#HTE

Hyundai Fulfills “No Visual Continuity” Promise, Rolls Out New IONIQ 5

Hyundai’s new design strategy, which involves having no visual continuity across models, is officially reality. This week they unveiled their IONIQ 5, an all-electric CUV that no resemblance to any other Hyundai, and sticks surprisingly close to the 45 concept car it’s based on:

I’m not crazy about the design–I could’ve done without the Zorro slash on the sides–but I find it refreshingly clean, at least compared to the CAD spaghetti common with other CUVs.

I admire what Hyundai’s trying to do. It takes guts to attempt creating a diversity of aesthetics under a single brand, at least in the auto space. And given BMW’s recent strategy–they’ve doubled down on a maligned aesthetic, seemingly betting the entire brand on a derided front end–Hyundai’s approach of spreading out the risk, so to speak, looks like a smarter approach.

One thing I should mention: The designers have given the front seats an extreme reclining feature…

…which makes me wonder if they’re preparing for what front seats will do once cars go autonomous.

The IONIQ 5 will hit dealerships this fall, and we’ll be watching the sales figures with great interest.