While produced by South Korean automobile manufacturer Hyundai, the Hyundai i40 is a vehicle model designed to be part of the European market. First unveiled in 2011 at the Barcelona Motor Show, the i40 shares the same platform with the Hyundai Sonata, a model marketed in the US. An estate variant for the i40 was released in the year 2011 in South Korea and Europe while the sedan variant followed suit in 2012. These variants of the i40 are also available in New Zealand and Australia.

Designed in Hyundai’s R&D facilities in Europe, the i40 was described to follow the automobile manufacturer’s fluid sculpture design as it is realized in a large family car with a front-wheel drive system. Both petrol and diesel engines are offered for the i40, with six-speed manual and automatic transmission systems available for the two. Available engine models for the Hyundai i40 include the Gamma 1.6 GDI, Nu 2.0 GDI (estate and sedan), Nu 2.0 MPI (estate and sedan), Ull 1.7 CRDi (low), and Ull 1.7 CRDi (high) with six-speed automatic and manual transmission systems. With seats in the rear folded down, capacity increases from 553 to 1,719 litres. In terms of safety, the i40 got 97 points from the Euro NCAP test. It's also important to note that it was also given the Eurocarbody Golden Award for 2011.