The Hyundai Staria Is Yet Another Good Small Van the U.S. Will Never Get

The Hyundai Stargazer is a kind of “mini” minivan styled after the Hyundai Staria.Image: Hyundai

Hyundai is following up the release of the Staria with an even smaller, equally stylish minivan, the Hyundai Stargazer. Like its bigger sibling, the Stargazer is best described as an MPV — a boxy, narrow van that prioritizes passenger count over all other specs. Even though the Stargazer is smaller than Staria, it still has three rows and seats for up to seven people. But it’s not coming to the U.S.: This latest Hyundai MPV debuted in Indonesia, and will launch in India next year, according to the Times of India.

Hyundai is really into the dustbuster van aesthetic recently. The Stargazer adds another model to the carmaker’s global lineup that features sleek one-box, one-curve designs. The Staria seems like the, ahem, star of that series, but the Stargazer makes the design available to more buyers thanks to a cheaper model. Pricing in Indonesia starts at Rp 243,300,000, or about $16,272 at current exchange rates.

Image: Hyundai

That’s for the base-model Stargazer with a six-speed manual transmission; the price goes up with the optional “intelligent variable transmission” CVT. There will be four trims, starting with the budget-conscious Active and extending to Trend, Style, and Prime, the top trim, the latter two of which will be automatic-only. All trims above Active can be ordered with second row captain’s chairs. The option costs about $67, which sounds like a steal — but lowers capacity from seven to six passengers, so it’s a give-and-take.

Regardless of trim or transmission, the Hyundai Stargazer will be powered by a naturally aspirated 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine, making 115 horsepower and 107 lb-ft of torque. The Hyundai Stargazer’s engine is reportedly the same as that of the Kia Caren, yet another emerging-market MPV sold by the Korean carmaker.

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Image: Hyundai

The Hyundai Stargazer will nonetheless compete with its Kia cousin. It’ll also go head-to-head with the Mitsubishi Xpander, Suzuki Ertiga, and Toyota Avanza, among others. Maybe not so much with the Hyundai Staria, which has sliding doors where the Stargazer has conventional swinging doors.

So that’s two sharp-looking new MPVs for the rest of the world, and zero for the U.S. This class of vehicle is not new, but the aesthetic of Hyundai’s two newest models certainly is. The Stargazer looks fantastic! Front and rear LED lights give it a futuristic look without going overboard and discarding practicality. It’s about time the dusbtbuster came back; what a shame that the U.S. market won’t get to see it.

Image: Hyundai

Image: Hyundai