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Hyundai TQ (Starex Van)
The Hyundai TQ is a multi-purpose passenger/commercial van making its world premiere at the Seoul Motor Show. The TQ will compete with the likes of Renault Trafic, Mercedes Benz Viano, multi-purpose van, which has the functionality to cater for commercial use, while having standout styling to attract people who need it for a passenger use.
Unusually the Hyundai organizers unveiled three world premiere cars (Veloster Concept, TQ and FD Wagon, and even FD hatch) all at the same moment, and with the TQ unfortunately being located in an awkward position left of the center stage, with all the eyes on the centre stage, hardly anyone saw the unveiling of the TQ.
Standing 5125mm long and 1925mm wide, wearing a gold paint two-tone body color, the TQ's design is exceptionally well resolved with a solid stance and interesting details, especially around the front and rear wheel-arches, where the designers have used undercutting of the side body panel to cleverly create extra wheel-arch volume to give the car an imposing stance. A large, pronounced single bar grille dominates the front face, clearly indicating its workman-like purpose. Other details are simple and robust.
While commercial vans will always play second fiddle at the motor show when put up against the sleek coupes such as the GM Daewoo G2X, and Hyundai's HND-3 concept, the TQ definitely possesses the necessary design attributes to take the center stage in its own right.
The Kyron medium-sized SUV has been criticized since its release in 2005 for its over-the-top design and busy details, and after less than two years in the production, it gets a major facelift, with almost all body panels being newly designed, only the doors and headlamps having survived the change.
Like the Rodius MPV and the Actyon compact CUV, Ssangyong have been known to make some curious decisions regarding exterior styling, but this is attributed to the fact that the company believes smaller manufacturers must be more adventurous in their effort to receive attention.
The front-end styling has been refined and simplified by increasing the size of the grille and lower air intake. The previous design, which had three main 'visual divisions' - the grille, lower air dam and another air-intake located around the bumper area with numerous 'rib-like' recesses - had made the whole design busy. Around the rear, upright, 'shield-like' tail lamps have been replaced with more conservative, yet refined horizontal-type lamps. However, its visual positioning continues to be little low, which tends to visually sink the car around the rear.
The result is much calmer looking vehicle, definitely making more friends along the way. The new Kyron is now on sale domestically.
Hyundai FD Wagon
After the release of i30 hatchback at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year, Hyundai used the Seoul Motor Show for the release of its wagon derivative, the FD wagon. In some ways, premiering a wagon of any kind in Korea is a surprise, because the domestic market traditionally has not embraced this type of vehicle. It is worth noting that this will be the first wagon derivative of any kind for Hyundai in nearly 10 years.
Standing on 17-inch wheels and wearing a coat of beige, at a glance, the front-end of the FD wagon looks identical to the 5-door hatch version. However, the wagon will be fitted with unique bumper fascias, due to the inclusion of chrome strip around the lower front bumper molding. This was specifically included to cater for the North American market, which will not receive the hatchback.
The FD wagon shows characteristics of a wagon with smaller load area of a hatchback, but with very conservative DLO graphics of a wagon. The FD wagon appears to be styled to be liked by everyone; however, it won't make anyone fall in love with it. The FD wagon will be in production from the end of 2007.
Related Stories:
Hyundai i30 - Geneva Motor Show 2007
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