[TusharK]

Over 10,000 Hyundai i20s booked in just 9 days

According to a media report, Hyundai has already received more than 10,000 bookings for the new i20. The car was officially launched today but dealerships had started accepting bookings from October 28.



The new i20 is available in four variants - Magna, Sportz, Asta, and Asta (O) and prices start at Rs. 6.80 lakh (ex-showroom).

The new i20 comes with a 10.24-inch floating touchscreen infotainment head-unit with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity and a 7-speaker Bose audio system, digital instrument cluster and Bluelink connected car technology. Some of the other notable features include cruise control, automatic climate control, ambient lighting, wireless charging with cooling pad, sunroof and air purifier.

The car is offered with three engine options. These include a 1.0L turbocharged petrol paired with either a 7-speed DCT or clutchless iMT, a 1.2-litre naturally-aspirated petrol mated to either a 5-speed manual or CVT and a 1.5-litre turbocharged diesel engine that comes with a 6-speed manual gearbox.

Source

[ShivrajG]

Wow! First the new Creta and now new I20 how come they design such ugly looking cars and give price tag of a million rupees.
I20 was very premium car but IMO they have gone way out of their way to make this car ugliest.

Creta was best designed SUV in my opinion and they have just destroyed the look.

Why Hyundai Why?

[Dieselritzer]

My Glanza G CVT which gets all the bells and whistles except the bright DRLs, Auto headlamp and wipers, at 9.4 Lac OTR looks like a steal. The Auto variants are seriously expensive. I have a feeling that car manufacturers have realized that there is a decent customer base wanting for automatics and might be they want to ensure the margins are kept intact.

Kudos to Hyundai for freeing up more space inside the car. While the car may not be a benchmark in space, it surely is a benchmark in terms of build quality, reliability & features. Altroz & now i20 has pumped new life in this category.

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by adeetya.gandhi

As per the brochure, Hyundai is offering wireless apple car play connectivity in Sportz trim. Cool feature to have. However, its strange that Asta variants do not have this feature.

It’s due to the HU with the larger screen in Asta. Hyundai and Kia supports Wireless Car Play and Android Auto only on the HUs with the smaller screen. This is the case with Sonet too where only the mid variants with smaller screen supports wireless option.

[theAutomaniac]

Originally Posted by TusharK

Over 10,000 Hyundai i20s booked in just 9 days

Just to compare, the Mahindra Thar did 9,000 in just 4 days and Kia Sonet did 6,000 in just one day! When compared to those two, this is a very bad initial response, and after the exorbitant prices being revealed, I think that the Altroz might finally outsell the i20!

[aniketi]

This is costly for sure, top end will be around 13 Lakhs on road!! At this price, i will certainly buy Nexon or Sonet which is much better in terms of space & size, SUV looks, better ground clearance and is a complete package. Also these cars has almost all features which i20 has, some may be more.

In the looks, new i20 is not so cool, current gen looks better IMHO. Hyundai designers are not doing good job for sure. May be hire someone from Tata's team?

Soon you can see discounts flowing in for this car.

[dark.knight]

Somehow, I feel this is the most important segment for India and most of us here are people who want more for less, more space for lesser dimensions, more value for lesser money and more peace for less effort.. given that, I finally took away some personal time and put in about 1.5 hours in a familiar dealership, 90 minutes of time with the car only by myself and the sales guy as he and I went back and forth sharing what we observed and felt about each aspect of the car, also using the previous gen Elite as a comparison tool, and also observing the Venue for its virtues given that they all share a similar footprint.

The first gen i-20, as it was called, was more of a family car, with virtues of space, practicality and roominess emphasized over the drivability, sporty nature or sleekness, to me it was a new beginning of Hyundai as a feature-loaded, practical brand though it took much brickbats from the "enthusiasts" so to speak, who I felt, judged it for virtues not to be expected of it. The fluidic face-lift made things confusing as the i-20 felt neither here nor there, that's where Elite i20 changed things as handling and ride-quality were addressed, though the design cost the car interior space and a feeling of roominess, it never was a sporty car and it never should've been considered one, but it ticked all the boxes for most premium sub-4m car aspirants - noise isolation and NVH - double check, build quality and interiors - check, sophisticated styling in and out - check, features and comfort - segment leading as always, this legendary model in the Hyundai lineup defined the 10+k barrier of monthly sales as it hit the mark for more than a year after it debuted, that is always a sign that the public put their full faith and love in the model, there are people I know who own several high-end cars but still bought the Elite as a beater car they can punt around with on more than occasions, surely that speaks for the quality of the car.

