2012 Hyundai i40 under consideration for Australia

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By Tim Beissmann | May 13th, 2011

Hyundai has released the details of its all-new 2012 Hyundai i40 at the Barcelona Motor Show.

The unveiling of the i40 sedan follows the confirmation from Hyundai Australia that the i40 wagon will go on sale locally in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The i40 sedan will go on sale in overseas markets in before the end of the year. Hyundai Australia’s Ben Hershman today admitted the local arm was yet to make a final decision on the i40, and said a call would be made later this year.

If Hyundai Australia does decide to introduce the i40 sedan, it will not arrive in local showrooms until sometime next year.

At 4740mm long, 1815mm wide, 1470mm tall and with a 2770mm wheelbase, the i40 sedan is 80mm shorter, 20mm skinnier and has a 25mm shorter wheelbase than the current i45 medium sedan.

Mr Hershman said it was too early to say whether Hyundai Australia would offer the i40 sedan and i45 in the same line-up. He said the brand was “very pleased” with the i45, which was the second-most popular vehicle in the sub-$60K medium segment in April and has just been strengthened with the addition of the 2.0-litre models.

The i40 sedan will be offered with a range of four engines: two tunes of a diesel engine and two different petrol engines.

The 1.7-litre diesel will be available with 85kW and 260Nm as well as 100kW and 325Nm. When fitted with Hyundai’s Intelligent Stop & Go (ISG) and other efficient Blue Drive features, the less powerful diesel will use 4.3 litres/100km and emit 113g/km CO2 on the combined cycle.

The smallest petrol engine will be a 1.6-litre ‘Gamma’ unit with 99kW of power and 164Nm of torque. Combined cycle emissions will range between 140g/km and 149g/km, meaning fuel consumption is likely to be below 6.5 litres/100km.

The most powerful engine in the range will be a 2.0-litre petrol with 130kW and 208Nm of torque. Its emissions will average 156g/km, with combined cycle fuel consumption likely to come in below 7.0 litres/100km.

Hyundai says it is targeting 60,000 sales per year, and expects a 65 percent of sales to be diesel models.

Mr Hershman said Hyundai Australia was investigating all i40 powertrains and said it was working through the business case of the diesel.

Noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) levels have been a particular focus of i40 development, with sound absorption and muffling reducing noise both inside and outside the vehicle.

Technology features available in select i40 models will include smart parking assist, lane departure warning system, Bluetooth with voice recognition, satellite navigation, rear-view camera, electric park brake, ventilated front seats, heated and reclining rear seats, heated steering wheel and auto defog system.

Daytime running lights will be standard, while xenon headlamps and an LCD instrument panel will be optional or available on higher models.

Hyundai anticipates a five-star safety rating with seven airbags and all the usual electronic features.

Expect to hear more about the Hyundai i40 sedan and wagon in the coming months.

Duckula

Nice looking wagon…..
Sumpguard

This car has the front end that the i45 should have received.
Ox

I see no point offering both the I45 and I40 but would be interesting to see which one sold more

Kampfer

No point? Look at Honda’s Accord and Accord Euro. They both do well.

union

Seems to have worked for Honda for years now with the US-targeted Accord and the Euro targeted Accord Euro.

I wouldn’t buy the i45. But the i40 Wagon would be on my shopping list (if it handled well and came in a manual diesel)
Shak

Seems like a much nicer cars looks wise than the i45, so i cant see much logic in offering both cars, if they are so similarly sized. Oh well, maybe they may sell more cars all round.
Yianni

This is a no brainer. They have to bring it over and I would be surprised and shocked if they decide otherwise.
Yonny

I’m confused. The i40 is almost the same size as the i45. Not sure why you’d buy one over the other – or, to put it another way, won’t the i40 and the 145 sell to the same market?

HJP

Think of Honda’s Accord and the smaller Accord Euro. I think Hyundai is trying to use same approach as Honda.

Shak

But with those cars the size and styling difference is very noticeable.

Save It for the track

What is with carmakers using ‘electric’ park brakes and the like. I want a handbrake. The power/torque figures for the naturally aspirated petrols seem quite reasonable as well, given that the vehicle is not being touted as a sports model. Over 100Nm per litre. Is direct injection being used? I don’t mind the look of these, lets see if they get the suspension set up right if it comes to Aus.

Shak

Main benefit is that it save space. You really dont need a handbrake that much if you think about it, for most people that is. But if you actually have a look, most manufacturers still use conventional handbrakes.
Andrew M

100nm per litre is irrelevant if the total torque isnt up to the weight.

