Having quietly built itself up as the world’s sixth largest car maker, Hyundai is preparing to take on the giants Opel and Ford in the fiercely fought European small family car sector. And in Paris the Korean company revealed the concept at the heart of its plan - the HED-3 Arnejs.

The smart five-door hatchback has evolved from the HED-2 Genus concept that was shown in Geneva earlier this year. Both were styled in Hyundai’s European R&D Centre in Russelsheim, Germany. That European influence shows strongly.

Arnejs’ organic shape is described by Hyundai as “dynamic sculpture”. Like Genus, its windscreen sweeps up into a glass roof panel that tapers back over the full length and flows into the high-level brake light. There are concave door surfaces and big bold teardrop shaped light clusters front and rear. Another concave surface on the tailgate carries into the tail lights.

Inside, there are ultra thin profile seats. A figure-of-eight instrument binnacle is recessed into a cleanly styled but conventional looking dashboard. Detailing on the air vents and door handles echoes the flowing shape seen on in the exterior features.

One of the car’s most striking features is its lack of B- or C-pillars which means there are no obstructions when getting in or out. With the doors closed, the side windows all flow together to make a single glazed panel. It’s both pretty and useful, but pillars are important for strength, so this is one feature unlikely to make it into a production car.

It feels like there’s still quite a lot of work to do to productionise the Arnejs, but if the car that goes on sale has even half the personality and creativity of this concept, it could make a real impact in a highly competitive sector. And as Ford showed with the original Focus, bold design is no obstacle to success. One to watch.

Worth a footnote are the facelifted coupe, and the still new-ish Sante Fe, also prominently displayed at Hyundai’s stand.