The Crank: Korean automakers’ coming of age continues at Seoul Motor Show

By John LeBlanc - Few Western media attended, but this year’s Seoul Motor Show was yet another stake in the ground marking the continuing evolution of the Korea’s Hyundai-Kia Motors as an emerging force to be reckoned with. Korea’s annual new car sales market doesn’t come anywhere near the volume of the China’s monster numbers—about 1.6 million in Korea last year, compared to ten times that number in China, the world’s largest market. But this year's Seoul show concepts from both Hyundai and Kia, hint at what will end up in Canadian new car showrooms sooner than later—something the Chinese have still yet to achieve. First up is the Kia Naimo concept, above. Apparently, Naimo is Korean for “square.” Subcompact in size, if you can imagine this concept as the next Soul, built off the new Rio platform that’s coming to Canada this fall, you’re heading in the right direction. Of course, it’s rare for any concept car to arrive without some form of electric powertrain these days, and the Naimo doesn’t disappoint. It comes with a conceptual all-electric setup promising a range of about 200 km and a quick charge mode that delivers 80 percent battery capacity in a mere 25 minutes. Just as we were getting use to Hyundai’s Fluidic Sculpture design language that’s popping up on everything from the Sonata to the new Accent, the Korean brand isn’t waiting for that look to go stale. As a follow up to this year’s Detroit auto show Hyundai Curb concept, the new Blue2, above, which debuted in Seoul, is preparing us for Hyundai’s next design language: dubbed “Intersected Flow.” Like the Naimo, there’s a sexy tree-hugging powertrain underneath the Blue2, a hydrogen fuel-cell setup that Hyundai says will deliver about 120 hp and sip less than 3.0L/100 km. So what do you make of these new Korean concepts? Can you see yourself driving a Naimo-like box in, say, in two or three years? Or how about a 2014 Hyundai Sonata that looks similar to the Blue2? [Sources: Hyundai, Kia]

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