Hyundai ix-Metro Concept – too much ‘Design’

Hyundai has revealed the ix-Metro Concept at Frankfurt.

We’ve come to expect bigger and better things from Hyundai. True, their designs can be a bit derivative and have become Euro-Centric. But is that such a bad thing for a car maker aiming to compete with the best-selling mainstream cars in Europe?

The new ix35 – despite looking very similar to most offerings in the same sector –  is enormously competent – at least in its conception –  and well built. Most importantly for buyers it will undercut the current offerings, whilst offering a package the equivalent of the best.

But is Hyundai getting a bit too wrapped-up in its Euro-design? The ix-Metro concept does rather suggest that. A lot of what’s on offer does seem to be design for design’s sake. True, this is a concept and as such you would expect there to be flights of fancy. But some of the language being bandied around the ix-Metro does start to make us think that the design tail may be starting to wag the Hyundai dog.

The ix-Metro is modelled on the “protective capsule” concept. “For thematic inspiration interior designers took a cue from the humble pine cone and its natural, elegant fragmentation of a spherical object”. That’d be ‘Balls’ then.

Despite the daft designer gobbledygook – and the less than convincing design – the ix-Metro may tone down in to a relevant production car. Powered by a 1.0-liter GDI turbocharged engine mated to a six-speed dual clutch transmission and producing 123bhp, the ix-Metro produces 80g/km CO2 and averages 86mpg.

So not a waste of space. But best to keep the Hyundai designers on a shorter leash, methinks.