Hyundai is planning to replace its i10 petrol variant in Europe by 2024 with two affordable electric vehicle (EV) models and being small and budget cars, they may elicit a good response from this market.
Europe has always been fond of compact cars but its definition of affordable has a much higher benchmark compared to Asian and African nations.
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| The Hyundai i10 replacements will be affordable EVs. |
There won’t be many changes as the South Korean auto giant is likely to retain the hatchback body of the i10, while the crossover would also be based on the same platform. Both the electric vehicles would cater to the urban market.
It may be so that the crossover would be the electric version of the new car Hyundai Casper — a mini SUV — which is available in South Korea. It may be under testing in Europe along with the Ioniq 6.
The hatchback as well as the electric Casper (if it is the Casper EV) would be from the BA platform, which is the same one as the current i10.
Andreas-Christoph Hofmann, who is the head of marketing at Hyundai in Europe, has revealed the price — these models could carry a price tag of 20,000 euros, which is attractive for the European market.
These Hyundai cars would hot up competition in the EV segment with the Renault 5 and Volkswagen ID.1 being their direct competitors.
There are ambitious plans in the pipeline — up to 2030, Hyundai is set to launch 11 electric models in the European market.
According to sources in the know, the electric Casper may go into production sometime around 2023 and the launch could be a year later.
On the other hand, the electric replacement of the i10 is likely to be rolled out around Q3 of the year 2024.
However, unlike the Casper, it is still at a nascent stage of development. Meanwhile, the Casper’s thermal versions have already been showcased.
Hyundai Casper is branded as the “Gyeongcha” category of cars in South Korea. This segment of micro cars comes with certain tax benefits.
This category of cars has a length of less than 3.6 metres (3,595 mm) and width is smaller than 1.6 metres (1,595 mm). Despite this compact nature, it comes with a highly-modular cabin.
In August, Hyundai Motor (Hyundai as well as Genesis brands) registered global vehicle sales of 334,794 units, which is around 12 per cent more than the same month last year.
During the first eight months of this year, the company sold 25,44,681 vehicles (which is a fall of 4 per cent compared to last year).
Wholesale shipments of Hyundai plug-in vehicles surged 17 per cent year-on-year to 16,799 in August, including almost 13,000 all-electric cars. Plug-in hybrids are down over 3 per cent, while hydrogen fuel cell vehicle shipments have surged 66 per cent.
Among key August shipments, the Ioniq 5’s figures were 8,117 units while the Kona Electric’s stood at 4,728 units, and for the Tucson plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), it was 3.463.
So, Hyundai’s two EVs for Europe — that will replace the i10 by 2024 — may not be offering any game-changing features or technology but because of their affordability (in Europe though), these cars may see a good response.
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