Hyundai i30

By Chris Thorp

11th March 2007

The hatch, one of the Geneva Motor Show stars, has a modern new name - the i30. Based on the same platform as the Kia cee'd, it aims to strike at the heart of the mainstream compact family hatchback market. Its sleek body features distinctive headlamps at the front and tall tail-lights at the rear.

The i30 will go on sale in five-door form this summer, with high-performance and estate variants joining the line-up later. Buyers will initially have the choice of three petrol and three diesel engines, with either manual or automatic transmissions.

A 2.0-litre turbocharged hot hatch is also in the pipeline, but this isn't expected to arrive until next year.

While it might seem like an unusual label, the i30 tag is the first of a series of badges that will see Hyundai drop its traditional model names. Reflecting the city car, supermini, compact hatch, family car and executive classes, future badges will be i10, i20, i30, i40 and i50 respectively. Inspired by gadgets such as Apple's iPod, the "i" is intended to give Hyundais a modern feel.

Names such as Santa Fe and Accent will be phased out as the models are replaced. Denoting its off-road ability, the next Tucson compact SUV will be called the i30 X, while the larger Santa Fe will be badged the i40 X.

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