Hyundai launched the Grand i10 last month in September and gathered tremendous interest for the hatchback from the Indian audience. The demand is such that the carmaker is increasing the production of the vehicle in order to cut down the rising waiting period. At the time of launch, Hyundai didn’t introduce automatic variants for the Grand i10 but promised to launch it before the end of this year. Now BS Motoring reports that the Korean automaker is preparing to launch diesel automatic variants along with the petrol automatic variants of the Grand i10.
At present, the Hyundai Grand i10 is available only with a 5-speed manual gearbox for diesel and petrol models. Hyundai is said to be releasing the 4-speed automatic transmission with the diesel as well as petrol models next month (end November or early December). This will make the Grand i10 the cheapest diesel automatic car in India. The Grand i10 diesel automatic is expected to be priced between Rs. 7.5 and Rs. 9.5 lakhs. It is the same 4-speed automatic transmission, which we have seen on the i10, i20, Verna, etc.
The Grand i10’s 1.1-litre diesel unit churns out 71 PS of maximum power with 160 Nm of torque. Mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox, it returns an ARAI claimed mileage of 24 km/l. With the 4-speed automatic transmission it will be interesting to see how Hyundai manages to hold the fuel economy figures and power delivery. However, the diesel unit is tuned for better city driving conditions, which will be an advantage for the automatic gearbox. If the diesel automatic option is executed well with the Grand i10, it will be time for competitors to sit up and take notice.
Source – BS Motoring