Hyundai Motor launches new i40 station wagon

SEOUL, Sept. 1 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest carmaker, said Thursday that it has started selling its new i40 mid-size station wagon on the local market.
Developed at a cost of 230 billion won (US$216.4 million), the new model merges the comfort of a sedan and practicality of a sport utility vehicle, the carmaker said.
The car, which took four and half years to develop, follows the "fluidic sculpture" exterior design of recent Hyundai vehicles, which has been popular with many consumers around the world, Hyundai said.
It is also equipped with the latest safety features such as seven airbags, full-adaptive headlights and proximity warning sensors.
The car, which is 4,815 millimeters long and 1,815 millimeters wide, comes with a 2.0-liter gasoline direct injection (GDi) engine that can produce a maximum 178 horsepower at 6,500 rpm and 21.6 kilogram-meters of torque. Consumers can also buy a version with a 1.7-liter diesel engine that can produce 140 horsepower at 4,000 rpm and 33.0 kilogram-meters of torque.
Its fuel economy has been rated at 18.0 kilometers on a liter of diesel fuel and 13.1 kilometers for the GDi engine version.
Hyundai said a base price of 28.35 million won has been set for the gasoline fueled "Modern" model and 27.75 million won for the "Smart" diesel-powered vehicle.
The company aims to sell 8,000 i40s in the domestic market this year and 27,000 cars abroad, with the worldwide target set at 100,000 units for next year.