As of November 5, 2020, Hyundai India launched the all-new i20. The 2020 i20 is not only a midlife refresh of the previous generation of i20 but it is a complete makeover in and out. With its striking design and subtle performance, the new Hyundai i20 is the freshest premium hatchback amongst the segment contenders.
Hyundai made some striking moves with the exterior of the all-new i20. The bold signature Hyundai grille has been redesigned and fully blacked out, the only chrome element on the blacked-out grille is the Hyundai logo. The eye-catching daytime running LED lighting(DRL) just makes the car look even bolder.
Accompanying the grille is the LED projector headlamp setup with LED projector fog lamps as well. The linings on the hood make the i20 look like an angry bird which is ready to take on the Indian roads.
The side profile of the car is also very sporty with cuts on the doors to make it more aerodynamic.
However, the rear end of the new i20 follows the typical tall boy design language which translates to more interior space and headroom but the following also makes it a little less appealing as the rear is dominated by the tail lamps which have a chrome strip in the middle.
It will remind you of the small-cute-peppy-little Honda Brio.
The Indian spec of the new i20 sports 195/55/R16 wheels with diamond cut alloys. What I feel differentiates the i20 are those low profile tyres which are standard on the European spec i20, those set of tyres make it even more sportier than the Indian spec, which is kind of a step back in the design of the all-new i20 in India.
On the interior front, the premium hatchback feels new from every angle.
The dash sports a vented pattern that is carried over to the door trims too but its subjective and not for everyone. Those patterns will give you a sense of DejaVu if you’ve experienced the old Audi Q5 (2012).
The center of the dash draws all eyes as it has a 26.03 cm HD infotainment & navigation system. To aid the driver, tech is carried forward in form of a TFT Multi-Information Display (MID). There are some hard plastics all around. On the top variant, gets an adjustable steering wheel with tilt & telescopic adjustments is wrapped in leather with chrome inserts with a sliding armrest which adds to its premium class and price and the sound system is really clean and crisp.
The Top end variant is loaded to stay true to its rich and aspirational experience as it comes with Blue Ambient Lightning, Sunroof and Oxyboost air purifier with Wireless charging Pad.
In India, the all-new i20 comes in three engine versions:
The engine is very refined and the power delivery is linear with the suspension being softer than expected. The new i20 runs like butter but the suspension but they could have tweaked to make it even better. Overall, it is really great car for Indian consumers who prefer premium hatchbacks.
Hyundai now introduces the BlueLink technology in the new i20 with 50 connected car features on offer, making it a seamless experience for the consumers.
Hyundai also debuts the first-in-segment Over-The-Air-Updates. The new i20 also features remote Engine Start/ Stop, Status and Alerts, in addition, to Find My Car and Share My Car technologies. Stand out features of the all-new i20 are Auto Crash Notification, Tyre Pressure Monitoring System and Stolen Vehicle Tracking and Immobilisation.
The i20 also gets a brand new Digital Cluster with TFT Multi-Information Display and alongside it also features Bose Premium 7 Speaker System, Built-in Navigation with Live Traffic and Compass and connectivity for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
The all-new Hyundai i20 comes in 8 colour options:
The interior is also available in Monotone which is in the black interior with copper inserts and Dual Tone which is in the black interior with red inserts.
The all-new i20 has been designed on an all-new Light Weight K Platform that Hyundai claims to be light and robust and provides with lots of safety measures and enhanced crash performance which on the contrary feels a bit less like the claimed above, the material is very lightweight and can get noticeably damaged by even small collisions.
Other safety aspects included with the all-new i20 are 6 airbags, Hill Assist Control, Vehicle Stability Management, Electronic Stability Control, Emergency Stop Signal and ISOFIX. All of these features add up to the utmost safety concerns for the consumer.
Pricing for the all-new i20 starts at an introductory price of INR 6.79 Lakhs for the base Magna trim and goes all the way up to INR 11.17 Lakhs for the top-of-the-line Turbo Petrol DCT.
We feel that the all-new i20 is a bit on the higher side for what it offers. Especially in cities like Bangalore, where road tax is high, the top-of-the-line variant reaches almost INR 14 Lakhs, which to be honest for a premium hatchback is not reasonable.
Here is the link to our official video review –Do not forget to checkout our News section to keep yourself up-to-date.
Written by – Jitarth Trivedi
Compiled by – Tirth Pandya
