Hyundai has developed alittle van, that can.

Hyundai might not build a compact bakkie, but it does assemble some clever little vans.

The i10 Cargo, without rear seats and some cargo partitioning (not to mention window bars), is a popular courier vehicle in South Africa. And now there is a new option based on the very same platform, the Casper van.

Hyundai’s new compact crossover looks Kei-car cute, and at only 3.59m bumper-to-bumper, it’s a joy to navigate around town. Or parallel park in a busy urban street.

The Casper van follows a proven compact commercial vehicle formula. Hyundai’s assembly people don’t fit it with rear seats, which increases cargo capacity to 940-litres. A lot, for a car that is under 4m in length.

When creating a delivery van from a city car, product planners need to consider the risk of cargo shift. Especially when triggered by heavy braking. To ensure that the Casper van’s parcel load does not convert to projectiles, it has cargo partitioning behind the front seats during emergency braking.

South Africans will also appreciate the intrusion bars behind the rear windows and tailgate glass. It makes it unlikely that this Hyundai’s cargo will go amiss when left unattended and parked.

Powering the Casper van are two versions of Hyundai’s 1-litre petrol engine. The naturally-aspirated option is good for 56 kW and 95 Nm. If you need more power for your short-haul parcel courier business or might want to operate the Casper van at altitude, a turbocharged version boosts 75 kW and 172 Nm.

Hyundai only offers a single transmission choice: the company’s four-speed automatic, which should reduce transmission wear, compared to a five-speed manual. And with the Casper van targeted at urban users, you won’t often miss the presence of a fifth forward ratio.

The specification is clever, too. It rolls 15-inch steel wheels, which should prove robustly immune to even the harshest pothole strike, and the safety kit is impressive. Six airbags are fixed inside the Casper van’s cabin architecture. It also has forward collision warning and high-beam assistance for those low-light deliveries that might take you into rural areas.

The Casper goes on sale in Korea this month, but no word yet on whether it’s under consideration for South Africa. We’ll update you when we hear back from Hyundai SA.

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