It looks like the awkward years are over for the subcompact Hyundai Accent.
Our first glimpse of the next-generation Accent comes courtesy of leaked photos from China, where the model goes by the name Verna. In them, the Accent appears all grown up, adopting a large grille and styling reminiscent of its bigger brother, the Elantra.
The model, which will appear sometime next year as a 2018 model, grows slightly in width and length. There’s talk that a hatchback version won’t accompany the sedan seen in the leaked photos, which seems almost sacrilegious, given the Accent’s roots.
Speaking of talk, you’re not likely to hear many animated water cooler conversations about the Accent, but it remains an important model for the automaker. Hyundai sold 61,486 of them in the U.S. last year, so it’s not about to start ignoring its entry in the subcompact market.
But back to that grille. The first Accents to reach North American shores back in the mid-1990s featured a plastic-heavy face with a vestigial front air slot resembling something you’d see living near the ocean floor. The model received regular styling updates through the years, and a healthy dose of competitive technology arrived in 2011, but this redesign really closes the door on its lackluster econobox past.
[Source: AutoHome] [Image: Wikimedia Commons]
Almost looks like a Charger now, but with the headlights WAY too far apart.
So the Accent gets bigger, forcing the Elantra to also grow larger and so on and on. Where is this gonna end?
With a new sub-sub model in four years.
Probably some version of the ix25/Creta.
Maybe China cares.
Name that movie:
– Good thing the game broke up before you bet your trousers.
– Who made off with me hat?
– Verna. Verna and Mink.
– Who?
– Mink and Verna.
– [Vomiting]
Had to google it, it’s probably been 20 years since I last saw it, but classic nonetheless. I will not be giving you the high hat.
Miller’s crossing, but why now?
People are obsessed with econocars looking like bigger cars because they themselves are embarrassed to be seen in econocars? Is that the gist of it? Because it seems like it.
Congratulations. You cracked the code. Buyers of subcompacts don’t like to advertise their poverty.
Then they should buy a larger, used car, no one will know when they bought it.
Many do. Some even buy used luxury vehicles to mask the stench of poverty.
Yes, Hydromatic. THIS! And yes to Corrolaman.
Or some don’t like to pretend or just don’t want to blow money on transportation to impress the neighbors and family members.
Inconceivable! That’s Un-American.
VW16v, I pronounce thee the winner of the thread.
It looks like a Mazda for a third world market, which to me is a fair bit better than its been. And really, while the Accent we have now is not such a thrill, it’s a good choice for someone who doesn’t care about cars. I feel that way about Hyundais generally, as I’ve owned one and was satisfied though not enthusiastic.
Third world market, or the narrow roads of France, which needs a steady supply of replacement cars because so many there catch fire.
I remember being caught in a windstorm at a smaller plains airport. All the traffic was canceled. All the nearby hotels were full. I rented the last car available at the one rental counter still open – and it was a 2010 Accent. I’ve never had such a horrible car. It made the Cobalt I returned earlier that day look like a real engineering feat. Leaving the airport required accomplishing a left turn across a major road, four lanes each way. There was a giant opening. I hit the gas and turned. It went straight. The steering input was useless above 1500 RPMs.
Just following and emulating Honda. The Civic was once a subcompact, just like the Accent. Now it’s fat and bloated, just like this new Accent.
Honda wound up having to create the Fit/Jazz because the Civic got too fat.
Look for Hyundai’s new subcompact somewhere around 2019.
“Honda wound up having to create the Fit/Jazz because the Civic got too fat.”
Yep, that’s the only reason. The fact that it’s the littlest Honda hatch*, and a bodaciously capacious one at that, is mere coincidence.
*CUVs are right-sized hatches in my cosmology.
All cars grow. My 09 Civic is as big inside as my 93 Accord. Hell, I think a Fit is as big inside as my 93 Accord. More horsepower and better fuel economy too. But the prices of models stay fixed with respect to inflation, so we wind up just getting more car for the same money. Thing is subcompact used to be completely worthless if you needed a legitimate 4-5 passenger car… now they really work. If not for the awful dowdy styling I would rock one.
The styling of that 90s Accent was right in line with other cars of that time period, such as the Ford Taurus. No need to make fun of it.
Nice try Hyundai but that’s a Lada Vesta
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Vladimir_Putin_driving_Lada_Vesta_04.jpg
I expected them to just bring the i20 here. Surprised they didn’t.
Why is it that car guys look at older subcompacts with such fond memories and admiration yet blast anything new and small, even though they are superior in just about every way
I don’t. I bought a Sonic and it feels too big.
I owned a lackluster ’99 Accent in green. Fell apart immediately after test-driving. “Dealer” (junkyard folks actually) had to fix the things wrong with it or my father would back out.
It did get me to and from a lot of areas but not in comfort. No A/C, no cruise and a shitty stereo. I hated it but at least it lasted as long as it did.
Whoa.
That’s enough talk about cars, everybody.
Now let’s get back to politics and insults.
And like SCE said above, every car in the 90s looked like that. Now everything has a giant grill.
Probably because the government something.
Kinda hard to talk about cars, these days, without talking about government.
And yes, those ship’s-prow grilles DO come from government safety standards. Supposed to keep a car from hitting a pedestrian and sending him flying over the hood and roof. I guess our Really Smart Keepers in Washintoon think it’s better for a wayward pedestrian to go UNDER the car.
