Korean automaker Hyundai has made airbags and ABS standard on the Elite i20 and i20 Active. The Asta (O) now comes with more features too.
The last one year saw many car manufacturers incorporating safety features into their vehicles that are slotted in mass-market segments. Hyundai has always been known for loading its cars with tons of tech so it was expected that the Korean automaker will also follow what its rivals are doing. Hyundai has now made dual front airbags standard across all trims of the Elite i20 and i20 Active. Apart from this, Hyundai has also tweaked the variant line-up of the i20 for 2016.
The Sportz (O) trim has now been discontinued. The i20 now comes in five trim options and ABS will still not be offered on the Era and Magna trims. The top spec Asta (O) now comes with projector headlights with cornering function and LED DRLs. The trim also gets 16-inch diamond cut alloy wheels. Hyundai had given the i20 a minor update last year too where the hatchback got a new AVN system with a 7-inch touch-screen.
The mechanicals on both the cars will remain completely unchanged and they will continue to come with the same 1.2-litre Kappa petrol engine and 1.4-litre CRDI diesel engine. The petrol unit is offered with a 5-speed gearbox while the diesel engine gets a 6-speed transmission. Hyundai doesn’t offer an automatic gearbox with either of the engines.
The Hyundai Elite i20 rivals the Maruti Baleno, Volkswagen Polo, Honda Jazz and Fiat Punto Evo. The newly-launched Baleno is proving to be a rough competitor to the i20 and this might be one of the reasons why Hyundai has started to offer more equipment on their top-selling car. The Elite i20 is priced between Rs. 5.36-8.30 lakhs while the i20 Active is priced between Rs. 6.47-9.17 lakhs (ex-showroom, Delhi).
