The stylish wagon shares engines and running gear with the well-received New Generation i30 five-door, but has a longer body to create a significant increase in trunk space without compromising the model’s dynamic styling.

The i30 wagon’s overall length is increased by 185 mm to 4485 mm over its five-door sibling, making it one of the most accommodating vehicles in the European C-segment, and 10 mm longer than the original i30 wagon.

Compared with the five-door, the wagon expands trunk space from 378-litres to a best-in-class 528-litres – and with the rear passenger seats folded down, cargo volume increases more than three-fold, to 1,642-litres.

Like its hatchback sibling, the New Generation i30 wagon was designed and engineered specifically for European customers at Hyundai’s European R&D Centre in Rüsselsheim, Germany.  It was developed alongside the hatchback form from the earliest stages, enabling the stylists to fashion a coherent design that bears a strong family resemblance inspired by Hyundai’s fluidic sculpture form language.

As with the five-door variant, the front is distinguished by Hyundai’s hexagon-shaped grille and jewel-like headlamps, but from the B-pillar backwards the wagon differs significantly.  The roofline extends rearwards over the flexible passenger/cargo area, sloping to add dynamism to the car’s stance in keeping with the fluidic sculpture ethos of a stationary car appearing to be in motion.

Further enhancing the wagon’s dynamic appearance, a pronounced swage line runs horizontally along the sides of the body and rises all the way to the rear lights. The rear windscreen wraps around the D-pillars, increasing interior luminosity and benefiting visibility.  The deep tailgate gives the car a clean look and opens to bumper-level for easy loading.

The New Generation i30 wagon will be available across Europe with the same three petrol engines and three diesel engines as the five-door, producing 90 to 135 ps. The full UK specification will be confirmed at a later date.

Buyers of the New Generation i30 wagon will benefit from Five Year Triple Care, comprising a five-year unlimited warranty, five years’ roadside assistance, and five years of vehicle health checks.

Allan Rushforth, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Hyundai Motor Europe, said: 'The New Generation i30 has been widely praised for its style, quality, and value.  Our new wagon offers all of those attributes plus even greater load-carrying capacity.  We expect it to appeal strongly to those looking for stylish and flexible practicality, especially active families.'

The New Generation i30 wagon will be unveiled alongside Hyundai’s other newcomers during the company’s press conference in Hall 1 at 09:45 (CET) on Tuesday 6th March 2012.

Added by: Luke Durkin 
New Media Editor