i-spy: Hyundai's super-secret wagon snapped

Car enthusiast website Autoblog has run a story concerning a 'Hyundai Sonata wagon' spotted by spy photographers. Sonata is the American name for the car sold here as Hyundai's i45. The car at the centre of the story was snapped while under test and looks to be about the right size for an i45 wagon, but there's a snag.

Hyundai has an i40 sedan for the European market and it's built on the same YF platform as our larger i45. The subject of the spy pics in the Autoblog story may well be an 'Estate' version of the i40 (the production version of the i-Flow concept), rather than a Sonata wagon.

In favour of the argument that this is an i40 Kombi is the cultural identification with wagons in Europe, whereas the Americans prefer their SUVs.

Beneath the car's camouflage there's a glimpse of a distinctively-styled grille, unique to that found on the i45, as well as different sculpting of the front guards at the base of the 'A' pillar. The prototype also sports chrome-wrapped mirrors.

While it's expected to be a hit in European markets next year, Australian delivery of Hyundai's new wagon remains a mystery. Hyundai Australia's Senior Manager of Product Communications and Public Relations, Ben Hershman, told the Carsales network he was "not in a position to say" whether the model will make it Down Under -- or when.

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