Hyundai i30 spy shots

This time it is Hyundai, which has the World Car of the Year winner as the benchmark for its upcoming replacement for the compact i30.

The i30 is expected to be run out at a motor show later this year ahead of sales in 2012, based on an intensive European test program that has attracted the lenses of the Carparazzi photographic team.

They have caught the new i30 in northern Scandinavia and, despite heavy camouflage, everything points to a much more refined version of the current car. The second-generation i30 is likely to be slightly bigger overall, with more space inside, and with a body shape that is far more youthful than the current car.

The test car shows sleeker lines that will move it comfortably alongside the i45, with low-profile lights - including LED daytime running lamps - and LED tail lamps moved to a new location.

Mechanically, the car will get tweaked versions of Hyundai's latest Gamma motors, as well as an improved diesel, with the potential for the direct-injection petrol motor just previewed in the Veloster coupe.