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Mod Note: Our i20 Active Report has been taken live at this link. Please continue the discussion over on the new thread. Thanks!
Compact SUVs and crossovers have quite caught the fantasy of Indian car-buyers over the last few years. Renault's Duster and Ford EcoSport paved the way to this all new segment. Soon, manufacturers such as Volkswagen, Skoda and Toyota tried to grab a share in this segment by introducing beefed up versions of their regular hatchbacks. However, all of them received a lukewarm response by the market.
Hyundai's 'me too' contender - a beefed up version of its premium hatchback - Elite i20, has been spied by a
Motorbash reader. The car will receive minimal (if any) mechanical changes apart from a butch looking body kit, different alloy wheels and roof-rails to give it an SUV-ish look. The Cross Polo, Fabia Scout and the Etios Cross, all came when their respective hatchbacks were fairly old and required some spice to sustain interest in the products. What is confusing though, is that the Elite i20 has been launched only a couple of months ago and is doing fairly well too, so this move by Hyundai seems quite interesting. This could possibly be an interim move by Hyundai to enter the compact SUV space before the ix25 hits the showrooms sometime in 2015.
The Elite i20 crossover will face some serious heat from Fiat, which is geared up to launch the Avventura crossover - which includes a rear mounted spare wheel, higher ground clearance and more apart from plastic body claddings over the regular Punto Evo.
Why are they hiding the boot? Is this going to get a boot mounted spare wheel as well!
This looks more like the i10 Cross. The tail lights seem to be different from the elite i20, or are they making the cross with the older version?
Cross variants are usually reserved for slow-sellers who've been around since a while (e.g. Punto, Polo, Liva). Neither is the i20 a sales laggard (it shipped 9000 units last month), nor is it old (just launched).
I'm not so sure this is a cross variant, but am very curious to know what's under the camouflage.
Personally, I don't think Hyundai should waste their time with a cross. Get the real compact SUV instead!
Looks more like Grand i10 cross than an i20. But the grand i10 simply lacks the macho looks that go with a crossover.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DWind
(Post 3561244)
This looks more like the i10 Cross. The tail lights seem to be different from the elite i20, or are they making the cross with the older version? |
Quote:
Originally Posted by veyron_head
(Post 3561642)
Looks more like Grand i10 cross than an i20. But the grand i10 simply lacks the macho looks that go with a crossover. |
It is definitely the i20 and not the Grand i10. The A pillar, ORVMs and the front door are a dead giveaway.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO
(Post 3561637)
I'm not so sure this is a cross variant, but am very curious to know what's under the camouflage. |
Roof rails + black cladding for the underbody?
Only other variant that could have a sporty cladding is the upcoming N, but why would it have roof rails?
Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO
(Post 3561637)
Personally, I don't think Hyundai should waste their time with a cross. Get the real compact SUV instead! |
Minimal investment for a bit more result? Hyundai is the most aggressive manufacturer these days. May be they have spotted an opportunity in the response garnered by the Avventura or Etios Cross, which will not eventually translate to sales due to the same issues plaguing their hatch siblings.
My 2 cents. Is it MPV similar to Maruti's Ertiga and Honda's Mobilio? I am thinking in this line after reading the following news article in Business Standard:
India Formula Behind Hyundai's new high
http://www.business-standard.com/art...2101359_1.html
Extract from article: Hyundai is readying to enter categories not represented by it yet. It will launch a new compact SUV to compete with the Ford Ecosport and Renault Duster, next year. It will, in fact, beat Maruti's similar product by a full year. This will be followed by a multi-purpose vehicle similar to Maruti's Ertiga and Honda's Mobilio.
The compact SUV mentioned is ofcourse IX25. Maybe the above scoop is related to MPV.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR
(Post 3561939)
It is definitely the i20 and not the Grand i10. The A pillar, ORVMs and the front door are a dead giveaway.
. |
It's actually the opposite, the A pillar, ORVMs and door are a dead giveaway that this is the Grand i10
Here is the spy shot
And here is the side profile of Grand i10( from T-BHP Official Review)
Do these variants garner even 10% of the sales of the base car. Till date I have seen only 1 Etios cross and 0 polo cross on the road.lol:
Quote:
Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR
(Post 3561939)
It is definitely the i20 and not the Grand i10. The A pillar, ORVMs and the front door are a dead giveaway. |
I second that. Also the shape of the rear door quarter glass leaves no question that this indeed is the i20.
Cheers
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marauder
(Post 3562013)
It's actually the opposite, the A pillar, ORVMs and door are a dead giveaway that this is the Grand i10 |
No it isn't. It is based on the Elite i20. :)
Look at the blinkers on the ORVMs:
From IAB's scoop:
Grand i10:
Elite i20:
Look at the window lines:
IAB's scoop:
Grand i10:
(Notice how the bottom line of the rear window curves upwards?)
Elite i20:
(Notice the bottom line is parallel to the base which is the same as that of the scoop shot?)
I hope you are convinced now.
Taking a wild guess. By any chance a diesel AT for the I20 ? The back change is only for a mislead.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ampere
(Post 3562044)
Taking a wild guess. By any chance a diesel AT for the I20 ? The back change is only for a mislead. |
This is definitely a crossover. The roof rails & the side cladding make that pretty clear. Think the ground clearance has also been increased by a tiny bit.
This could mean that Hyundai has no immediate plans to bring Ix25 to India.
Some more pics.
I would be happy if Hyundai dumps the idea of the Cross version and brings in a real crossover like the IX25/IX35. This trend of Cross versions seem disgusting to me.
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