If the Staria is too big, perhaps the Hyundai Custo will fit your needs better.
Many were stunned by the drastic design decisions made on the Hyundai Staria. It’s the successor of the rather popular and conservative looking Hyundai Starex, so some were worried about the styling coming across as too unconventional. Well, it appears there’s another new MPV up Hyundai’s sleeves, but it’s made for the Chinese market only. It’s called the Custo.
The Hyundai Custo is a 7-seater that was developed by the joint venture that Hyundai has in Beijing with a Chinese company. Very few details are known, but just today teaser images of the exterior were leaked on Hyundai’s Weibo social account.
The Custo is a smaller MPV at 4950mm in length, 1850mm in width and 1734mm in height. In contrast, the Hyundai Staria measures 5255mm long, 1995mm wide and 1990mm tall.
The Custo is apparently built on the same platform as the Hyundai Tucson. This means that for the first time ever, the Tucson’s platform is being used not just for an SUV model, but for a pick-up truck and MPV as well.
Unlike the Santa Cruz and Tucson, the the Hyundai Custo doesn’t seem to have the same amount of design flair. Maybe we’ll have to see it in the metal first though. It does have plenty of proper MPV features like sliding doors (probably powered) and 7 seats. The light bar design at the rear is also rather unique to the Custo. It’s quite dramatic.
Powering the Hyundai Custo will be a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine producing 167 horsepower. That’s probably a China-only powertrain.
Will the Hyundai Custo make its way to Malaysia?
Well, that’s very difficult to say, but in all likelihood this is going to remain within China’s borders. The only plausible way we can see this ever finding its way into Malaysia is if Hyundai have plans to produce a right-hand drive version. This might work in Indonesia, where the South Korean company are currently building a huge new factory for the entire region. A budget-friendly, low cost MPV would be ideal for may Indonesian families whose expectations for a car are slowly rising beyond what the market has been offering.
If they start making it there, then it’s possible a small batch of units will be exported to Malaysia to test the market. Toyota, Honda and Nissan have done this before – importing Indonesian made cars to Malaysia. The Toyota Sienta sprints to mind, as does the Honda Freed.
