Hyundai Shows Off A Few i30 Angles Ahead of Frankfurt

Hyundai followed an interesting strategy with the previous-generation compact Elantra. The United States demands that manufacturers offer traditional four-door sedan iterations. In Europe though, Hyundai's offering in the segment is hatchback-only and known as the i30.

In order to offer a hatchback Elantra here in the U.S, Hyundai imported the i30 from Europe and called it the Elantra Touring. That gave the Touring model a much different feel than the standard Elantra model. This time around, Hyundai says it plans to offer a Touring model yet again. Until now we haven't seen what it looked like however. Hyundai has released a few images of the i30 ahead of a debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

This time around, the Elantra and i30 don't look quite as different as before. The biggest difference is the grille, which features chrome bars on the i30. We aren't fans of those.

The lessened differentiation is thanks to the spread of Hyundai's fluidic sculpture design language around the world. Some things never change though, and the i30 is a bit more upscale in implementation than the Elantra. It offers extras like projector-beam headlights and an LED lighting graphic up front. The interior is also more traditional in design.

We'll get a look at the rear end of this car when it debuts at Frankfurt. No word on Hyundai on when (or even an 100% confirmation of if) this car will be arriving on our shores.