Hyundai to introduce halo sports car

Hyundai plans to introduce a high performance sports car and possibly even a pickup truck to its model range. The sports car will be a halo product, designed to strengthen the brand and bring new customers to showrooms.

The details were revealed by John Krafcik, Hyundai Motor America vice president for product development and strategic planning, in an interview to Reuters.

"The idea is a (performance) car that speaks more directly to the enthusiast buyer," Krafcik said. "The aim will be to build the brand, to make this an aspirational purchase," he said. "You would get more car for about the same price as competitors."

In the last decade, Mazda has had success with the RX-8 and Nissan with the Skyline in creating cars that appeal to performance enthusiasts.

Krafcik was less certain regarding the pickup truck. "We need to be a full-line manufacturer and for that we have to have a pickup," Krafcik said. "But there are all kinds of warning signs that say you have to be extremely careful."

"We would love to have one," he said. "We don't have a special plan, but we have been studying the market." The challenge will be whether to build a compact pickup, or a full sized one similar to the Ford F150, which is America best selling vehicle.