The news of Hyundai developing a sub-4-meter sedan came on to the internet some 6 odd months back but then it was more of a speculation. With every company entering the compact sedan segment after Tata and Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai was probably the only big name that was missing from the list of the companies which were going to bring in their compact sedans. Now from what we hear, this time our friends at Zigwheels have confirmed this news.
Hyundai does not have an entry level sedan under Verna to compete with the likes of the Dzire and the upcoming Honda Amaze. Accent is a car which was a success when it came to India more than a decade ago, and remains the company’s sole offering in this segment. But it has aged pretty much enough for Hyundai to pull the plug on this once the segment leader. Moreover, it does not have a diesel engine and Hyundai has now shifted to the Fluidic school of design from their old school box type cars (read as Accent and Santro).
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The Hyundai’s sub-4 metre design car will be based on their uber-popular premium hatchback, the i20 and the part which we fail to understand is how will Hyundai fit in a boot on a car which is already 4 metres in length. The i20 has a length of 3995mm which would probably be the length of their compact sedan offering. The engines of the compact sedan will be the similar ones as on offer on the i20, i.e. a 1.2 litre petrol and a 1.4 litre diesel engine.
Now to us, an i10 based compact sedan would have made a lot more sense but they went the Suzuki way. Like the Swift spawned the Swift Dzire, Hyundai will offer their Accent replacing sedan based on their bestseller, the i20. Expect the pricing to be around Rs.5.5-Rs.7.5 lakhs as it would sit below the Verna and the car to be launched by late 2013.The excise duty is quite an incentive for the companies to invest in compact sedans and now, Hyundai has joined the club.
Source: Zigwheels
