Spy Shots: Hyundai HED-5 making the rounds

Our buddy Rich Truesdell over at Automotive Traveler was out at one of his favorite spy shot locales and came across some Hyundai prototypes under wraps. Among them was a hatchback that Rich initially figured was the new Accent. It turns out it's more likely the production version of the Hyundai HED-5 undergoing testing.

The Elantra-based competitor for the Mazda5 and the forthcoming Ford Grand C-Max – was first shown as a concept at the Geneva Motor Show back in 2008, and then again in Los Angeles where Hyundai quickly confirmed it for production. Things got a bit quiet after that until February of this year when an alert reader sent us pics of a cloaked version of the production microvan undergoing testing in Scandinavia.

The three-row space wagon shows signs that it will be blessed with Hyundai's new Fluidic Sculpture styling, a design language that we are finding very appealing, despite the kooky name. We're not sure what's under the hood, but Hyundai did mention its new 286-hp, 2.0-liter Theta Turbo GDI engine as a possibility when the concept was on the stand in Los Angeles back in '08. That would certainly shake things up in this increasingly popular class, but such a powerful motor doesn't seem likely. However, were it to recceive the force-fed motor, who knows? It could singlehandedly force a business case for a Mazdaspeed5 as well. Hmmm.

Click on over to Automotive Traveler for more pics of the cloaked Hyundai HED-5.

[Source: Automotive Traveler]