This sensuous-sportiness design language i20 has changed almost everything about the elite, except for the quality, in and out. No exterior panel is the same and the interiors are COMPLETELY different, not one button is similar either, the tactility and feel when interacting with the vehicle is typical Hyundai - plush, well damped buttons and levers, soft but solid thuds when doors and hatches are shut and anything in-between operates noiselessly and smoothly. Let's get down to the pluses and minuses now :

+ NVH is insane, I drove the thing for a bit and the noise is just not there, either from engine or from road (petrol, turbo, DCT)
+ Soft folding roof handles with coat-hooks in the Asta (O)
+ Very comfortable seating, just the right amount of softness and bolstering
+ Space - I'm a solid 5'10, a bit more with footwear on, and I adjusted the front for extra space as I'm a leggy person and I still had 3 inches in the back after comfortably sitting
+ Very good visibility, easily better than the previous gen
+ Very sharp, modern, dynamic styling that'll maybe not make everyone fall in love, but will offend none
+ Interiors are the new benchmark, no car stands a chance here, looks like a modern Audi, even C segment sedans look dated, including Verna
+ Steering is fantastic, first time I'm holding the new [ ] Hyundai signature steering and it feels solid and organic, the buttons are well laid out
+ Door shuts softly and solidly, sophisticated is the word for it
+ Sunroof brings plenty of light and openness to the cabin, though I won't dare open the glass, just the roof-lining
+ The massive blind-spot C-Pillar of Elite is gone, this one has fantastic visibility
+ The polyhedronesque parametric jewel grille is muted by its black tone, but look closer and it looks modern and daring - this car looks new, there is no escaping it
+ Same sheet metal quality as others, solid, cant make it flex unless more than average strength is put in and even then it barely flexes, better shut-lines, build and feel than Venue.
+ BOSE music system plays normal hindi songs and English pop music very, very well, deep bass and zero rattles or distortions, vocal songs are fantastic in terms of richness of output and reproduction.
+ Very practical, has a sunglass holder and two roof-lights at the front and middle despite the sunroof
+ Rear center armrest is fantastic

- No soft folding roof handles in any variant other than Asta (O)
- The doors, bonnet and hatch is feelsomely lighter in the new i20 than the Elite, the Elite surely has slightly heavier feel on the doors and hatch, it can't be due to new hinges as even the bonnet and hatch are lighter, not drastically but your hands can feel the difference.
- Sunroof makes the roof-lining come down at the mid-point, across the B-pillars, and though it opens up again at the rear, it does make the cabin feel more claustro if I may say so
- BOSE music system is bad at sound-stage, when playing ambiental, lounge, trance and electronica and I played around with the settings too, perhaps the tweeters are set too far and high (A-pillar mirror interior panel), sounded hollow and a bit distant, increasing volume won't help the cause, it'll get better as we get used to it, but the Elantra stock sound-system is on another level.
- Once you sit inside its comfortable but ingress-egress is kind of not-so-convenient, this is where cars like Venue and Sonet shine. Not as bad as Polo or Baleno though, but Jazz takes this aspect home in the segment.
- Rear center armrest doesn't get coffee-holders (just being cheeky here)
- ALL the comfort/safety features like height adjustable head rest in rear, rear arm-rest, 4 extra airbags etc take a hike when downgrading to Asta, real arm-twisting going on to make people buy the Asta (O)
- The bumper in front WILL scrape on Indian roads, just wait and watch, a deep pothole wont hit the chassis but the toothy bumper will grind, going in first

My 10 cents :

# If you're having an Elite i20 Asta (O), there is no need to upgrade, UNLESS you go for the DCT turbo
# If you want easy ingress-egress and more airy cabin, the Venue or Sonet are no-brainers with the DCT, Sonet is the better deal since it has seat-ventilation
# Though gearshifts were smooth in the few hundred meters drive I had, its to be seen if the DCT can shift fast and early, the Venue DCT tuning sucks, poor low end grunt.
# If you want to buy the 1.2 NA engined new i20 to upgrade from the same engined Elite, do not bother and save your money
# iVT with Turbo will make a great combo if reliability and smoothness is the need, but low end grunt will-not-be-there, as usual (coming from the Seltos experience)
# The new car feels lighter, maybe because of the extra use of HSS and UHSS, but I cannot comment until the map of steel input is shown, but sheet metal gauge remains, solid as ever.
# Slightly poor planning of bonnet shut lines as there is some "give" in it when pressure is put, very minor but the Getz had zero give around the bonnet lines
# This is no more THE family car as the first i20 ever, was, Hyundai succumbed to the pressure and brickbatting by the "enthusiasts". I'm sure the suspension will feel hard and sporty combined with the 16 inch wheels and CEAT tyres.

That said, congrats to the future owners and aspirants - we look forward to your views and reviews. This is 2020's most significant debut.

