Skip the Big Apple and head for the Seoul Motor Show if you want to see the Hyundai HND-9 concept.
We’ve been hearing and seeing a lot about the upcoming NY Auto Show lately, but Hyundai says some of its biggest news will come out of South Korea, its latest luxury sports coupe concept set to get its debut at the Seoul Motor Show a week from today.
Dubbed the Hyundai HND-9, the distinctive design underscores the maker’s continuing push up-market. Almost at the same time the coupe concept is unveiled in Korea, Hyundai also will reveal the mid-cycle update of its big Equus premium-luxury sedan at the New York show.
From a design standpoint, the two are light years apart. In contrast to the rather stately Equus, the HND-9 advances Hyundai’s so-called fluidic design sculpture philosophy, a styling strategy that is best seen on models like the Sonata and Elantra.
In this instance, the Hyundai HND-9 boasts a dramatically long hood – reflecting its rear-drive architecture – and stretched wheelbase. It is, the maker declares, “a modern reinterpretation of the elegant image of a classic premium sports coupe.”
The "butterfly doors" distinguish the sports coupe from other recent Hyundai concepts.
Strong character lines arc from headlamps to trunk, the face of the new concept distinguished by a wide, hexagonal radiator grille that rides above a low-to-the-ground chin spoiler.
Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the Hyundai HND-9 is the use of what the maker calls “butterfly doors,” similar to the scissor doors on vehicles such as the Lamborghini Aventador.
The muscularly flared rear wheel arches and large, low-profile tires are clearly intended to put an emphasis on performance, Hyundai revealing the HND-9 Concept is powered by a 3.3-liter turbo GDI engine making 365 horsepower through an 8-speed automatic gearbox.
Those familiar with Hyundai nomenclature will recognize that the HND-9 signals the show car was developed by the maker’s R&D center in Namyang, Korea.
More details will be revealed at the Seoul Motor Show. Whether Hyundai has specific production plans for the concept remains to be seen, though the maker has often used its show cars to signal its production intent.
And the maker has done little to hide its ambitions to move steadily up-market. It has several luxury models on sale in Korea that are not available here – yet. That could soon change.
(For more on Hyundai’s plans for the luxury market, Click Here.)