Hyundai’s new i30 five-door family hatchback, making its world debut at Geneva, will take on cars like Ford’s Focus and VW’s Golf in the fiercely competitive small family hatchback market. An estate (wagon) version will be added later.

The “i” in the name stands for “intelligence, inspiration and innovation” according to Hyundai, while the number is indicative of the car’s size. It’s the first car in the range to follow a new naming system: future models will be named i10, i20, and so on.

Will the car live up to its name? It’s a perfectly competent looking hatchback with some pleasing design features and a package of features and capabilities that will appeal to European buyers. What looks unlikely is that it will stand out from the crowd.

Sculpted surfaces on the door panels, tailgate and at the base of the windscreen give the i30 a solid look, and the integration of the front and rear light clusters into the car’s complex curves is a pleasing detail. The proportions are right, and the short overhangs give the shape a dynamic feel, but for a car that its makers claim is innovative its styling cues seem to owe a lot to BMW’s 1-series. Inside, the seating is plush for a car in this class, and the control layout is neat.

There are no fewer than five gasoline engine options with power from 109 horsepower through to 143 horsepower. All are four-cylinder units, ranging from 1.4 to 2.0 liters in capacity. There’s a 2.0-liter diesel option offering 136 horsepower and an impressive 224 lb-ft of torque. A five-speed manual gearbox (six on the diesel) is standard; some gasoline engines can be specified with an automatic transmission.

“Plastic” Car

Also debuting was the QarmaQ concept. There’s no question that this car can lay claim to the three “i”s of intelligence, innovation and inspiration—not for the way it looks, though that’s attention-grabbing enough, but for the way it’s built.

A joint project with GE plastics, QarmaQ is constructed using a wide range of plastic composites. There are big advantages to these materials: they’re lighter than metals and conventional plastics, can be formed into a great variety of shapes, cause less damage in collisions, and are easily recyclable.

Because they’re lighter, they reduce fuel consumption, too. But there is a downside to them: although you’ll find them used in racing cars and the aviation industry, composites with the necessary durability and strength are too difficult and costly to mass produce for extensive integration into motor vehicles.

Hyundai believes that could change and is working with GE on making it happen. QarmaQ is already 60 kg lighter than it would have been if built using conventional materials; but it’s also stronger, safer and more economical. For a typical user, the company says, that could mean a saving of 80 liters of diesel and 200 kg of CO₂ per year—not to mention the reuse of 900 plastic drink bottles in the manufacturing process, reducing the need for energy-intensive processing of new materials.

Aesthetically pleasing features like the QarmaQ’s U-shaped door windows wouldn’t be possible without the plastics either, according to Hyundai. In fact, there’s one large glazing area that wraps right around the car, formed from polycarbonate resin.

The “Elastic Front” nose design utilizes the superior flexibility and energy absorbing properties of composites to enhance pedestrian and occupant safety. Use of resin in place of PVC for wiring reduces weight by 25%. The list of innovations goes on and on: even the tires incorporate materials to improve efficiency and scale back the harmful substances that are released during their manufacture and use.

Plastic components are creeping into more and more production cars, but few carmakers are thinking openly about their role in car construction as profoundly as this.

The QarmaQ is a complex, ambitious, and reassuringly optimistic concept. Projects like this are vital for the car industry, and the companies that support them deserve our encouragement. Putting these new technologies into production will help take the environmental sting out of the motor car and ensure we continue to enjoy the benefits of individual mobility and freedom it represents long into the future.