Hyundai’s EV focus won’t lead to scrapping of i10, i20 or i30

The rollout of electric vehicles at the lower-end of the market, in Europe, won’t impact upon Hyundai’s offering of new internal combustion powered models beyond 2025.

Despite confirming the studying of more affordable EVs, the South Korean automaker announced that not only will the current generations of the i10, i20 and i30 be succeeded, but sold with both electric and petrol motivation underneath their respective bonnets.

Not heading the opposition’s way

Coming on the back of Kia announcing the end of the Rio in right-hand-drive by the end of this year, Ford the Fiesta by June year and the Focus by the end of 2025, plus Volkswagen shelving the Polo by next year, Hyundai CEO for Europe, Michael Cole, remarked it remains committed to the hatch segment as demand still exists despite crossovers now being in the majority.

ALSO READ: Sci-fi styled all-new Hyundai Kona approved for South Africa

“We’re strategising now about what comes beneath [the] Kona long-term. For now, [the] i10, i20, i30 are all still in our plan, even for the next generation. We’re looking at what we have. Exactly what we will have across those three lines, I can’t say today,” Cole told Britain’s Autocar on the side-lines of the Kona unveiling in the UK.

“We don’t want to lose any customers, I don’t want to walk away from any customer group. So we have to think about those i10, i20, i30 customers. We have to think about what could come sub-Kona.”

Model below Kona needed

At present, the Kona serves as Hyundai’s smallest SUV in Europe as neither the Venue nor the Creta are offered, while the coupe-styled Bayon sits above it on price.

In addition to confirming the futures of the i10, i20 and i30, Cole stated it is working on a plan to make EVs more affordable in light of the new Kona Electric’s asking price being higher than that of the previous generation.

“I do believe monthly payments and even moving towards subscription-type scenarios will help. I can see – and this is a personal view, not a corporate decision – a situation where we have a smaller EV that would just go onto subscription, and we keep the vehicle in a programme for five, six, seven years,” Cole added.

Kona Electric

Besides the Kona Electric, whose newly revealed power outputs amount to 115 kW and 160 kW respectively from a 48.4-kWh and 65.4-kWh battery pack, only the regular petrol-powered model has been confirmed for South Africa from the third quarter of this year.

A no-no though is a second generation Kona N that looks set to return as an EV despite nothing yet being confirmed outright.

“Nothing is decided on Kona N at the moment. For Kona, we have a focus on ICE, EV, and hybrid, and are considering N as well,” motor1.com quoted Hyundai’s Senior Vice-President and EV boss, Sang Hyeon Park, as saying.

South Africa set to win

With the inclusion of the Kona, the retention of the i10, known as the Grand i10 in South Africa and based off of the Indian-market Grand i10 Nios, and i20 will serve as a welcome announcement for the local market as the pair currently accounts for the majority of Hyundai’s sales locally.

Last year, Grand i10 sales topped-out at 6 761 while those of the i20 amounted to 3 843 units. To a lesser extent is the importance of the i30 only sold in performance i30 N guise in South Africa.

While Hyundai and has not divulged any information on the next generation i10, i20 and i30 at present, expect details to potentially emerge as the year progresses.

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