Late prototype gives a telling taste of Hyundai’s more grown-up new city car
A prototype version of the all-new Hyundai i10, a compact hatchback that's designed to rival cars such as the Fiat Panda.We tested an early version of the next-gen Hyundai i10 in Sweden earlier this year, but now engineers report the car is almost production ready and Autocar was invited to Turkey to drive a late prototype.The new i10 needs to build on the success of the previous model; in 2008 we named the first i10 our car of the year. But while we loved its packaging and style, it was clear the Hyundai needed to grow up and find its own place in the market.So this version – based on a new platform shared with the latest Kia Picanto that makes it both longer and wider than the last – has some big shoes to fill, especially given the rise of Volkwagen’s Up.Hyundai readily states it has benchmarked the new i10 against both the baby VW and the Fiat Panda, saying it wants to offer the quality and space of a B-segment car with the body, and price, of an A-segment model. By anyone’s standards, that’s a big ask.
Late prototype gives a telling taste of Hyundai’s more grown-up new city car
A prototype version of the all-new Hyundai i10, a compact hatchback that's designed to rival cars such as the Fiat Panda.We tested an early version of the next-gen Hyundai i10 in Sweden earlier this year, but now engineers report the car is almost production ready and Autocar was invited to Turkey to drive a late prototype.The new i10 needs to build on the success of the previous model; in 2008 we named the first i10 our car of the year. But while we loved its packaging and style, it was clear the Hyundai needed to grow up and find its own place in the market.So this version – based on a new platform shared with the latest Kia Picanto that makes it both longer and wider than the last – has some big shoes to fill, especially given the rise of Volkwagen’s Up.Hyundai readily states it has benchmarked the new i10 against both the baby VW and the Fiat Panda, saying it wants to offer the quality and space of a B-segment car with the body, and price, of an A-segment model. By anyone’s standards, that’s a big ask.