Hyundai launches the 1.2L i10

Once again India gets it first the rest of the world will follow as far as Hyundai is concerned.Hyundai have launched the made in India 1.2L kappa engine which produces power of approx. 80bhp@5200rpm and Torque of 114Nm@4000rpm.Fuel efficiency is expected to remain the same as in case of the previous 1.1L engine.This new engine conforms to euro 5 standards.

Hyundai have also added the option of a four speed automatic[you don't have to wait until december now].The 1.2L i10 is available in three variants and befittingly one of them is a sportz vehicle[Finally a vehicle in India with a sport tag gets an engine upgrade as well].

The new engine option is available on the i10 with a price range ranging from Rs.4 to Rs5.50 lakhs[approx] which mean it will directly compete with the Maruti swift.

This also means the new i20 will most probably priced higher and would take on the skoda fabia and the Honda jazz[when launched].

Hyundai to launch new i10 variant next week

Hyundai plan to launch a 1.2L petrol engine variant of the i10 next week[july,2008].

The new 1.2L engine codes named "Kappa" is about 15bhp more powerful than the existing engine so it should be somewhere around the 80bhp tag without compromising too much on the mileage side whereas performance certainly would get a boost.

The 1.2L engine would be available only in the higher variant/variants of the i-10 while the lower variants would continue to have the present 1.1L engine[petrol].The new engine would be priced at a premium compared to the existing higher variants of the i10 which are right now coming with the 1.1L petrol engine.

This new engine too would have a made in India tag.In my opinion though Hyundai have come out with this variant primarily for export markets.

The diesel and automatic transmission variants of the i10 are expected by the end of the year[December 2008] and so also would the bigger i20[expected by October 2008]

[source:Sify]

PS:Incase anybody was interested on an update on the santa fe it is expected by 2009 though prices could be very high as Hyundai plan to import it as a completely built unit[CBU]

Hyundai India sizzles once more

At a time when the entire automobile sector is facing a slowdown there seems to be an exception to the trend.For the past few months Hyundai India is achieving almost magical figures of growth and just before you jump to conclusions that it is only the i-10 then think again.Even in the A3 segment Hyundai is achieving phenomenal sales[and is not surprisingly the segment leader].

For the month of june,hyundai has achieved a phenomenal 34% increase in domestic sales[overall sales including exports is 45.3%].As in my earlier post once more I say Maruti faces a bigger problem from hyundai than from honda or toyota.

The c-segment sales are the ones which standout the most.Its two main rivals maruti and honda need to take a leaf out of hyundai's books and bring in diesel variants of their cars[sx4,honda city].

As far as the i-10 goes maruti surely missed a trick or two and right now all rivals look far too outdated in front of the futuristic i-10.God help them when the diesel variant is out by the end of the year.As far as the i-10 goes, hyundai very smartly went the honda way and went in for a luxurious interior[read beige with fake wood panels] with a futuristic exterior design a sureshot way of success in the Indian market[Ask honda how it managed to sell so many honda city's inspite of its price].Just don't know why it takes rivals so much time to realise this.

Just like Suzuki,Hyundai too may become more of an Indian company than a korean one.

Hyundai to launch 1.2L petrol engined i10 soon

We are aware of a possible December launch of the diesel version of the i10 and perhaps even the automatic transmission but in a very suprising move, economictimes reports that Hyundai plan to launch a 1.2Lpetrol engine variant of the i10 as well within the next two months.

Even hyundai officials seem to have confirmed this move and the only bit they have not revealed is the pricing part but logically speaking expect it to be priced marginally higher than the existing 1.1L engine.The new 1.2L engine codes named "Kappa" is about 15bhp more powerful than the existing engine so it should be somewhere around the 80bhp tag without compromising too much on the mileage side whereas performance certainly would get a boost.

Now what has prompted this move is unknown perhaps the i20 launch has been delayed or the i20 is a bit more pricier than expected and there is a big gap in terms of pricing in the i20 and the i10 and hyundai don't have anything else in the portfolio take on the Maruti swift.With this boost in engine power perhaps hyundai is targeting the Maruti swift customer.

Hyundai are also planning to sell LPG variants across its entire line-up with the santro getting it by august 2008.The rest will get the LPG option a little later.

