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car brand’s involvement in motorsport is always a reflection on what may be offered
on its road legal vehicles and Hyundai is no different. The Korean car maker
has drawn upon its recent announcement to enter the World Rally Championship
(WRC) and plans are on to produce an i 20 GT! WRC being the ideal cross-over of
performance and punishment seems to have encouraged the designers to develop a
passenger vehicle that shares its DNA with the performance bred rally cars.
Hopefully, the production car will be an amalgamation of performance and
rigidity to make it suitable for tough roads.
Volkswagen
has already capitalized on the lack of a complete hot-hatch segment through the
Polo GT TSI and recently launched GT TDI. Skoda on the other hand is unlikely
to introduce a vRS version on the temporarily discontinued Skoda Fabia, citing
issues of feasibility. The next generation Fabia is likely to have a model with
cosmetic alterations to make it look like the vRS. The market demand for a
small car with big performance is serving as the ideal opportunity for brands
to offer a more enjoyable driving experience without making buyers shell out ludicrous amounts of
money. However, what remains to be seen is if India will see a toned down
version of the i 20 GT in order to keep prices competitive. With Hyundai not
only manufacturing cars in India, but also exporting them, the car maker can
afford to be ambitious.
At
the moment the i 20 is on offer in petrol and diesel variants, the petrol
available with a 1.4-litre, 4-speed automatic as well. Details on the GT are
limited as the car is unlikely to make an appearance in India before 2015 and
the international launch is expected only in the last quarter of 2014. The i 20
made its arrival in 2009 and in the following years has only seen one facelift
without any major non-cosmetic changes. The sales of the i 20 may dip, with the
Grand i 10 bridging the gap between the i 10 and its older sibling. The Indian
hot-hatch segment is likely to see more new entrants with the market trend
reflecting the need for a performance vehicle with practicality.
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