First off, we know that the motoring boardrooms of Europe and the US are already shuddering at the thought of the oncoming storm of the new Hyundai i20. The outgoing car was always just dull enough for it not to be a major player, but the new one, which goes on sale before the end of the year, has the classy styling and impressive engineering to go with the five-year warranty and tempting price.
And now Hyundai has not only shown us the interior, but also hinted at a 'coupé' version to further boost the i20's appeal.
The cabin of the i20 is, at first glance, exactly as you'd expect it to be. It looks familiar and Hyundai-ish. Look a little deeper though and you'll notice that the dials look far more expensive than has been the norm on previous Hyundais, and that the dashboard and door tops are covered in a new soft-touch material. Hyundai calls this a high-grade Thermal Plastic Olefin (TPO), which apparently gives the cabin materials a nicely squiggly texture without sacrificing any hard-wearing qualities. The cabin is available in four reasonably self-explanatory colours schemes: Elegant Beige, Grey Blue, Cappuccino and Comfort Grey and contrast-colour inlays runs the full width of the dash and around into the door handles. You can see from the photos too that it does seem to lack the supposedly de rigueur colour touch-screen, but then Hyundai seems to have stuck a handy little gadget for holding a smartphone up on top of the dash, Volkswagen up! style. There's no mention of it in the official bumf, so we'll have to wait and see how compatible and adaptable it is. Hyundai is boasting that it has class-leading space in the front and rear, with enough width in the back seat to allow three adults to comfortably fit.
As for the coupé, well, that's a little more mysterious. Hyundai says that "the new model promises to combine driving fun, a distinctive character and sporty refinement, with the enhanced practicality and quality already previewed in its five-door sibling." Now, that could mean a lot of things. It could mean that Hyundai is taking the same approach that Opel took with the Astra, producing two very distinctly different three- and five-door versions, with the three-door being genuinely sportier and more dynamic. Or it could be more of a Renault Mégane thing - the three-door looks sportier, but isn't actually any different to drive. Still, the rakish styling of the i20 Coupé shown off in the sketch should bode well for a hot-hatch version under Hyundai's new 'N-Sport' moniker.
Anything else?
The i20 will make a full public debut at the upcoming Paris Motor Show. No word yet on whether it will just be the five-door, or if the coupé will take a bow too, but we wouldn't bet against it.