First look: Hyundai heralds Elantra hatch

HYUNDAI has come good on its promise to follow up its redesigned Elantra sedan with a five-door hatch derivative designed in Europe.

Revealed last week in sketch form ahead of its official public debut at this month’s Paris motor show, the all-new Elantra hatch will go on sale in Australia and Europe in mid-2007.

Hyundai describes its Arnejs (pronounced Ar-nez) concept as a "designer preview of the car set to take the C-segment by storm in 2007". The South Korean maker said the production version would be very closely based on it, and would also form the basis for Hyundai’s next world rally car.

The company claims its newest small car, codenamed FD (for Five-Door), will offer enough quality, affordability, style and technology to make it a hit in Europe’s largest vehicle category, and to compete with Europe’s top-selling C-segment models.

The new Elantra was launched Down Under two weeks ago in US-oriented sedan guise ahead of its official release in October, and will be followed by five-door hatch and wagon body styles next year, and a folding metal-roofed coupe-convertible in 2008.