Let me convey something before we go for Hyundai i10’s pictorial review. Though it is heavily raining and today is sunday(Novemeber 4th), i’m surprised to see so many fans in the showroom. Thankfully there are enough number of cars in the showroom(hats of to Hyundai! everybody loves to see the car in flesh once they heard the news that the car is launched). We managed test drive i10 ‘magna’ and able to photo few other variants too.
1) Few manufacturers – Tata Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra and recently Renault have to be credited for making the Indian automotive industry in the global radar. But there is already a manufacturer who made indian cars ply in the european roads i.e. Hyundai. Hyundai exports santro(as atos prime) and getz to various markets. Hyundai says India will be the sole production hub of i10 and will be exported to more than 70 countries. This clearly elucidates importance of india in the global small car market. This is not achieved not just because of booming indian middle class customers but also because of great manufacturers like Hyundai. Hyundai has built the i10 with a localization content of 91 per cent and it is building a R&D unit with an investment of $40 million in Hyderabad. Hyundai will scale up its chennai with an investment of $528 million. A new engine and transmission unit with a production capacity of 1 lakh engine at a cot of $263 million is also coming up at the Chennai plant. Thank you Hyundai for making India pride!
2) Hyundai i10: Hyundai chose an alpha-numerical code that could represent both technology and the Hyundai brand’s core values. The letter ‘i’ recognises this fact and brings it direct to consumers. Cars featuring this naming format are already out (i30 in european and our i10). Beside the i10, Hyundai will also unveil the i20 model, developed under the project name PB, for the European market. Hyundai will name its future offerings also in this format. The Korean company plans to introduce a model called i20 replacing Getz sometime in 2008. In addition Hyundai is designing a sedan on the i30 platform for indian market. Hyundai developed the ‘i10’ under the codename pa. The i10 was developed over the past 23 months with a total investment of ($198.7 million).
3) Hyundai i10: Hyundai sells santro, getz prime, verna, sonata embera and accent in India. Last year it phased out its Terracan SUV, recently it phased out its elantra and stopped production of Accent CRDi. Tucson will be phased out soon. In the mean period Hyundai’s arch rival Maruti Suzuki launched zen estilo, SX4 and Grand Vitara. It seems that Hyundai is losing its ground in India. Infact Hyundai itself acknoweldeged, either we have to concentrate on the export or domestic market. But it comes up with a solution with its new ‘i10’. The i10 is the third compact car from Hyundai india. Hyundai Motor positioned the new compact i10 between the Santro and the Getz. “We attach a lot of significance to our i10 since it will be the next-generation main model to follow the Santro, which sold more than 1.2 million units since its launch in 1998,” a Hyundai Motor spokesman said. As of now i10 comes in three variants – era, magna and magna-opt.
4) Hyundai i10: The next generation santro – Hyundai i10’s light-weight steel body is reinforced by body coloured bumpers and detachable inserts while the front bumper features an integrated air dam. i10’s low slung grille features the number plate and between the two large wraparound headlamps is the Hyundai’s badge. Steeply raked windscreen ends in elliptical roof which in turn ends in sloppy tails section. Rear Spoiler with high mounted stop lamp is offered in topend Magna(O) variant. Body coloured door handles, curved roof and elliptical glass area gives a sporty look to the i10. In the rear i10 features santro type tail lamps.
5) Hyundai i10: i10 is highly featuristic – fog lamps in the front bumper, alloy wheels, rear wiper and defogger. Waistline moulding protects i10 from dents and nicks. Featuring one touch opening, i10 is the India’s first small car to feature sunroof that has both slide and tilt functions. Similar to Volkswagen’s passat, Hyundai has used the ‘H’ badge as boot release lid.
6) Hyundai i10: Santro xing’s well proven 1.1L petrol engine is powering the i10 but in different tune. The i10 has a reduced weight and increased power by adopting a Kappa engine whose cylinder block is made of aluminum. Hyundai i10’s iRDE(intelligent Responsive Drive Engine) develops 66.7PS at 5500 rpm and 101N-m at 2800 rpm. Hyundai’s iRDE engine is mated with short throw, i-shift five gearbox. The i10 with automatic transmission will be available from december 2007. Hyundai says that by January 2008 it will start exporting the diesel variant of i10 with a 1.1 litre engine. Hyundai will launch the same diesel engine variant in India as well sometime next year. Hyundai will import the engine from Korea.Thumbnail shows the iRDE engine
7) Hyundai i10: The intelligently driven, innovatively designed, intuitively safe and inspiringly luxurious Hyundai’s i10 comes in a range of 10 exciting exterior colors – crystal white, stone black, oyster gray, virtual yellow, electric red, deep ocean blue, champagne gold, sleek silver and alpine blue . On the Road the i10 costs between Rs4,15,551(era) and Rs5,28,421(magna -opt)
8) Hyundai i10: Hyundai expects to sell 120,000 units of the i10 in India and export 110,000 units to Europe, Asia, the Middle East and other regions in 2008.
P.S: Our sincere thanks to KUN Hyundai, KUN Auto Pvt Ltd, Anna Nagar, Chennai (044-26286989).