HYUNDAI Asia Resources Inc. (HARI), the official distributor of Hyundai in the Philippines, took the occasion of its Christmas party for media people as the venue in which it previewed the hatchback version of the Hyundai Accent subcompact.

Called the Accent CRDi VGT—identifying the car as having a diesel engine that’s fitted with common rail direct injection and a variable geometry turbo-charger—the hatchback variant wears Hyundai’s “Fluidic Sculpture” design cues and, according to HARI, is one of the largest in its segment.

The company added that the car’s 1.6-liter engine is also class-leading in terms of power output—124 horsepower at 4,000rpm and 260 Newton-meter of torque from 1,900rpm to 2,750rpm. A six-speed manual or a four-speed automatic transmission can be paired with this engine.

HARI also ticked off a list of competitive equipment for the Accent hatchback, and this includes 16-inch alloy wheels, a rear spoiler with a high-mount stop lamp, 60/40-split folding rear seats, electric power assist for the steering, leather-covered steering wheel with audio controls, an audio system that has an auxiliary jack and a USB slot, dual airbags (for the automatic version), and heated power side mirrors.

The Hyundai distributor said that the Accent CRDi VGT will be available in the first quarter of 2013. Prices have yet to be released.