Hyundai Staria shows us minivans are totally still cool
Seriously, this looks awesome.
Minivans don't capture car buyers like they used to in the US, but around the world, multipurpose vehicles (as they're known) remain popular. And Hyundai's tossing in more than a few dashes of the cool factor with its new Staria minivan. The South Korean automaker on Thursday provided a single teaser shot of its new MPV and played up its futuristic design.
This is not a concept car, believe it or not. This is a production car. Hey, if the Tesla Cybertruck can rock a long light bar, so can other vehicles, right? Right. Hyundai totally leaned into the futuristic vibes in the announcement saying, and I quote, the Staria "offers a strikingly futuristic and mysterious exterior, resembling a spaceship." Yeah, those vibes are real, and they're rad.
There's also a panoramic window treatment and super low beltline to help the minivan stand out from the typically frumpy-looking MPV. But, it also has a tall greenhouse. Designers purposely dreamt the Staria this way to ensure it's easy to enter and exit, and there's plenty of room for cargo onboard. The automaker plans to sell the Staria as both a personal vehicle and for businesses looking for a neat vehicle to add to their fleets.
Even the interior looks good.
The interior looks great, too, with a long horizontal line to house the HVAC vents, a big tablet-style screen and very comfy-looking seats for passengers.
I can't wait to see the vehicle in full, even though the prospects of the van coming to the US seem low. The closest we get to this kind of body style is probably the Ford Transit Connect, and it's new rivals attempting to compete with Ford and General Motors in the commercial van segment don't often have a good time. Ask Nissan. Hyundai said we'll learn more about the Staria in the coming weeks, including what countries will be graced with the spaceship from Seoul.
