Hyundai news - The Metro returns… - 2009

In the future, the use of straight lines will be banned in car design, and those who transgress will be sentenced to 10 years' hard labour in the Ssangyong design studio.

Hyundai does not wish to suffer such a fate, so has created the ix Metro concept, a mini hybrid set to be unveiled in Frankfurt next week that points towards a new low-emissions future for compact crossovers.

The ix Metro is a dinky petrol-electric hybrid producing just 80g/km of CO2. A 1.0-litre, three-cylinder turbo petrol engine provides primary motivation, backed up by a small electric motor.

Created at Hyundai's Global Design studio in Korea, the ix Metro also gets a six-speed dual clutch gearbox, a more efficient transmission than a standard auto.

Hyundai describes the ix Metro as a Compact Utility Vehicle, and says it will be smaller than its own Fiesta-rivalling i20, with a slightly raised driving position. Think curvy Panda Cross - likely minus the four-wheel-drive gubbins - and you're in the right territory.

Frankly, we're just happy to see the revival of an old British Leyland nameplate in a tiny Korean car. What next? The Kia Allegro?