Hyundai Custo makes regional debut as Custin

Hyundai's minivan debuts in the ASEAN

Hyundai Motor Philippines is looking to end the year with a generous lineup of people carriers to choose. Recently they sent us an invite that they plan to launch two more models; one is the Stargazer X, and the other closely resembles the Custo / Custin minivan being sold in China and Taiwan.

With the minivan having two nameplates in two different countries, that makes us wonder what the official name would be once it arrives in the country. Well, we may have some answers as over in Vietnam, Hyundai hosted the regional debut of its minivan, and over there it's called the Custin.

Essentially, the Custin minivan is looking to fill the space between the Stargazer MPV and the Staria, as it measures just under 5 meters long. Over in Vietnam the Custin is measured at 4950mm long, 1850 mm wide, 1725 mm tall with a wheelbase of 3055 mm.

In terms of the looks, the Custin appears very similar to the units being sold in Taiwan and China, borrowing much of its styling cues from the Tucson SUV. Depending on the variant, the Vietnam-spec Custin is wearing either 17 or 18-inch wheels.

Hyundai also carried over the automatic sliding doors for the Vietnamese market, making ingress and egress an easy thing to do. And once you step inside, the 2+2+3 seating layout means 7 passengers can sit comfortably.

The Vietnam-spec Custin has black leather seats on all three rows, while there's a big 10.4-inch touchscreen display for the infotainment that we reckon should have wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. All occupants can also get some natural lighting as the Custin comes with a panoramic sunroof.

As for its engine options, the Custin minivan is being offered in Vietnam with two: a 2.0-liter Smartstream G inline-four T-GDi engine that makes 236 PS and 353 Nm of torque, and a smaller 1.5-liter turbo making 170 PS and 253 Nm of torque. Both are paired to an 8-speed automatic transmission that drives the front wheels.

So far, Hyundai Motor Philippines has only received approval for the latter, which leads us to think the PH-spec version may only come with the smaller unit.

But what's even more interesting is that in Vietnam, the Custin is made locally at Hyundai's Thanh Cong Manufacturing facility in Ninh Binh. Considering Vietnam is a left-hand drive country, this opens up the possibility for Hyundai Motor Philippines to source out the PH-spec units there, and even benefit from lower tariffs based on the AFTA or ASEAN Free Trade Agreement to give competitive pricing.

That said, there's only a month left before HMPH launches its latest minivan in the country. So what do you think will the name be? Custo or Custin? Let us know in the comments.