Hyundai’s Model Naming Conventions: From 0 to Fubar in Just 4 Years

Hyundai is one of the world’s biggest automakers, and the most visible of South Korea’s business and industrial acumen. So you would think a company that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Toyota and pre-bailout GM would be pretty consistent with its model naming conventions, right?

Well, not exactly. When Hyundai first launched the i30 hatchback in Europe, Australia and other markets, it seemed that familiar nameplates such as Elantra and Sonata would soon be dead and buried. Not so. In fact, the i30 CW (basically, the station wagon version of the i30), is still sold in the U.S. as the Elantra Touring.

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2012 Hyundai i30: VW Golf Rival Spied Inside and Out

There's been a lot of confusion lately about the spy pictures of the next Hyundai i30. To elaborate, many readers on various websites and forums supported that the scoops may be showing a Kia. Thanks to some additional work from our spy photographers, we can now put the brand speculations to rest. What you see here is indeed a Hyundai, with this being proved by the brand's logo on the alloy wheels as well as the typical Hyundai styling of the interior.

Okay, so we've established it's a Hyundai, but could it be the new five-door Accent? Well, we doubt it because we saw the new Accent hatch at last month's Montreal Auto Show in Canada and it looks quite different inside and out. So that leaves us with the i30 (and yes, our spy photographer assured us it was larger than the...i20).

With that out of the way, let's see what we can find out from these spy photos. Although the prototype is carefully bagged up, it's pretty clear that the new i30 will be a sleeker proposal to look at with an edgier exterior design than the current model.

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Hyundai's European Plant Hits New Production Milestone with 300,000th Vehicle

The 300,000th Hyundai rolled off the firm's manufacturing facility in Nošovice, Czech Republic, marking a new production milestone for the company in Europe. The vehicle was a white i30 CW, which is the station wagon version of the European market i30 compact hatch.

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Chop Shopped: Hyundai i30 Sedan and Kia Forte Station Wagon

Designer Eduardo Oliveira has sent us some interesting photoshops of some cars from the Hyundai-Kia lineups. First is a more traditional, wagon version of the Forte (or Cerato) as opposed to the production Forte 5-door hatch. Second is the a look at what the a sedan version of the i30 (Elantra Touring in the States) could look like. Any thoughts?

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New Hyundai i30 Sport Hatchback and Crossover Wagon Models

Looks can be greatly deceiving as Hyundai proves with its new special edition i30 Sport versions that were launched in Germany today. Despite their sporty appearance and promising name, the i30 Sport Hatchback and Crossover Wagon (sold in the U.S. as the Elantra Touring) only differ visually from their normal siblings as there aren't any mechanical changes. To be produced in a limited run of just 200 units, the hatchback is offered with a 126HP 1.6-liter petrol engine while the Crossover Wagon with a 140HP 2.0-liter turbo diesel.

Both i30 Sport models are offered exclusively in a Crystal White paint finish and come equipped with a design package that includes a faux carbon-fiber grille cover, black inserts around the fog lights (sedan only), a discreet front spoiler, side skirts, roof wing, a rear apron with an integrated diffuser and two chromed exhaust tailpipes plus a set of rather neat looking 18-inch alloy wheels finished in Anthracite.

Inside, the Sport insignia adds leather seats, leather steering wheel and shift knob, an automatic air conditioning with cooled glove box, cruise control, steering wheel audio controls, USB and iPod connection as well as electric windows.

Prices in Germany are set at €20,990 for the i30 Sport hatchback and at €24,490 for the station-wagon variant.

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New Hyundai i30 Sport Hatchback and Crossover Wagon Models

Looks can be greatly deceiving as Hyundai proves with its new special edition i30 Sport versions that were launched in Germany today. Despite their sporty appearance and promising name, the i30 Sport Hatchback and Crossover Wagon (sold in the U.S. as the Elantra Touring) only differ visually from their normal siblings as there aren't any mechanical changes. To be produced in a limited run of just 200 units, the hatchback is offered with a 126HP 1.6-liter petrol engine while the Crossover Wagon with a 140HP 2.0-liter turbo diesel.

Both i30 Sport models are offered exclusively in a Crystal White paint finish and come equipped with a design package that includes a faux carbon-fiber grille cover, black inserts around the fog lights (sedan only), a discreet front spoiler, side skirts, roof wing, a rear apron with an integrated diffuser and two chromed exhaust tailpipes plus a set of rather neat looking 18-inch alloy wheels finished in Anthracite.