[TurboGuy]

Originally Posted by Omkar

The IRVM houses 3 buttons - SOS will place an emergency call to Hyundai customer care, the button with the tow truck will call Hyundai Roadside Assistance and the third button will launch Blue Link. All that technology, but no auto-dimming?! Come on, Hyundai:

This is insane, but I am not surprised. Hyundai knows the pulse of Indian customers who prefer more "connected features" to something which is practically useful

[nisshith]

It would be interesting to see how much does the top end DCT sells. Previously automakers used to offer automatic only in second top variant fearing low sales. It's rapidly changing now.
But i20 still would be different case study as top end DCT is priced similar to Venue DCT SX+. So will customer choose a CSUV with lesser features or a feature rich hatchback. Also it would depend how much does Hyundai wants to sell these. Ford was really reluctant to sell their automatics and always asked customer to move to ecosport. Let's see how Hyundai trains their sales people.

[pavanmadhini]

Wow! New cars sure are becoming pricier by the day across segments. Sonet, BMW 2 series, Audi Q2, Skoda Karoq and now the i20. All overpriced by 10-20%.

If I had 13-14 lakhs to spend on a i20 top end, I'd anyway buy a 2nd hand Octavia or Jetta instead.

[shiva75]

14 Lacs OTR in Bangalore is steep. I am sure it is overlapping with cars in the next or larger segments. I was waiting for this car to launch as I need to replace my 12 year old SX4. Nothing wrong with the SX4 and it still runs fine with no niggles except for the occasional battery replacement.

I was considering the Sonet, but then understood that the top end has a ~17 lacs OTR in Bangalore for the top end and therefore switched my focus to the i20. To be honest, I am quite disappointed with the price point although Hyundai seems to have done a great job with the product/car.

I would have considered the Altroz, but there are no DCT/AT options and I am not so sure of the "Tatasyncracy" that might hit later .

Looks like my wait just got longer, not sure what I should go for. And no, I do not like the Baleno.

[dgogold]

This is a cool looking car! Having owned a previous y-gen i20, I can vouch for the quality in most of the cases. There are exceptions though, in my car, the chrome coat of my gear lever started peeling after 4 years and the AC knobs started breaking one by one. Other than that, the main negative I had faced was with HASS, they try to con you whenever they can.

Other than the above lapses, my i20 served me as loyally as possible for 6 years without a single major glitch where the car had to stay in the garage for more than 3 days (both because of normal part failure or due to some one else's fault - accident)

Certain things which I don't agree with the newest offering is the deletion of features like auto dimming irvm, 4 wheel disc, auto wiper etc. These were very convenient and a person who have used them will surely miss them in the new car.

Will I choose this i20 over the altroz et all.? Definitely if my pocket permits. i20 was never cheap but 13l + on road surely is insanity. But I would any day choose a Hyundai or a Toyota or a Honda over Tata, if required I would wait to have the necessary cash. I have seen a tata vehicle very closely for 8 years and Altroz may be a fantastic product, the brand Tata wins half the battle for i20 here

[ron178]

This new generation of the i20 seems fairly steeply priced, but it seems to be the general trend now. If one ignores the fact that this is a hatchback, the price seems reasonable, given the equipment available.
I can only hope that at this price, Hyundai has improved on the safety aspect, which was my only real grouse with the older i20. I also wish the 1.2L normally aspirated petrol engine with the CVT automatic was available in the Asta(O) grade, because it would make for the perfect city commuter and would not have the in-city jerkiness of a dual-clutch gearbox. If the dynamics are well-sorted, the turbo-petrol variant has the potential to give the VW Polo TSI a run for its money, thanks to the additional ten horsepower and the dual-clutch automatic gearbox.
About the styling, I feel the previous generation did look better, but the new one isn't half as polarising as some of Hyundai's other new designs. However, a two-tone interior, at least on the non-turbo variants, would be preferred. It makes the plastics look less scratchy and makes one feel like he/she is in a more expensive car, something Hyundai is known for. The previous i20 had the two-tone combination just right.
In my opinion, despite the pricing, this car seems to have what it takes to take on its rivals. It has the highest power, the best safety equipment, technology and features in its segment. If the crash test rating is good, this might just be my new favourite in the premium hatchback segment.

[charanreddy]

I bought my diesel Nexon XZA+ for 13.x lakh on road in Bangalore in 2018. Now a hatch back claims similar money as a CSUV , regardless of how good this car is, 14.X lakhs on road Bangalore is a nightmare ..

The Altroz has a very sweet opportunity here, if only they could introduce the automatic and turbo petrol options fast at a reasonable price, they will take the sales away from the i20.

[Sayan]

I think the people who hold the mindset that Sub-Compact Crossovers (CSUV) should cost more than a hatchback, are taking that SUV tag too seriously.

Pricing makes perfect sense when you consider that compact SUVs are nothing but lifted hatchbacks. For similar size, features, engines, and interior space, the only price differential would be the extra coils on the springs and spacers.