Hyundai is feeling a bit spacey with the Staria MPV
Intergalactic, planetary, planetary…Hyundai’s Staria offers another dimension in the MPV cosmos
Whoa, what’s this? An MPV that doesn’t look like a stodgy old mini bus? Yes, it seems that Hyundai is intent on making MPVs cool with the Staria. Designwise, it is a good deal more spaceship than people shifter, nevertheless this sleek-wagon can fit up to 11 passengers within its fluid silhouette. Hyundai says the Staria is aimed at businesses and families or perhaps family businesses, judging by the capacious dimensions and social seating configurations.
The defining features of the front end are a blade of light that sits above a bold, wide patterned grille and a pair of headlights that resemble a stack of ice cubes. Chrome lines around these cubes and tinted chrome on the emblem, wheels, side mirrors and door handles inject the Staria with a little pizzazz. From the side, it is clear that Hyundai is intent on drenching the interior in natural light with lowered beltlines creating enormous windows. The rear is clean with another expansive window that will no doubt help manoeuvre the Staria.
Passengers in the second row of the nine-seat version will be able to swivel their chairs to face the people behind them (or ignore the driver) while the second row in the seven-seater version can recline. The cockpit has a futuristic look with a 10.25-inch front display screen, touch-based centre fascia and a button-type electronic shift lever. The digital cluster is located on top of the dashboard. Mood lighting is provided by a 64-color ambient lamp and indirect lighting features in the cockpit, floor console and door and luggage trims.
“Staria is Hyundai’s first mass-produced vehicle model that is designed with the ‘inside-out’ design approach,” says SangYup Lee, senior vice-president and head of Global Hyundai Design. The Staria follows hot on the heels of the Ioniq 5 and the two share similar detailing: the rectilinear head and tail lights a case in point. But in the one colour finish, the Staria also nods to the Prophecy concept featured in Interior Motives Winter 2020.