Hyundai i40 Estate revealed

The Hyundai i40 Estate - debuts at Geneva 2011. On sale May 2011

Hyundai has revealed the first images of the Hyundai i40 Estate which will debut at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show and go on sale in May.

With companies like Ford moving towards a one-world car lineup, Hyundai’s direction with the new Hyundai Sonata/i45/i40 has been more than a little confusing.

For Hyundai has decided that the Hyundai Sonata and the Hyundai i45 already revealed and launched around the world aren’t dynamic enough for the UK and Europe. So we get a different car.

What we get as the Hyundai i40 is a slightly toned-down version of the Hyundai i-flow Concept we saw at Geneva this year, and which was heralded as a new D-Segment car for Hyundai.Which it is. But as we reported at the time, it was specifically so. In fact the man from Hyundai told Cars UK:

“The Sonata (sold now in Korea and the US) is not the same as the car that will come to Europe. They do share a platform, but that’s all. The Sonata and i45 have been designed with those markets in mind. The i-flow car has been designed with European consumers in mind and will be with us this time next year.”

And now, just to confuse the issue further, Hyundai has decided that we won’t be getting a four-door saloon Hyundai i40 to kick off with, instead we will be treated to the Hyundai i40 Estate in May – after a debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March –  with the saloon only coming along towards the end of 2011.

The i40i is a good looking car and will doubtless come in at a competitive price. Standard equipment is expected to be quite premium with high-end options like adaptive lights and self-parking on the options list.

Expect a single petrol lump – a 174bhp 2.0 litre – and a 1.7 diesel in two flavours – 114bhp and 134bhp. Also expect a twin-turbo range-topper to turn up in 2012.

Promising. Very promising