IT was – what? – only five years ago that the Hyundai range was largely populated by entirely forgettable cars. Hyundai Sonata anyone? Or a Getz?

No, I don’t think so.

But then came the Hyundai i30 hatchback – a rival to the Ford Focus but some £2k cheaper, providing Hyundai with cars that had low whole life costs and attractive company car tax rates. Thereafter we had the highly practical i800 MPV along with its iLoad van and iLoad crew van versions. But the real game changer, the real attention-grabber, was the relatively new ix35 SUV. It brought with it a new design architecture, which Hyundai has called ‘fluidic sculpture’.

I was fortunate enough to go to a Fleet Conference at the company’s European R&D centre and get a good look behind the scenes, including Hyundai’s all-new Mondeo challenger, the Hyundai i40.

The new estate (which debuts first) and the saloon owe their design architecture to the ‘i-flow’ concept car pictured above. That’s as much as I can show you for the moment.

But having seen the car in the metal I can tell you it is impressive. Impressive, because it looks such a competitive proposition straight out of the box: I saw the estate – it’s highly spacious, materials and finish are very good, and there are premium touches, such as the use of LED front and rear lights. It looks suitably elegant too, but not in a characterless fashion.

I managed to grab five minutes with Eduardo Ramirez from the design centre to ask him how Hyundai had come so far in such a short time.

Eduardo’s reply was simple. “We couldn’t design a car in the Mondeo class and be seen to be copying our European competitors. If we want to move forward in Europe we must have bold and confident designs to gain the trust of European customers.”

I thought the answer considered and confident.

In fact that confidence is infectious at Hyundai. They know they’re onto something. And they have some very bold targets. They want to be the car market leaders in environmental technology – wow, some of the Europeans have been at this game for some time, let alone companies such as Honda with its hydrogen fuel cell car.

But they are serious. Already the average CO2 emissions of their cars are substantially below the European average. And they want average CO2 to be 130g/km within two years – and by 2020 to have reduced it to 95g/km.

But, given the low CO2 emissions of the new i40 – as low as 113g/km for the highly efficient 1.7-litre diesel – it all looks highly achievable. I mean 113g/km really is low for such a large car – the Ford Mondeo is at 139g/km, for example, to give you some comparison. (See our news story Hyundai muscles in on the Ford Mondeo.)

“Hyundai is really beginning to understand fleet now,” Jeff Peyton-Bruhl, the company’s fleet sales boss explained. “And while the UK leads in Europe, the other countries are quickly catching up.”

What then, I put to Jeff, was the appeal of Hyundai cars to the business market? “For many companies it’s the low whole life costs of the cars that really appeal – their cost per mile is really very competitive.

“But for small businesses in particular, the Triple Five warranty (five-years of unlimited-mileage warranty; five years of roadside assistance; and five years of free vehicle health checks) is a big factor. They are essentially getting five years of trouble-free motoring.

“And now we have the i40 estate to come in June next year, followed by the i40 saloon six months later. So I think we’re in a good position.”

I think Jeff’s right, given what I saw and heard. It really changed my view of the company. Hyundai wants to be a serious proposition in the business car and fleet markets. With a compelling proposition of attractive product, good value pricing, and peace of mind warranties, Hyundai is sweeping aside all excuses to ignore the brand. Not that ignoring the brand will be so easy in the future – the fluidic sculpture styling is very eye-catching, confident. And self-assured.

Footnote

I notice this is my 500th blog. I never thought I would get here so quickly. It’s been fun. And thanks for staying with me. Here’s to the next 500.

Business Car Manager: Editor’s Blog