2015 Hyundai i20 spotted testing

The 2015 Hyundai i20 has been photographed testing alongside the car’s chief rivals, the Maruti Suzuki Swift and the Volkswagen Polo. Spotted at two different instances near Chennai and in Bangalore, the test mules carried silver and red paint schemes and seemed to be mid-range variants, owing to the lack of alloy wheels. The car has been spotted testing in India quite a few times now and is expected to be unveiled at the 2014 Paris Motor Show.

The heavy camouflage on the test mules lets out very few details about the new i20. While the overall design for the vehicle will be similar to that of the Grand i10, the car will get a funky detailing and a rather large design for both the headlamp and tail lamp assembly. It will be based on a new platform, called IB, and designed along an enhanced version of the ‘Fluidic’ design philosophy. Though the India-spec version will stay under four metres in length to avail the government’s concessions, the proportions might be increased for the Korean manufacturer’s other global markets.

For the Indian market, we expect Hyundai to retain the current i20’s engine line-up for the new car. The 1.2-litre petrol unit produces 83bhp and 113Nm of torque while the 1.4-litre diesel unit produces 89bhp and 220Nm of torque. Besides the six-speed manual, we can expect the four-speed automatic gearbox option to be retained too.

The previous spy shots show the i20 being tested in white and blue paint schemes, which indicates that the car might be sold in the four colours, similar to the Grand i10. As the new i20 will be bigger and more premium than the current car, we can safely assume that it will be a bit pricier too. The new i20 is expected to go on sale later in the year. The B-segment hatchback goes up against the Volkswagen Polo, Nissan Micra, Renault Pulse and the Maruti Swift.