[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by Superleggera

Agree with your comments.
Still wondering why Hyundai is not planning to bring an Innova beater !

I sure hope they don't.. that's because, if all the car companies follow the same strategy then every segment will become diluted and then none of them will earn enough for the heavy investment put in for the new product release. Each company has its segments and I believe Hyundai should not foray into people-movers and dilute its premium image which it's seeking to build. For example based on the past decade of sales these are the segment leaders which have been undisturbed even with the arrival of competition :

1) Entry Hatch - Suzuki (Alto/800/Celerio)
2) Middle-Level Hatchback - Suzuki (Swift)
3) Upper-Level Hatchback - Hyundai (Getz+i20 sales since 2005)
4) Sub-4m Sedan - Suzuki (Dzire)
5) Entry sedan - Honda (City)
6) People mover - Toyota (Innova)
7) Mid-Level Sedan - Skoda
8) Entry-Level UV's - Mahindra

There are only about a couple of spots available as of now, the luxury hatch which Hyundai can exploit with the i30, and perhaps a Coupe which also Hyundai can exploit with something like a Veloster (first car to have 1 rear door). If they even try to enter into 1, 2, 4, 6 & 8 it'll be a sure failure. Toyota had its unique journey to where it stands today, they had no small hatchbacks, their experiment with Etios met with partial failure until 4-5 facelifts later and they have no entry sedan in their line-up either hence they chose to go the people-mover route with Qualis and then Innova. If the taxi market didn't exist I'd suppose they'd lose at least 50% of sales and up to 80% sales of the Etios twins.

[Superleggera]

Agree, but if you look into the direction to Hyundai is heading to, I think they will, and it will be good for the market. Big cars = Big Money = Bigger profits and to sustain their growth Hyundai will one day add people movers to their portfolio.

With the absurd pricing of Innova ( A reasonably equipped, bigger and better Toyota Sienna sells around half price in US), Hyundai has to take this opportunity to beat them down.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by Superleggera

Agree, but if you look into the direction to Hyundai is heading to, I think they will, and it will be good for the market. Big cars = Big Money = Bigger profits and to sustain their growth Hyundai will one day add people movers to their portfolio.

With the absurd pricing of Innova ( A reasonably equipped, bigger and better Toyota Sienna sells around half price in US), Hyundai has to take this opportunity to beat them down.

I'm dreading the day when they will, the already choked roads of the nation do not need more of 3-row seating cars with mostly one individual driving it around (no offence to those with genuine need of such cars). Hyundai already has the i800 but I really hope they don't bring it here.

Yes the Innova is atrociously priced this time around, people criticised the Creta and S-Cross for their pricing but the Innova has really pushed its luck beyond the stratosphere of overpricing and yet its selling like it never has, its current design too is a step back as far as I'm concerned.

Either way I think we need cars which are incapable of becoming taxi cars, there are too many of them as it is and its best left to the likes of Tata and Toyota.

America is one of the rare countries where car buying is a closed-eye affair and I guess you know it best.. walk in, take a loan or pay cheque & drive out with one hand. "Thayoda" and "Handa" and "Handei" are available at dirt cheap prices with massive warranty deals.. lucky them.

[volkman10]

Hyundai unveils the i30 ahead of the Paris Auto show, to rival Ford Focus,




The new i30 has to build on Hyundai’s improved profile in Europe to deliver mainstream sales - and its styling is clearly aimed at the masses.

The new model is 4,340mm long, and a little longer and wider than the car it replaces, though its roofline sits slightly lower. Its wheelbase remains the same, though, at 2,650mm, so we’d expected the packaging to feel pretty similar to the outgoing car’s. The boot capacity is 395 litres

The engine line-up comprises three petrols and three diesels. The entry-level petrol is a 1.4-litre four-cylinder unit producing 99bhp and 134Nm; it’s offered only with a six-speed manual gearbox and can take the i30 from 0-62mph in 12.7 seconds. Next up, and also manual only, is a 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo producing 118bhp and 171Nm. Its extra shove helps it to reach 62mph in 11.1 seconds.

The range-topping petrol (for now) is a 1.4-litre four-cylinder turbo with 138bhp and 242Nm. With this motor you’ll be able to choose between the six-speed manual gearbox and Hyundai’s newly developed seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. As a manual it can crack 0-62mph in 8.9 seconds, while the DCT takes 0.3sec longer.

Hyundai has confirmed the all-new Hyundai i30 will spawn a whole family of vehicles.

Could be the N - Version of i30 coming in 2017. the second and third the estate and four-door saloon-come-coupé, not too dissimilar in profile to the i40 saloon model.

Source

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Bit of a disappointment in the looks department. Looks a bit bland, but not very elegant either. Midway between a Hyundai and a VW.

N version will be very interesting though, as the focus clearly is on handling.

[RSR]

The interiors are sumptuous indeed!

The exterior design is decent, but nothing special. The side profile is simple & understated, the rear is neat with that unique placement of reflectors / rear fog lamps, but the front is not particularly exciting.

Peter Schreyer should have dedicated more time to the nose. That long, low hood calls for a higher placement of the grille. Large grilles like this new cascading hexagon need to be placed high for maximum visual impact. The headlamps should have been sharper as well, especially considering that they're LED ones.

