Dodge updates Attitude for Mexico with latest Hyundai Accent, forgets badges *UPDATE

[Rania Elhoseny]

What you're looking at is not the 2012 Hyundai Accent, it's the 2012 Dodge Attitude. Yes, we see the Hyundai badge. No, we aren't kidding.

Dodge has, for quite some time now, sold a rebadged version of the Hyundai Accent in Mexico under the Attitude moniker. (Hyundai, as an automaker, is otherwise absent from the Mexican market). And while the previous-generation Attitude was simply a rebadged version of the old Accent sedan, it appears that the 2012 model doesn't even go that far.

We got our first glimpse at the U.S.-spec Accent at the 2011 New York Auto Show earlier this year, and while our market will benefit from the functionality of the five-door hatchback configuration, the Dodge Attitude will only be available as a sedan. A 1.4-liter gasoline engine is standard, with a 1.6-liter powerplant available as an option.

UPDATE: Looks like the Accent isn't the only Hyundai vehicle being given the Pentastar treatment in Mexico. The Korean automaker's Starex van (known as the iLoad and iMax – seriously – in Australia) also wears a Dodge nameplate in Mexico, though like the Attitude, the Hyundai badges have remained intact. The Dodge H100 is available in both cargo van and passenger van configurations. (Hat tip to owenrec!)