During a recent trip to Hyundai's Namyang test facility in South Korea, motoring.com.au spotted a large commercial van, approximating the same size as a Volkswagen Crafter, undergoing testing.
The heavily camouflaged model immediately piqued our interest, though with photography strictly forbidden, we couldn't snap a pic.
Fortunately, the model had been spotted previously, and spy photographers had been lucky enough to snap this image published on enthusiast site autoevolution.com, outside of Hyundai's Russelsheim test facility in Germany.
But the bad news is, and in spite of the heavy van segment's increasing popularity in Australia, the as yet unnamed model won't be coming to Oz.
"It's for Europe, and left-hand drive only," said HMCA CEO, John Elsworth.
The upcoming model is said to be offered in long wheelbase high-roof guise, though other variations are possible. Much like competitors including the Fiat Ducato, Renault Master, Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and Volkswagen Crafter, a single-cab tray-bodied variant is also understood to be under development.
The new van would sit above Hyundai's H-Series vans (sold here as iLoad and iMax) and likely be diesel-powered. Engine selection remains unknown, though the D4 4.0-litre turbo-diesel engine range – which can output up to 110kW and 578Nm – from Hyundai's light truck division, would be a good fit.
To the end of May (2014), the heavy commercial van segment has been dominated by the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter (up 16.6 per cent YOY to 985 units), ahead of the Fiat Ducato (up 16.1 per cent YOY to 469 units), Renault Master (up 15.8 per cent YOY to 279 units) and Volkswagen Crafter (down 56.8 per cent YOY to 137 units).