Hyundai was been working hard on a new supermini hatchback that can rival the best Ford, Renault or Volkswagen can offer. We're talking about the all-new i20, prototypes of which have been seen testing across Europe for the past year. However, it seems India was also working on its own version of the i20 and could receive the model before the Europeans do.
After a fully undisguised second-generation i20 was photographed three days ago there, we've seen a couple of extra sets of photos on various websites and, this morning, the company has officially revealed a short teaser video of the car.
According to the clip, the i20 is called "Elite i20" in India and will make its official debut on August 11th, less than two weeks from now. What's really interesting is that the usual vibe of an New Delhi movie is not present, replaced by a sort of Stevan Seagal B-movie look. We believe this is because the trailer for the i20 is shot in Romania with Romanian actors (Alina Puscas and Adrian Nartea).
Hyundai pulled a similar move with its smallest model, the i10 city car. It was tested on both continents and made its debut in India under the name "Grand i10". These types of cars which we see as affordable, basic transportation are marketed as premium vehicles in India, where standard airbags and air conditioning are basically non-existant.
Indian sources state the new i20 will be a bit larger than the outgoing model, but still less than 4 meters in length. It will offer a more spacious and well equipped cabin, together with more efficient versions of the old 1.2 and 1.4-liter petrol engines. For the European market, 1.1 and 1.4-liter diesels will also be offered.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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