Hyundai has hinted at its future design direction with this single teaser shot of its ‘i-oniq’ concept car. Further details will be revealed in the run-up to next March’s 2012 Geneva show, but judging by this glimpse, the concept will take the form of a large coupe with a hatchback tail. It stops short of the full shooting-brake silhouette, but there’s a hint of Brera in the curvature of its rear end.
‘Two strong arched curves define the silhouette of i-oniq, creating a playful contrast between the sharp character lines and soft but muscular features’ says Thomas Bürkle, Hyundai’s European Chief Designer.
Is Hyundai gunning for the premium coupe sector, then?
We can’t say – details are pretty sparse at the moment – but there might be room in the Hyundai family for a value coupe that slots into the range above the Scirocco-sized Veloster.
Conceived at the Korean firm’s European R&D centre in Rüsselsheim, Germany, the concept is an evolution of Hyundai’s ‘fluidic sculpture’ design language. That means following the form of Hyundai’s rakish Mondeo-sized rival, the i40.