[Source:Economictimes ]

Maruti Suzuki's biggest nightmare:Hyundai Motors

People are talking about Tata Motors and especially the Nano as Maruti Suzuki's biggest headache but if you look closely an even bigger threat exists in the form of Hyundai motors.

The santro had and is doing very well in India but what has leapfroged Hyundai into centrestage is no doubt the i10.With the i10 Hyundai are able to winover a major chunk of small car buyers.Infact right now if I had to shop for a small car I would pick nothing but the i10.The fact that the i10 would be getting a diesel by the year end[2008] would mean alarm bells ringing not only in the Maruti camp but Tata too for its indica could not have faced a bigger threat.Maruti on the other hand do not have a diesel in the B segment and the other fuel options[CNG,LPG] are not necessarily as widespread as diesel.

Hyundai do not have such a blockbuster product in the B+ segment but all that could change with the launch of the i20 again expected towards the end of the year[2008].In the C segment Hyundai has not suffered as badly as say a ford.Then there is the D segment,here too the new elantra with the diesel engine is expected to bring in numbers/

But the biggest threat would be the new small car which hyundai are targeting to be sold with a price tag of $3500[Rs.1,50,000 approx].This car should cause a lot of problems to maruti especially and if there is a diesel available too at similar pricing God help Maruti.Maruti however have some time at their disposal since this car is only expected by 2012.

Hyundai have done well to realise the importance of the Indian markets much before other rivals.They have also gambled by launching the i10 first in the market and ensuring it caters to local choice as well.The end result is if you keep track of monthly car sales figures as each month passes by the gap between hyundai and maruti suzuki keeps getting narrower and narrower.Unless maruti does something drastic I have no doubt that Hyundai could unseat Maruti from its number one position.

[image source:jalponik]

Hyundai i10 diesel by year end

This year end is going to see a slew of launches as far as the automotive industry is concerned.Will put up a detailed post in this regard later.But yes if you are buying a car and in no hurry waiting till the end of the year is the best bet.

Hyundai would be launching their diesel version of the i10 by the end of the year[last quarter of this year].If the success of the petrol car is any indication then the i10 diesel is all set to be a runaway success for Hyundai.Hyundai would also launch the automatic variant of the i10 at that time.Hopefully it is a CVT.Detailed specs would be put up later.

There is also the i20[october 2008] and the santa fe[end of the2008] which are set to debut in the Indian markets.

A car even cheaper than the santro is in the pipeline too.But don't expect it that soon.

For the immediate future expect few new variants[LPG,CNG] for the accent.This is expected by June 2008.

[Source:Economictimes]

Hyundai India Launches the PA/i10

Hyundai india have launched the Pa/i10 with a very interesting price tag,

The car will have four variants D-Lite, Era, Magna and D-auto. The lowest variant D-lite is priced at Rs 3.39 lakh, while the Era is priced at Rs 3.74 lakh and the Magna is priced at Rs 3.98 lakh. However the price of the highest variant D-Auto is yet to be revealed.

The car has a 1.1 litre iRDE petrol engine which develops a power of 66.7 ps at 5500 rpm and has a torque of 10.1 kgm at 2800 rpm. Thanks to Tata introducing abs and airbags for its small cars,Hyundai too have taken the cue and the pa comes with dual airbags and abs as well as a factory- fitted sunroof.

What this means is this car will directly compete with the santro and to an extent even cannibalise sales of its stablemate.This could also lead to hyundai refocusing the santro as an alternative to the cheaper Maruti alto and even an alternative to the cheap cars from renault and tata.Hyundai have already undertaken a similar strategy when it came to their accent Sedan,for existing owners what this means is a severe hit on the Resale value of the santro.However the good thing is that most owners would have know of this situation before hand since the i10/Pa was not really such a big secret was it.The car was code named the pa,its officially now known as the i10.

[source:Indiatimes]

Update: Went through the Hyundai website,the car is an absolute stunner as far as interiors are concerned heres a sample pic,


The i10[manufacturers sure are running out of names ]is going to redefine the small car segment in India.

The official website[broadband connection adviced]:
Hyundai i10