transmission, Hyundai Canada expects that number to increase further.

The current generation Hyundai Veloster was introduced only two years ago for the 2019 model year and Hyundai Canada has just announced that it will not be returning for the 2021 model year.

One of the reasons that motivated this decision in the arrival of the optional N DCT transmission for the Veloster N. Up until now, the Veloster N was solely offered with a 6-speed manual transmission, limiting its take rate among those interested by the car, but not interested in shifting their own gears.

“Veloster N demonstrates Hyundai’s approach to high-performance cars. By equipping Veloster N with N DCT, drivers get performance and convenience at the same time,” said Thomas Schemera, Head of Product Division at Hyundai Motor. “Anyone who wants a fun driving experience will jump at the chance to pilot the new Veloster N – an everyday sports car with racetrack capabilities.”

We’ve reached out to Hyundai Canada in the hopes of getting more details on the motivation behind this decision. We’ll update when we get a response.

UPDATE: We got a response.

And here it is: “In our continuing efforts to further build the N brand, Hyundai Canada has decided to focus on the great success and leadership of the award-winning Veloster N and concentrate the nameplate exclusively on the performance car category with this phenomenal N vehicle.”

This tells us that the Veloster N will serve as the N brand’s flagship vehicle, and that the family is about to grow. From what we can tell, there are many “N” and N-Line Hyundai models coming down the pipeline. One recently introduced is the Santa Fe.