But that’s the kind of brilliant insight government gives us.
Since government designs our cars, every step from fuel it uses to how high the prow up front…it’s hard not to talk about government.
I don’t know how much Washintoon tells the gubmints in Europe to require pedestrian safety improvements in the past 35 years.
apart from babies, do you know anyone who is less than 10 inches tall and will be run over as opposed to being swept off their feet and their heads slammed into the windshield. But then again, you might be happier thinking it was way better back in the day when polio was a fact of american life
Actually I was thinking that it’s probably best not to hit anyone – since it’s impossible to design a vehicle that’s not going to injure a pedestrian at legal speed limits.
But then, that’s me. The goobers in goobermint are thinking that the best thing would be to BAN CARS – and make us ride their stupid inner-city electric choo-choo trains, with their unionized government employees.
Government is the lowest common denominator. It’s Groupthink unchecked. It’s a necessary evil but the less of it the better – and that’s evidenced by how little progress is made when there is massive intrusive government.
A laissez-faire government is great, at least in theory.
The practice leaves a little something to be desired.
Actually, the kind of government I’d like to see is the kind of government we had for most of our history – and which enabled us to HAVE things like roads and cars of various sorts.
The kind of government we have now is the kind of government that looks for ever-more preposterous reasons to ban, control, restrict, tax out of existence…so much of what our previous society enabled and celebrated.
” the kind of government we had for most of our history”
Damn straight! The kind that keeps wimmen and coloreds in their God-ordained place!
I remember those days! We kept billy-clubs or tire irons under our driver’s seats and called them “n***er-knockers”. And everyone thought it was a great joke! Didn’t need no guns except for huntin’.
There are several members of the TTAC comments section who are nostalgic for tailfins and affirmative action for white guys.
And white socks At. All. Times.
I just put on a pair to go out for lunch.
ah, Polio and 20″ high grilles. Thems the good old days. Stupid science is ruining everything!
Yeah, I know.
Us reactionary Philistines, who want to buy cars useful to us, personally – without regard to Glow Ball Warming or the Social Statements our cars make that drive some religious crazies to wage Holy War on us.
So silly…we need additional Re-Education on WHY it is we can no longer own personal vehicles and MUST use government mass transit – and MUST live within X kilometers of the State Factory we’re assigned.
Sad, how the InternetZ and Social Mediuh have replaced critical-thinking with Groupthink, and discussion with shibboleths.
Of course, it could also be that serious people who have studied this issue in-depth for several years may know more about preventing pedestrian fatalities than some random dude on the internet.
I don’t claim to be an expert.
I only claim I’m COMPLETELY unconvinced by the Goobermint Engineers who’ve found this problem and this magical cure.
I don’t need to prove my credentials because I’m not in any position to change this. THEY…ARE.
They need to start proving – starting with their legal authority to force their crackpot ideas onto us, the car-buying public.
That famous hospital cat is able to tell who is soon going to pass and sits with them until they do.
And he doesn’t even have the the diagnostic tool of internet comments.
The upsizing of cars today is stupendous. Own anything made before 2012, and it’s like a 9/10ths scale model.
I remember when a 2004 Accord was considered “OMG Huge” by the press. Now a Civic rivals it for size.
Used to be a 2nd Gen Cadillac Escalade was pretty massive and an “out there” design.Now a half ton pickup is both larger and squarer.
Can’t wait to see the day when a Toyota Camry beats a 1990s Cadillac Fleetwood for raw size.
The trend these days is for cars from the same brand to share a common face. So in Hyundai’s case, the Genesis should provide some clues about where the lineup is headed.
This shared face idea has long been used by the Germans, and the recent big grille trend probably started with Audi. It pays to remember that Peter Schreyer heads up Hyundai’s design unit; there was a reason why they hired him.
TTAC spent a lot of time trashing the Audi big grille look with Big Mouth Billy Bass snark and dismissing the Lexus grilles with Predator comparisons, but the industry is apparently not in agreement and Audi used that look to transform itself into a legitimate competitor against BMW and Mercedes.
Isn’t Genesis a standalone brand now?
Hyundai refers to the brand design language as “Fluidic Sculpture” (which deserves some kind of pretentious name award), and showcases the Genesis as providing one example of it.
I guess bashing Hyundai for what they were doing 25 years ago never gets old.
I’m not sure I understand what’s not “all grown up” about the current Accent. By all accounts, it’s efficient, roomy, affordable, and reliable, a nice honest small car suiting the needs of commuters, young people, city-dwellers, retirees, and anyone else who’s not interested in buying more car than they need. What’s wrong with that?
I’m sorry, but just a few years ago, people were gushing about the current Accent for looking all grown up like its big brother. Hell, even in the cached pages of this very site.
Thank you!!! The current Accent is just as big of a pile as the old ones. Try starting one and it has the same starter noise as a 75 F-100. No thanks.
And like the Sonata and new Elantra, not much will change. Totally lack luster redesigns.
Just keeping up with the Buick-sized Civic & Sentra.
Verna is starting to look like she’s got “potential.” If-you-know-what-I-mean. In a small car sedan way. Even if I didn’t have much money, I bet I could get with her.
Turns out an accent doesn’t make everyone sexy…