SPY PICS: Next Hyundai iLoad going front-drive

The current Hyundai iLoad has been around for a while, and as expected of any good workhorse it’s rear-wheel drive.

However, its replacement, pictured here in convoy with a new Hyundai Tucson, is migrating to front-wheel drive. These latest images definitely depict the lower lateral links of an independent rear suspension system, but no differential in that location.

Although the top-selling Toyota HiAce will remain a key rival, the new Hyundai iLoad is clearly designed to go head to head with light commercial vans like the Renault Trafic and the badge-engineered Mitsubishi Express knock-off.

It certainly appears that Hyundai designers have drawn inspiration from the French van, rather than the T7 Volkswagen Transporter, which stays with a conventional waistline. Like the Trafic and the Express, the beltline of the Hyundai is lower than the current model's, and promises to improve the field of vision for the driver.

Hyundai's choice of front-wheel drive powertrain will free up room under the rear of the vehicle, providing a lower floor to facilitate easier loading, although the Korean car-maker could also offer the option of all-wheel drive, as the existing iLoad/Starex does in some markets.

This particular vehicle snapped by our spy photographers has a second row of seating, but any windows aft of the sliding rear doors have been concealed under the camouflage, so we can’t say for certain whether the vehicle is actually an iMax variant or an iLoad crew-cab van.

In view of the alloy wheels, upmarket paint and IRS, it’s more likely an iMax. Once again, the next iMax/iLoad are expected to share the same monocoque platform but different rear suspension -- leaf springs for the load-lugger and coils for the people-mover.