Tucson successor softer, greener
Hyundai is preparing a concept car for the Geneva motor show, but pre-production models are already out and aboutThe successor to the Hyundai Tucson will be marketed using a variation of the company's new i-prefix nomenclature. As a foretaste of the new car, a design study, formerly named the HED-6 but now the 'ix-onic' will make an appearance at the Salon International de L'Automobile in Geneva next month (more here).
Both the concept car and the pre-production vehicle caught testing in Sweden by our master spy photographers at Carparazzi have been styled by Hyundai's European Design headquarters in Rüsselsheim, Germany.
Far from the gun-slinging, wild west connotations of the Tucson name -- connotations which don't bear close scrutiny in respect of the car itself -- the iX35 is going for more of a suave, European sensibility. Or at least the HED-6/ix-onic is, and the production car looks like it will follow suit, if Carparazzi's pics are any indication.
As the pre-cursor for the next generation of Hyundai's SUVs, there's much riding on the back of both concept car and the production iX35. Consequently, Hyundai's PR people have gilded the lily with flowery prose in a press release accompanying an artist's impression of the HED-6 concept.
"Hyundai's European design team has hailed HED-6 as an 'urban nomad, a car of contrast for a world of contrast', citing cultural influences from major cities like Berlin, Paris and London as key to its creation," the original press release for the HED-6 reads. The flowery quality was nipped in the bud with the follow-up press release for the ix-onic.
"Hyundai's design team in Rüsselsheim, Germany views ix-onic as an 'urban nomad, a car of contrasts for a world of contrasts'. Created in Europe, with European consumers in mind, the new concept is inspired by multi-cultural personalities of cities like Berlin, Paris and London..." is how the later press release for the ix-onic reads.
The iX35 is scheduled for a global launch at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. Hyundai has already admitted that the HED-6 is powered by a 1.6-litre direct-injection petrol engine, but the blokes at Carparazzi reckon this engine will be joined in the iX35 range by a new diesel powerplant developing as much as 400Nm. Production models are expected to drive to all four wheels through a six-speed automatic and Hyundai will equip the iX35 with an auto-stop/start facility to save fuel.
Based on the September debut of the iX35 in Frankfurt, we're unlikely to see it locally until 2010.
-- with Carparazzi
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