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2017 Hyundai i30 five-door will be the first model in an extended range

In Frankfurt for a media preview of the new 2017 Hyundai i30 ahead of its public release at the Paris motor show next month, CarAdvice learned that the five-door vehicle we saw will be only one part of an 'extended family', according to Hyundai representatives.


Among those new family members will be a wagon, and what could be a more fastback coupe-like version of the hatch.

The hotly anticipated i30 N performance hatch is also considered a part of the 'extended family' strategy. Don't expect a three-door hatch to feature, though.

"No, I can't forecast too much, but the three-door segment is dying out," said Thomas Bürkle, Chief Designer Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Centre GmbH, told CarAdvice at the preview.

"We will have something sporty [in the new i30 range], but not with three doors. Even Volkswagen has started to gradually move away from the three-door body style. It's much more practical having a five door hatch."

Bürkle went on to explain that buyers in Europe no longer associate "sportiness with just a three-door body".

"I would say that people's perceptions have changed," he said. "The previous [current on-sale model] i30 had a three-door version, but the take-up rate was very low."

That vehicle was available in Australia as well, but didn't last long before it was removed from sale.

At the preview, we were shown a screen (in the photo below) with three outline sketches, one of which was the new five-door, one which looked like a tapered wagon, and one which looked suspiciously like a larger sports coupe style vehicle.

"Of course, we will have a wagon to follow this five-door," Bürkle said. He wouldn't confirm what the third body style would be, but it is fair to assume that style is the 'sporty but not with three doors' vehicle Bürkle was referring to.

Hyundai design chief, Peter Schreyer, told CarAdvice at the same event that presenting any new vehicle to the world's press is a very exciting moment.

"We have worked on this for some time obviously so we are familiar with it, but we are showing you the car for the first time," Schreyer said. "We are aiming to best target the exact people who drive it, with different lifestyles, of all ages, and that's why the new i30 will be a family."

Schreyer told CarAdvice that now more than ever, buyers opt for practicality but with an emotional attachment to the vehicle. "The i30 family will speak to people with different needs," Schreyer said.

"Those needs might be elegance, practicality or sporting emotions. As such, we've developed a new signature grille, a strong signature, which heralds the start of a new era. You'll see this on future models as well."

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Trent Nikolic

Trent Nikolic has been road testing and writing about cars for almost 20 years. He’s been at CarAdvice/Drive since 2014 and has been a motoring editor at the NRMA, Overlander 4WD Magazine, Hot4s and Auto Salon Magazine.

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