Hyundai seems to have no dearth of new car launches lined up in the upcoming year since it will be launching cars from many different segments in the Indian market. The MPV segment is one such market segment growing at a rapid pace in India. The cars like the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and the Toyota Innova are a testimony to the same. Hyundai has never been known to fall far behind other manufacturers and is soon preparing to introduce a brand new compact MPV and a first glimpse of the same has been caught plying on Indian roads.
A compact MPV based on the extended BA platform on which the Hyundai Grand i10 hatchback was built is touted to be under development. However the image of the test car resembles the ix20. The tail lamps are large and swoopy complementing Hyundai’s much appreciated ‘Fluidic’ design language. Hyundai’s R&D department could incorporate large bits of design language of the ix20 in the upcoming Grand i10 MPV. This can be noticed in the large front hexagonal grille on the car and the overall rear layout on the spy car in comparison with the ix20.
The Hyundai Grand i10 MPV is similar to the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga when it comes to exterior dimensions. The car was supposedly spied doing rounds near its Chennai based production facility. Again, the Muti-Purpose Vehicle will evidently share a fair bit of its parts with the Grand i10 hatchback thus resulting in cost savings for the Korean car maker. The Hyundai Grand i10 MPV will be powered by the 1.4-litre Kappa petrol engine already doing duty on the i20/Verna and the 1.4-litre diesel engine currently present in the i20.
The lack of any camouflage on the spy car indicates that the car could not really be India specific and rather, the company might just be carrying out tests on a global platform. The Hyundai Grand i10 MPV will be launched at prices starting from Rs. 8 lakhs if it ever sees daylight in our Indian automotive market space. It is most unlikely to be showcased at the 2014 Auto Expo and will go on sale only by 2015 at the earliest.
Spy Picture Source – Overdrive
