breeds at klims 2010

The Kuala Lumpur International Motor Show (KLIMS) 2010 will be happening next month from 3-12 December, and participants are working hard to ready their display at the Putra World Trade Centre. Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors (HSDM) will have a mixture of concepts and production vehicles at their stand, we have learned. The company has arranged for the ix-Metro concept, Genesis Coupe 2.0T, new Avante and the facelifted Santa Fe SUV with a powerful R-series diesel engine to be on display.

The latter two in that list will be on our roads. The Santa Fe, one of the most underrated SUVs on sale today in my opinion, gets minor aesthetic updates but the big news is in the hood. The seven-seater’s petrol option is no longer the old tech 2.7L V6, but the 2.4-litre Theta II engine as found in the current Sonata and Tucson. The new R-series CRDi engine puts out 442 Nm of torque, a whopping 107 Nm more than the current 2.2-litre although capacity is unchanged. All will be paired to six-speed auto gearboxes. This car should be launched at KLIMS.

As for the new Avante, it won’t be a launch, but a preview of Hyundai’s Civic fighter. Visitors can touch, feel and see the “Wind Craft” design of the new car, then decide if it’s worth the wait. Hyundai tells us that this will be the first time the Avante is put on display in an exhibition outside of Korea. It’s on sale now domestically but global sales will only start in 2011.

No motor show is complete without concepts, even if we cannot expect KLIMS to feature the latest from Geneva, Paris or Tokyo. The ix-Metro made its debut at Frankfurt 2009 as a “Hybrid Electric CUV for the European sub-B segment”. More news coming as it flows our way. Are you looking forward to KLIMS?