Remember the Hyundai Grandeur? It was the company’s flagship sedan in Australia between 1999 to 2011 across two generations.
While it was retired from local showrooms, the nameplate soldiers on at home in Korea, with a brand new version revealed overnight.
Once again the Grandeur will be called Azera in export markets.
Before we get into it, there’s no chance of this seventh-generation Grandeur/Azera coming to Australia – we checked in with the brand’s local arm.
The all-new model comes six years after the sixth generation launched in 2016, and boy is it some departure.
Despite the futuristic look, its engines are old-school internal combustion – to start with at least. Options include a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol, a 3.5-litre six-cylinder petrol, and a 1.6-litre petrol-electric hybrid.
“We are creating a new standard for the premium sedan market through emotive design and a refined customer experience,” reckons Head of Hyundai’s Design Center SangYup Lee.
“The seventh-generation Grandeur expresses our respect for the past and commitment to move on to the future.”
Up front there’s a bit of Staria about the full-width slim light bar – “inspired by the first light of dawn” – above the parametric-patterned-mesh grille, flanked by rounded-square lower lights.
The side profile is defined by a single character line running horizontally from headlight to tail-light, over clean and uncluttered flanks, with frameless doors and flush handles.
Rather than a traditional three-box shape, the D-pillar has a gentler slope to lend a fastback silhouette. This is placed behind the prominent body-coloured C-pillar, meaning there’s a third side window.
The front light bar’s ‘Seamless Horizon’ design ethos is also applied to the full-width rear lighting, somewhat reminiscent of the i30 Sedan but much thinner.
The cabin is billed as “an oasis for relaxation and recovery”.
Ambient mood lighting spreads softly across the door trim and the front of the dashboard, and interactive lighting on the upper right of the display provides “a new user experience”.
Details on the door trim are designed with “a delicate Korean aesthetic,” the company adds.
Designers used real wood, aluminium, and naturally dyed Nappa leather quilted in a traditional Korean pattern.
The American-car-inspired steering wheel was apparently inspired by the single-spoke design of the first-generation Grandeur, while the gear shifter interestingly sits on the column.
Multimedia displays on two screens sharing a single frame, below which sits a slim bank of shortcut buttons and dials, and what looks like a haptic touchscreen for climate controls.
Hyundai Australia’s sedan range comprises the i30 and Sonata, with the Genesis brand offering the G70 and G80. The Ioniq 6 EV sedan will launch in early 2023.
What do you reckon? Is the new Grandeur’s design a winner?