If you argue 100nm/L is a rule of thumb to judge a vehicle on, I say perhaps it needs more Litres….
Is 160nm of torque really enough to move a medium sized vehicle weighing perhaps 1.5 tonnes?

I’d also be keen to hear more on electric handbrakes. Do they operate on magnets or something??
It defeats the original purpose of having a handbrake if you ask me

Force

When are we gonna see the next camry? Not that this one is bad, but come on it’s been 6yrs with the current camry.. But both of these will be nothing more then “niche” products
dailydriver

Put the Santa Fe 2.2 R engine in – then we’ll talk.
Mr Gaspo

Priced right the diesel i40 wagon with a 6 speed auto should sell like crazy. Looks good too.
o

One of the few cars that looks better in wagon form
Octavian

If it drives quite well, many others will be worried about now. The Hyundai onslaught of middle class family transportation has began, the value equation and perception of cars is gong to Hyundai’s favour.
Octavian

The diesel figures are almost as low as the new Volkswagen Passat and other Euros, this is quite remarkable, Honda should now rethink importing the Accord Euro diesel and Mazda should consider offering an auto diesel if Hyundai’s will sell well.
Coindegg

Hyundai aren’t real value anymore, they’ve started increasing price.. I mean what’s 1000 dollars when your gonna fork out 40k on a car?? Hyundai should be worried, cherry etc are priced actually “cheap”

Sumpguard

Against their rivals in segmment they are still cheap when you factor in the features you get. A RAV4 for example can’t get anywhere near an ix35 for features and the petrol engine and dated auto is the same price as the ix35 diesel/6 speed auto. The Hyundai is far better value for what you spend. The Camry is miles behind the i45 on features for more money and when you pitch Camry against the Optima the gap widens considerably.

Yes, they have gone up in price and closed the gap but they have added standard kit that no other brand offers.

Cruide

Both the Camry and RAV4 are almost 6yrs old, wait until the next gen Camry and Rav4 then talk..

Camry grande is only 4-6k more expensive then the highest grade i45, and I’m sure with the Grande Camry you get “near luxury”".. You can’t call the i45 luxury with the terrible leather and flimsy shiny plastic.. Not to mention the Camry is also much smoother when on the road, and that’s what this segment is all about..

Yeah and the i45 is gonna come with an even smaller 2.0L engine to decrease it’s price, I wonder how well that will work out..

Sumpguard

Talking about something that doesn’t exist is just plain stupid!

Current Camry grande is a 5 speed auto and well short of this car on feature with the exception of sat nav and as far as plastics go it is no less shiny and cheap inside. The leather in the ones I have looked ar is more than fine. I doubt you have actually driven the 2011 i45 either.

I noticed you steered well clear of commenting on the RAV 4 which is grossly overpriced, heavy on fuel and dated and incredibly bland for the money inside. It is generally accepted by the motoring world that toyotas are typically very average and arrogantly priced and tend to follow market trends rather than set them.

As for the smaller 2.0 ltr engine we will have to wait and see. My neighbours bought every camry update until they made it too heavy for the 4 cylinder engine and forgot to tell them the fuel consumption had surged . They took it back to the dealer several times to get it checked for a fault but it turned out it was normal consumption by a car that was overweight for the chosen powerplant so I guess Hyundai’s 2.0 ltr may suffer a similar fate?

They don’t drive a camry anymore and toyota probably should have told them that the Aurion V6 uses less fuel than the 4 cylinder camry. Not very clever!

Now back to the shiny plastics for a moment. We had a corolla courtesy car last year that had done 6,000 k’s and the fake aluminium on the floating console had been worn off by the drive’s leg rubbing on it to expose a cream colored plastic underneath. In an almost new car!!!!

If you’re going to argue against the Hyundai’s quality at least find a brand that warrants it such as Mazda and its 6 or Honda. Neither of which the camry comes anywhere near!

anthony

The I45 would be more like a Honda Accord ,being an old mans car,whereas the I40 would be more like an Accord Euro,much better looking,and appealing to a younger market.
Andrew

Please bring this model to Australia intact with all those feature mentioned.
Don’t strip anything like other brand do, and this model will do well and definitely able to compete against their rival…
brum

It’s pretty clear to me that this will he a great competitor to the Accord Euro. The problem with the i45 was it being built for US fat and floaty tastes.

Theoretically, this is built for Euro tastes which are more in line with our industrys scrutiny.
Karen

YES!!! please bring out the sedan, we love this car and want to buy it but don’t want a wagon – so 1 sold to me