In a declared effort to “become a leading brand in China,” Hyundai is pulling out all the stops to accelerate the process. Now, they have revealed a preview for a China-exclusive model called “Mistra” after the Laconia region of southern Greece. According to Hyundai, it’s Chinese name, Mingtu, “signifies integrity and quality”. We previously showed you the car via a billboard photo, which was pretty revealing.
Despite labeled a concept, the Mistra already looks like a production model, which will follow later this year. As we first speculated, it sits between the Sonata and Elantra sedans in Hyundai’s Chinese range, with the production version to be built locally by the Beijing Hyundai Motor Co. joint venture, which was established in 2002.
The mid-sized sedan concept has an overall length of 4,710 mm, a width of 1,820 mm and height of 1,470 mm, as well as a 2,770 mm-long wheelbase. It rides on 19-inch aluminum alloy wheels and has full-LED taillights.
The car was developed in Hyundai’s Korean R&D Center, as well as the Beijing Hyundai Technical Center, with the automaker stating that it asked for feedback “young parents in their 20s and 30s”. They now hope that this will translate into a car with added appeal and ultimately, good sales.
Also, looking at this car, one gets the impression that the Chinese market is a bit more conservative when it comes to its preference in terms of car shapes. The Mistra is far less flamboyant than what we know they are willing to put on the road.
By Andrei Nedelea
PHOTO GALLERY
