Hyundai is set for a very big year in 2017, both on and off the road. As one of the main players in the World Rally Championship, the Koreans are currently in the midst of developing a pinnacle version of their i20 hot-hatch ready to do battle in the upcoming, vastly deregulated 2017 WRC season. Whilst the 2017 i20 WRC challenger has been taking shape in the wind tunnel, Hyundai’s road car division has been hard at work on a key project of its own.
Also expected to take its bow early next year, the new generation Hyundai i30 is on the verge of its very own world premiere at next month’s Paris Motor Show. Now, we can bring you the first few morsels of information on how this third generation family hatch is shaping up ahead of its official unveiling in the city of lights. Morsels, frustratingly, being the operative word.
Granted, the teaser images released by Hyundai this week leave us metaphorically and literally in the dark as regards key aspects of the new i30’s design. Still, a cursory glance does at least reveal the identity of a large part of the car’s front end. Hyundai’s fresh new ‘family face’ is in evidence in the form of the large cascading hexagonal front grille. It’s bookended by a pair of diagonally-mounted DRLs and sits below what would appear to be a more heavily sculpted bonnet than those of previous i30 incarnations.
Exclusively developed and tested in Europe, Hyundai chiefs insist that the new i30 with come with an efficient and varied powertrain line-up and state-of-the-art connectivity whilst not neglecting the brand’s long-held value for money tag.
We’ll have to wait until the car’s official unveiling on the 7th September to find out whether Hyundai are able to deliver the goods. However, it’s fair to say the outgoing model stacked up pretty well against its key Asian competitors, particularly the Mazda 3, and even gave the Ford Focus hatch a decent run for its money in many respects. It bodes well ahead of a crucial few months for Hyundai in the showrooms and on the stages.
