The replacement for Hyundai’s FWD Tiburon sports coupe will feature a RWD layout when it arrives in early 2009. The new coupe will be the second model to be based on Hyundai’s new RWD architecture, the first being the Genesis sedan that’s expected to go on sale by mid-next year.

A spokesman has revealed to reporters from Automotive News that "there will be a coupe off the Genesis," and that it will arrive “six months to a year after Genesis as the replacement for the Tiburon.” Hyundai has previously announced that the Genesis sedan would be the first of several new models to based on its new RWD platform.

The new coupe is being benchmarked against Infiniti’s G35 coupe and will sport a new high-performance V6 engine. There was no word on whether the V8 engine from the Genesis will also appear in the new coupe but let’s keep our fingers crossed.