Inside, the Sport insignia adds leather seats, leather steering wheel and shift knob, an automatic air conditioning with cooled glove box, cruise control, steering wheel audio controls, USB and iPod connection as well as electric windows.

Prices in Germany are set at €20,990 for the i30 Sport hatchback and at €24,490 for the station-wagon variant.

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2010 Hyundai Sonata / i40, Tuscon and i30 Facelift Shown on Korean TV

The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), South Korea's premium public broadcaster, recently aired a program that focused on Hyundai's R&D facility located in Namyang, Korea. Among other things, the show revealed a prototype model of the next-generation Hyundai Sonata undergoing testing as well as a camouflaged 2010 Hyundai Tuscon and a designers sketch depicting what appears to be a proposal for facelifted i30 hatchback. The new Sonata that will be called i40 in Europe and other international markets, is due to arrive in Hyundai's dealerships by early-2010.

Based on a newly developed platform, the 2010 Sonata will be offered with an array of engines including Hyundai's new 2.0- and 2.2-liter turbo diesels with outputs of 184HP and 200HP respectively, as well as a 2.0-litre petrol engine available in naturally aspirated and turbocharged versions.

Source: KBS1 , Via: TheCarBlogger

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Special Edition Hyundai i30 in Red, Blue or White

The first ever special edition version of the i30 promises to bring a little colour to Hyundai’s UK dealerships as it will be available in three exclusive colours - Crystal White, Ember Red and Indigo Blue – that have never been seen before on the subcompact hatch. Colours aside, the special edition i30 also gets a factory-fitted electric sunroof, 16-inch alloy wheels and new door mirrors first seen on the i30 Estate model.

All of the i30 SE (Special Edition) models are powered by Hyundai’s 1.4-litre, 107 HP petrol engine which returns 46.3 mpg UK (38.6 mpg US). Hyundai says that just 700 of the i30 SEs will be available, priced at £11,845. The first cars are expected to reach showrooms on 25 August.

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Hyundai i30 i-Blue with Less Tailpipe Emissions

Every car manufacture that respects itself nowadays needs to have a unique logo for its cleanest and most environmentally friendly vehicles. Hyundai on its behalf is introducing the i-Blue insignia that will appear on every car in its range that manages to offer emissions below the 120g/km barrier. The first production model to bear the i-Blue logo will be an i30 hatchback powered by the company’s 1.6-litre CRDi turbo diesel engine and it will make its debut at the British Motor Show in London (July 22 to Aug 3). -Continued

So what’s so special about the i30 i-Blue? Well, Hyundai’s engineers managed to achieve a 6g/km drop in CO2 emissions over the standard i30 1.6-litre CRDi model thanks to a minor change to the gear ratios. There are no other changes whatsoever – we’re not kidding. Don’t you just love marketing?

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Euro NCAP: Hyundai i30 Achieves 4-Star Rating – Worse Than The Kia Cee’d!

Surprise, surprise… Kia Cee’d’s alter ego, the Hyundai i30 didn’t do so well at the European New Car Assessment Programme’s (Euro NCAP for short) latest tests as it scored a four star rating (out of five) and 33 points for adult protection. The Cee’d on the other hand, had achieved a maximum 5-star rating and 34 points (click here) .

Strange, to say the least, since we’re virtually talking about the same the car. There is an explanation however. According to Euro NCAP, the i30 did not achieve the minimum points needed in frontal impact for a 5-star adult occupant rating, despite scoring enough points overall because the driver dummy's right knee showed potential injurious. Euro NCAP says that this, combined with penalties for structures in the dashboard which could injure occupants' knees and femurs, gave an overall rating of 'weak' for protection of that body region. -Continued after the jump

Additionally, the i30 achieved a mediocre 3-star rating (out of 5) and 34 points in child occupant protection when the Kia Cee’d was warded with 4-stars and 37 points! At least the Hyundai managed to equal the Cee’d’s 2-star rating (out of four) in pedestrian protection. Have in mind though that the i30 currently sold in Europe is manufactured in Korea. In 2008, Hyundai will transfer production for the European market i30 to its new factory in the Czech Republic. Wonder how the Korean carmaker will communicate the latest Euro NCAPresults.

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