First sketch: Hyundai's new baby SUV

Displaying a contemporary new design that looks set to build on its larger stablemate's visual strengths, Hyundai's new Creta compact SUV has been revealed – albeit in the form of a drawing.

Although the Creta name was only recently confirmed, the company has now released a stylised sketch of the crucial new model that will be sold across global markets – almost certainly including Australia.

Dismiss the exaggerated wheels for a moment and the Creta looks almost production-ready. The sketch makes is look almost like a three-door model but the chances of such a vehicle are slim as it would limit the Creta's appeal and practicality.

Mirroring some of the design cues seen on the upcoming Hyundai Tucson SUV – particularly the headlights – the SUV also wears a grille that presents the family DNA of Hyundai's upmarket Genesis sedan and the facelifted Santa Fe and i30 models.

According to Hyundai, the Creta's design will follow a "premium" path by creating a "harmony between a bold front, voluminous side, sporty rear".

If the Creta was offered in Australia -- something that Hyundai's local PR chief Bill Thomas would neither confirm nor deny -- it would rival vehicles such as the Mazda CX-3 and Holden Trax.

"Yes it's a boom market and we very much want representation there," Thomas told motoring.com.au. "As for that particular vehicle [Creta] we can't say yet whether we would or wouldn't take it."

With the much larger Tucson set to replace the ix35 in Australia from July, the Korean importer will be without a compact SUV, at least as far as official VFACTS sales segments are concerned.

Production of the Creta will commence in the second half of this year at Hyundai's Indian manufacturing hub -- the same place where Australia's i20 is produced.