Overall, a rather toned-down, understated and decent looking car, but nothing special. Interior design and quality are top class, though!

If Hyundai are going to introduce the new i30 in India, then they better raise the ground clearance as much as possible - nothing less than 180 mm! That loooonng front overhang would be a disaster in India with a low GC.

http://youtu.be/qdBx7aX6rCA

[romeomidhun]

The front has too much similarity with i20. Could have been made more aggressive in terms of frontal looks. Or, they could have easily gone for the current trend of cross-over styling.


Size and price wise, it will be competing with the Scross, but without the crossover image, imo.

[ysak]

Insult to Present lineup of Hyundai cars. the exterior design looks half hearted IMO. Front part is like someone tried to get a elite i20 styling and failed. Even the alloy-wheel design looks too dull. The rear sure is confusing.
Liked the interiors.
Looks like the exterior designer is not paid well

[dark.knight]

Ok, having been someone who's seen the evolution of i30 since its launch in 2007, I've to write a few things here and seeing the current version has made this all the more necessary. Hyundai did a few things right, one of them was the way that their design team in 2011 did exactly what a popular baseball reference indicates - they knocked it out of the park.. a homerun of homeruns. The eagle-eye headlamps, the indicators tucked away at the front of the headlamp separated by a metal channel, the hexagonal grille (yes, Hyundai did the hexagonal grille first, not Audi, Audi cars had a quadrangular grille with a slant towards the base in their 2011 models, only in 2014 did they make two kinks / \ in the upper portion of the grille connecting the top horizontal line so as to make it a hexagon.. both are very varied interpretations though and suffice to say that neither copied each other), the body panel following a fluidic sculpture theme.. it just gave the company an identity of its own and it left the competition gasping for breath as suddenly every design seemed boring in comparison.

Their only mistake was in copy-pasting the same concept to lower-end cars, it worked fantastic in the i30, Elantra and Sonata, not so much on i10, i20 or Accent and downright ridiculous on the Eon. Some people were quick to dismiss the styling as gimmicky and flashy, I don't think so.. the i30 intro video is proof of it :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smPyvuNmPlg

The credit for this design must go to the then head of design of Hyundai Thomas Burkle, a former BMW designer with the 3 Series design to his credit and also Chris Chapman for the interiors who was another former BMW designer. Peter Schreyer was then working for KIA Motors and was only later made as group head for design for both Hyundai & Kia. The fluidic sculpture design worked and it worked well, but only for the longer cars.

I don't mean to downplay a designer who is currently ranked 3rd on the all-time list, but ever since he made his entry all that he's been doing is flattening the curves to sharper designs and unifying the design of Kia & Hyundai so much that now they are resembling each other increasingly. His designs aren't as cohesive as Hyundai designs of before (Getz, Santro for example)

Lets be frank here, there is no "textbook" European design at all, however much journalists and reporters might convince you otherwise. A Peugeot or Vauxall do not resemble a VW or Skoda from any angle, Fiat has more curves than any other car to send the clean-lines brigade packing. Basically each company has their own theme and it differs even more in different countries, be it Italy, France, Germany or Sweden, each beautiful in their own right and standing. The beauty of Hyundai was that they dared but those days are past now.

I'm sure the current i30 is more refined, reliable and well-built than ever before.. but it lacks the flavour, that extra something that made people look twice. Mr.Schreyer has established the brand and brought in a host of designers from Bentley, Lamborghini and Audi as his associates, but I think his ideas are getting exhausted, its natural given that he's retiring soon.

P.S : The new grille is called the "Cascading Grille" and it'll be the new identity for all cars beginning with the i30.

[octane_100]

Is it just me or does it look like the 1 series from the rear 3 quarters! The placement os A/C vents and the screen also bears more than a passing resemblance to the beamer?!

[simplysaj]

Originally Posted by octane_100

Is it just me or does it look like the 1 series from the rear 3 quarters! The placement os A/C vents and the screen also bears more than a passing resemblance to the beamer?!

Agree with you! I feel the design like a combination or mix of best elements from all these

Front


Interior


Last quarters




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[volkman10]

Hyundai has released a commercial that shows the i30 in S Korea!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgR0gz-Ue18

[centaur]

Just some news on the i30 in TOI-

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...w/54476660.cms

[devrawat]

Originally Posted by aamateen46

I have sat in a current gen i30 for a short drive, here in London. On its own, the new i30 seems like an excellent proposition to launch in India. However, with the current fixation with compact SUVs, it will be an uphill task convincing people to buy a hatchback over an Ecosport/ Creta/S Cross/ Duster, etc., not to mention the possible comparison with similarly priced sedans

I think this will definitely sell. Seems more like a direct competition to S-Cross (can't really call S-Cross a SUV), even boot space is similar (395 ltrs), way lower than what you generally get in 11-14 lac cars. If they manage a similar G Clearance (180 mm ish), they can sure test it here.

[RSR]

Hayden Paddon, young WRC driver and one of the rapidly rising stars in the world of motorsport, takes the new i30 out for a long spin:

http://youtu.be/7GlMWkUy2mw

I'll say it again - Hyundai must raise the GC as much as possible if they're going to introduce the car in India (in order to negate that ultra-long front overhang). Also, even if there is only one single variant, it should be launched with Turbo-GDi & CRDi engines with both MT & AT options.