It gets better for small Hyundais

However, the South African market tracks European trends and the New Generation i10 will be coming to our shores. Hyundai are adament they will not be doing away with the current i10 offering and that the two vehicles will be sold alongside one another.

The New Generation i10 is a bit bigger than the current i10 and Hyundai believe it will fill the gap left by the Getz. The issue is, at its heart, probably one of cost as the New Generation i10 is a substantially more sophisticated car which would consequently be more expensive.

The New Generation i10 was designed and engineered from the ground up at Hyundai Motor’s European research and development centre, HME TC, at Russelsheim and is very specifically aimed at the picky European market, and has been made larger in accordance with this. At 3 665mm the New Generation i10 is 80 mm longer than its predecessor and one of the longests cars in the A-segment.

Likewise, New Generation i10 goes from being the narrowest model in the A-segment to the widest at 1660 mm (+ 65 mm). Interestingly the roofline has been lowered by 40 mm. The boot now has a capacity of 252 litres, which is a 27-litre increase over the i10. Front seat occupants enjoy 40 mm more legroom as well as 16 mm additional shoulder room.

The New Generation i10 sports features and equipment usually found in B or C segment cars and these will account for a fair bit of the extra cost. This includes steering wheel-mounted cruise control with adjustable speed limiter, heated leather steering wheel and front seats, hill assist control, smart key with engine start/stop button, LED running lights and full automatic climate control.

Hyundai Motor gives New Generation i10 buyers a choice of two petrol engines driving the front wheels through five-speed manual or four-speed automatic gearboxes. A choice of 1-litre and 1,25-litre engines and South Africans may find themselves faced with the smaller engine in the older i10 and the larger engine in the New Generation i10.