This is the soon to the launched all new Hyundai Avante Elantra. Avante in Korea and most probably Elantra in Malaysia and everywhere else (as usual). Someone sneaked a photo of it out from the Hyundai factory in Korea and I must say that it looks good.
The car looks like a shrunken down Hyundai Sonata as well as the usual Audi-esque design cues you see everywhere in Hyundai and Kia these days. Especially at the front end of the car. In fact, the overall design looks better than most Audi cars these days. I blame this good fortune on Peter Schreyer, the ex-Audi designer who has made both Hyundai and Kia vehicles look extremely good these past few years.
Take a look at that front end - boomerang driving lights on the bumper, a large hexagonal grille that is more shapely than even a Sporty Audi A5, those slits for headlights and a bonnet that has a rake downwards as it reaches the nose. All of these little touches actually lift the car's styling to another level. The only gripe I would have it the rear end. Whilst it is taken from the Sonata and has those nice LED tail lights, the lower part looks a little too plain. Oh well, you can't win 'em all. This is actually pretty good considering the price range this Elantra / Avante will be selling in.
My prediction for Malaysian sales is that the car would be in by mid next year in CBU (fully imported form) before CKD local production is commenced. This would be a nice car for a small family or one that wishes to downsize and still get some nice exterior styling and a refined C segment drive too.
