Hyundai launched the second generation i10 renamed as the Grand i10 a couple of months ago and the response from the Indian customers has been overwhelming for the company. Hyundai has been launching a slew of vehicles in persistence of reaching the number one position on the sales front currently dominated by Maruti Suzuki. Hyundai is currently carrying out extensive tests on the prototype vehicle of the Grand i10 sedan based on the extended BA platform seen on the hatchback version and one of these test mules has been caught plying on the Indian roads.
Compact sedans make up for a sizeable portion of volumes for car manufacturers and the latest trend is that most manufacturers are launching sub 4-metre sedans based on their hatchback vehicles to cash in on the heavy demand. Hyundai is following the suit by developing a compact sedan which measures under 4-metres in length thus saving on excise duties and the car will replace the recently phased out Hyundai Accent. Most of the parts will be shared with the Grand i10 hatchback as a cost saving measure.
The Hyundai Grand i10 sedan will evidently be launched in both petrol and diesel versions. The 1.2-litre Kappa engine will make up for the petrol variant while either the 1.1-litre 3-cylinder diesel engine on the Grand i10 hatchback or the 1.4-litre 4-cylinder CRDI engine from the i20 will make up for the diesel version. Hyundai will incorporate the “Fluidic” design on the Grand i10 sedan. This car will directly rival the Maruti Swift DZire and Honda Amaze. Hyundai’s engineering design centre located at Hyderabad is said to have played a major role in the development of this new sedan which is built specifically to cater to the Indian market. We can expect Hyundai to launch this car sometime early next year with an Auto Expo showcase very likely.
Source – IndianAutosBlog.com
