Hyundai i20

Hyundai's second-generation i20, designed at Hyundai Motor's Design Center Europe in Rüsselsheim, Germany, is the first to feature the firm's new small-car platform. Hyundai claims this allows sufficient flexibility to make the (as-yet unrevealed) interior the most spacious in its class.

As for the exterior, the distinction between what is a Kia and what's a Hyundai becomes ever-more blurred. The geometric headlamps, slender grille and lower trapezoidal intake are found in similar form on Kia's i20 equivalent, the Rio, although the intake's pout is perhaps closer to a Peugeot 208.

In profile, the surfaces are relatively simple, with a single character line running to the tail-lamps. Unlike its predecessor, this no-longer curves down abruptly at the car's rear. The old car's vertical tail-lamps are replaced by horizontal LED units similar to those on Kia's larger Cee'd, while the feature line running down from the lamps and across the bumper is straight from the smaller Kia Venga.

The blacked-out C-pillar also stands out, as it isn't quite as successfully resolved as it is on a Citroen DS3. We'll have to reserve full judgement until we see the car on the show stand at the Paris Motor Show, although that seems the perfect location for its debut, given its Franco-Korean aesthetic.

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