The new Hyundai i30 reveal; more than a nod to the Germans.
OK, so we all get that "Hi-undies" have come a long way and that the absolute dog boxes of the early 90's Excel are long gone. You'd even go as far as saying they have a certain amount of street cred (NOT) - the stigma of buying one in lieu of one of a Japanese alternative has all but disappeared.
What really has me scratching my head is the latest teaser trailer for the new Hyundai i30, not that there's anything wrong with it but turn off the audio and ignore the Hyundai badge and tell me it doesn't look like an Audi?
It has me pondering where it's all heading. Are we going to end up with a homogenised mess, where cars pretty much all look the same?
The other thing which really struck me with the trailer is... it's where Audi should be going. Audi's recent efforts have somehow lost some of their trademark styling and appear somewhat diluted.
Dig a little deeper and it becomes obvious why the Korean power house is putting out such distinctively European looking cars. The head of Hyundai styling is none other than Peter Schreyer, a noted German designer who worked for Audi no less. During his tenure with the German auto maker he penned the iconic TT, as well as the A3, A4 and A6.
The new i30 which heralds the new design direction Schreyer is taking, will be officially be unveiled in Korea in early September ahead of its worldwide debut at the Paris motor show in October.
This is an important release for the Korean manufacturer. The i30 is considered their bread and butter model and depending on how well it's received, could have a flow on effect for the models which follow.
We'll have more on the i30 as information becomes available.
We'd love to hear from our readers on this one. What are your thoughts? Is the styling too Euro? Is it a winner or just more of the same?
Personally, I feel if it's as dynamically able as it's looks suggest, it can only improve Hyundai's standing.