2020 Hyundai Elite i20 gets a redesigned exterior and an all-new interior; expected to be offered with three powertrain options
Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) has been posting good sales numbers in recent months in line with the automotive industry making recovery. Since the beginning of 2020, the second largest carmaker in the country began introducing new models/replacements or updated versions to strengthen its domestic range as the Aura, new-gen Creta, facelifted Verna and Tucson were introduced.
The latest generation Grand i10 called the Nios made its debut only last year while the Santro, the brand’s current entry-level hatchback, made its comeback into India only in late 2018. This leaves a void to be filled as the Elite i20 has been in the business for many years without any major upgrade. It continues to the second best-selling premium hatch behind Maruti Suzuki Baleno every month.
However, with the fast changing customer expectations, the third generation Elite i20 has been expected since the middle of this year. The South Korean auto major will more likely launch the all-new Elite i20 sometime next month and it has been available in several markets across the globe for quite a while now after making its global debut in Europe.
The India-spec model will look a lot similar to the European version as evident from the spy pictures and it will have commonalities with the Venue compact SUV to raise the bar up higher in the B2 hatchback space. The exterior gets a thorough re-design as the styling bits have become sharper than in the existing model while the overall silhouette has been retailed.
Some of the design highlights in the upcoming Hyundai Elite i20 are more aggressive front grille and sleeker headlamps with LED Daytime Running Lights, redesigned front bumper, full-width LED tail lamps, a set of new alloy wheels, UV cut glass, shark fin antenna, chrome garnished window line, restyled rear bumper, updated character lines and creases.
The interior gets a major overhaul courtesy of a large touchscreen infotainment system, BlueLink connectivity, automatic climate control, cooled glovebox, wireless charging facility, new steering wheel and instrument cluster, revamped dashboard and centre console, etc. As for the performance, a 1.2-litre petrol, a 1.0-litre turbo petrol and a 1.5-litre diesel will more likely be utilized with manual and automatic transmission choices.