Hyundai i-flow concept to become i40/i45 Coupe?

By Alborz Fallah | July 15th, 2010

It’s hard not to like the Hyundai i-flow concept, it looks madly European and almost like a hero car out of a futuristic sci-fi movie. Then again, it’s 2010 and we’re all suppose to be living in space-stations by now, so arguably it’s only keeping up with our imagination.

UK publication AutoExpress has published an article stating that the i-flow will go into production to become an i40 coupe to take on the likes of Volkswagen Passat CC. We say i40 but it may even be called the i45 Coupe given the naming convetion in Australia.

There is currently no official word on the difference between an i40 and i45 (if there is any) – from what can gather the i40 is potentially what the car will be called in Europe (Sonata in North America).

If it does find itself transformed from concept to production, we hope it keeps its styling. No doubt it will be cheaper than its German rival and according to insiders the i45 coupe will also be more practical thanks to more rear headroom.

No specifications or pricing has been confirmed, but rumour has it the Coupe will be in showrooms by 2012.

Hyundai is slowly building an arsenal of attractive and sporty cars to unleash on the world, but will they come to Australia? The Hyundai Genesis is still a no show as it can’t be built in RHD (there is even a facebook page trying to gather support) and so far Hyundai is officially not commenting on any ‘i45 coupe’.

Would you like to see this car here?

Baddass

I’ll risk alienating myself from the Hyundai lovers crowd, but this really isn’t an attractive design to me. It has waaay too many different things happening at once, and hardly any cohesiveness. If it’s going to be brought into production as an i45 4-door coupe (which the normal i45 is close enough to anyway), it will no doubt be toned down (to make it look vaguely like the i45) to the point where it doesn’t look like the original concept.

Martin

I have to agree. Granted it is a concept car.

Jabba the Hut

It looks striking to me. Of course it is only a concept but shows Hyundai are at least adventurous with their styling direction.
Mark

is it just me or does the 2011 avante aka as the elantra here in aus look similar to the iflow? or is that just me?

Hyundai45

i agree with you,

and i thought the iflow was just a baseofthecake for the i45 design and like you said the avante 2011, etc…

i don’t get what they want with this whole i40coupe thing…..

Shak

I have to say IMO i dont like the styling. I think all the messy join lines and weird cut lines just look overdone.
Technofreak

Very refreshing design and concept! I like anything that takes us closer to those space-stations
Beats the bland styling we keep getting dished up..

…which is why I bought the Mazda 3MPS I guess. Nothing else like it on the road and it certainly draws polarizing comments!
whitbomb07

If you get a chance go to the World Hyundai website and look at this in the Concept cars section.

Some of the tech and so on is amazing. If half of what has gone into the i-flow shows up in it’s production equivalent, I’ll be very impressed.

Regards

Whitbomb07
Nobody

Those rear view mirrors remind me that concept cars cannot be implemented the same way in real life due to the unrealistic designs. Keep it real!!How many of the strange crazy garments from the ramp do we actually see in real life?.
Kerv

Very inspiring and fresh design from Hyundai.. definitely a crowd pleaser!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1435885244 Yani Hendriawan

from the rear it looks incredible. the only thing i don’t like about hyundai is the badge. it just looks so weird, doesn’t look cool enough
Mike

I think the problem with designs like this is that they date VERY quickly. There’s something to be said for understated elegance when it comes to a vehicle I want to own medium-long term.
Philthy

The design is OK, but what an awful name!!
go away

there are some nice things going on but ultimately the front end just doesnt fit together well, it looks like the front of 2 cars has been squashed together vertically.

its a shame cause there some really nice elements to this car which is suprising from a car company that does bland so well, i30, i20 etc
c3vzn

I’m pretty sure the new Elantra is the production form of this. They look pretty similar
Luke Brinsmead

I like where they’re heading with this, the boffins in Rüsselsheim must be enjoying the non conservative creative freedom, something I thought would never be associated with the Hyundai brand.
Angelo

I really like the concept of the design. For me it’s a great head-turner! And the idea for its technical specifications are very good! If this car was put into production, I would definitely buy one.