Hyundai is wasting no time in refining and expanding its Sensuous Sportiness design language, which we first saw on the Le Fil Rouge concept last year. Since then, it has already appeared on the new Sonata and Grandeur, and this new Vision T concept sees the company repurposing the look for an SUV body style.
Although the company hasn’t quite admitted it yet, the fact that the show car is called the Vision T hints that this is a thinly-veiled preview of the next-generation Tucson, due to be revealed next year. The design lends further credence to this theory, as it incorporates many of the design elements evident on Tucson development prototypes, as seen in past spyshots.
Surprisingly for a concept, Hyundai has even released its dimensions, pretty much confirming that the car serves as a production preview. It may be a bit wide for a compact crossover at 2,025 mm, but at 4,610 mm long and 1,705 mm tall, the Vision T is 135 mm longer (an increase that is solely derived from its 2,805 mm wheelbase) and 60 mm taller than the current Tucson, which isn’t too far out of the ordinary.
The buzzwords for the car’s design are Parametric Fantasy and Transcendent Connectivity, which sounds like typical designer nonsense. What they essentially mean is that each of the body’s surfaces are connected to either the lights or the trim, and the result is a riot of sharp lines and angles.
Quite literally front and centre is a massive grille that takes up the entire width of the face, mirroring a similar look on the Le Fil Rouge and Grandeur. It features a tessellated pattern and hides signature lighting that use one-way mirrors to appear to be part of the matte dark chrome grille, until they are lit up.
The car also comes with active grille shutters that not only control airflow to the engine to improve aerodynamics, they also move in a sequence to give the car a more dynamic look when in motion. The grille is flanked by large air intakes (which is where the main headlight units will sit on the production model) to give the car an X-shaped graphic at the front.
Along the side, you’ll find the same angular wheel arches as on the latest Santa Fe, emphasised by the pronounced fender bulges that are connected by a prominent crease running from the front doors to the rear of the car. The low-slung roofline features a sweeping chrome accent that contrasts the upswept beltline. The massive split-spoke alloy wheels get a two-tone finish and hide dark orange brake callipers.
Elsewhere, the glass roof features a special embossed pattern, while the rear end features the in-vogue full-width design that echo the individual cells of the front lights. The Hyundai badge is lit up in bright green (complementing the car’s matte green paint), and all the lights shut off in a dramatic sequence.
Technical details are light, with Hyundai only saying that the Vision T is powered by a plug-in hybrid powertrain (which may also appear on the production Tucson), with a charging port on the rear passenger-side fender. A Blue Drive script lights up when the car is being charged.
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with that signature blue-light ambience, thought that was a Lexus concept for a second