Hyundai Motor launches Veloster in China

South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. launched its new compact passenger vehicle, the Veloster, in China on Monday in a bid to attract young Chinese consumers, company officials said. The new car has been drawing attention worldwide as it is the first Hyundai vehicle with asymmetrical side doors -- one on the driver's side and two on the passenger side. Hyundai Motor executives said their new "premium unique" model of the vehicle will mainly target fashion-forward customers in their 20s and 30s. The new five-seater comes with Hyundai's 1.6-liter Gamma engine, which produces 140 maximum horsepower and maximum torque of 17 kilogram-meters. The vehicle has an average fuel economy of 15.3 kilometers per liter. The model features a button-start smart key system, a rearview camera and a vehicle dynamics control system that automatically stabilizes the vehicle in harsh driving conditions. The South Korean automaker sold a total of 63,036 vehicles in China last month, up 3.6 percent from a year earlier and a 21.2-percent rise from the previous month. In the first eights months of this year, Hyundai Motor sold a total of 478,525 units in China, up 9.4 percent from a year earlier. It held a 9.7 percent market share in China during the January-August period. Hyundai Motor has aggressively pushed into China, which has become the world's single largest automobile market. China overtook the United States as the world's largest automobile market in 2009 and 2010. Last year, the world's No. 2 economy saw its auto sales surge more than 32 percent on-year to hit 18.06 million vehicles.