THERE has long been two ways of thinking about a people-mover. Maybe make that three if you count not thinking at all about one and buying a large SUV instead, like most buyers do. But otherwise notch it up as only a duo, the first of which is embodied by this Hyundai iMax Elite. 

Hyundai has long banked on the fact that if someone is shopping for a people-mover, they want space, and lots of it, so the old-school way of bolting seats into the back of a commercial van (in this case the equally old iLoad) has been their bet – albeit with some modern-day finesse applied.

Sure, there might be several smaller and ostensibly smarter or space-efficient people-movers, such as the Citroen Grand C4 Picasso and Toyota Prius V for circa-$45K, but how comfortable will occupants be and how much space for luggage will be left? Indeed, the iMax instead challenges the equally big passenger car-based Honda Odyssey and Kia Carnival for sheer sprawling space.

Perhaps surprisingly, though, this is the first facelift of what is now a decade-old eight seater, with a new, more horizontally focused grille and headlight treatment laying ahead of a revised interior. And this freshly introduced Elite flagship now also lobs in a previously-unseen level of luxury kit.