For North America, Accent is expected to debut in sedan form (reportedly at the Montreal International Auto Show in January 2011) and follow up with a two-door hatchback/coupe by the time it arrives in showrooms in summer 2011 (following its U.S. introduction at the 2011 New York show).The new car adopts the “Fluidic Sculpture” design direction which debuted on the 2011 Sonata and Tucson, and will continue in the new generation Elantra introduced at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show. On Accent, that means retaining the split trapezoidal grille of Tucson and Elantra, an upswept belt line to impress a couple like profile, and a character crease through the door handles.

No interior shots are yet available, but it reportedly follows the look of Sonata and Elantra, with a Y-shaped centre stack to split the driver and passenger areas, and a similar T-spoke treatment on the steering wheel.

Accent comes with a couple engine choices elsewhere, but for North America it is expected to derive power from a 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine (part of the gamma line, in Hyundai engine speak) that makes 138 hp and 123 lb.-ft. of torque. Continuously variable valve timing will also aid in maintaining a level of economy expected in the sub-compact market.

Power will be distributed to the front wheels by a choice of six-speed transmissions – a Standard manual or an optional new six-speed dual clutch automatic (meaning there are no hydraulics). The sophisticated automatic will feature two shafts (one for the even gears; one for the odd ones) that will select the adjacent gears for smoother transitions in driving conditions.

On the safety front, six airbags are expected to be standard, with features such as electronic stability control available on higher end trims.For Canada, we can probably expect standards along the line of the Russian Solaris, which gets standard higher-amperage battery, wiper de-icer zone, front seat heaters and heated outside mirrors.