FRANKFURT MOTOR SHOW: 2012 Hyundai i30

Accepted by many to be the car that saw Hyundai's coming of age in the international car manufacturing community, the i30 small hatch is about to enter its second generation.

To be premiered at next week's Frankfurt motor show, the new i30 was designed and engineered in the company's technical centre in Germany and is the latest example of the "Fluidic" theme introduced on the ix35 and i45.

The 2012 i30 will take on the best of the world in the burgeoning small car class, including Volkswagen's Golf, Toyota's Corolla, the Mazda3 and any number of other European and Japanese contenders.

To this end, Hyundai is saying quality and refinement of the next i30 has been "inspired by the segment above", which presumably means Euro contenders in the BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 category.

The new car is described by Hyundai chief designer Thomas Burkle as presenting "The Hyundai family face with its signature hexagonal-shaped front grille and the jewel-like design of the headlamps, together with distinctive daytime running lights.

"A strong character line runs over the front and rear wheel arches all the way to the tail lamps.  A softer, lower character line rises up the car's flank creating a play of light and shadow – a fundamental feature of fluidic sculpture."

Maybe so, but the i30 still looks pretty generic and fits stylistically with any number of new-generation small cars from Japan, Europe and elsewhere.

What Hyundai isn't telling us at present is what the power and drivetrain choices will be, although there is speculation a direct injection petrol turbo 1.6-litre Gamma engine as used in the Veloster coupe - which Hyundai has said is Australia-bound - could be one possibility, alongside today's regular choices between a 2.0-litre petrol and a 1.6-litre turbodiesel.

More information will come to light at the car's official presentation at the Frankfurt show.

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