2011 Hyundai i40 European Specifications

Hyundai will officially unveil the next-generation Sonata in September, but only in the domestic market, while overseas markets, including North American and Europe, expect to receive the car by February 2010 or a few months later.

The European version will be codenamed i40 and, according to a post on hyundai-blog.com, will be initially available as a station wagon. The company will then roll out a four-door sedan, with both versions to rely on a wide array of engines, diesel and gasoline four-cylinder units.

The standard model will be powered by either a 1.6-liter diesel or gasoline engines featuring Hyundai's direct injection technology called GDI, which is said to bring a significant boost in power equivalent with that of a 2.0-liter powerplant, as the aforementioned source wrote.

Citing a source familiar with the matter, hyundai-blog.com wrote that the 1.6-liter diesel will offer two different power outputs, 115 or 136 horsepower, respectively. And because we're talking about diesel configurations, the i40 will also come with a 2.0-liter R-diesel engine generating 184 horsepower and a 2.2-liter R-diesel unit with 200 horsepower.

The gasoline engines, on the other hand, will include a 2.0-liter four-cylinder unit producing 172 horsepower and a 2.4-liter Theta GDI unit rolling out 200 horsepower. The latter will be only available on the top-of-the-range Hyundai i40.

Hyundai hasn't commented on the i40 so far but more details are expected to be released in the upcoming months as we get closer to the official South Korean launch of the car.