Hyundai I30 Debuts, Will Be Dubbed Elantra Touring In America: Frankfurt Motor Show 2011
Korean automaker Hyundai; continues to push vehicles catered to local market needs in an effort to spur regional growth and it’s new Euro-centric i30, introduced at this year’s Frankfurt show is no exception.
The i30 will be produced as a five-door hatchback at the firm’s Nošovice; Czech Republic assembly plant , with European sales expected to begin sometime early next year.
With emissions reduction currently the big thing in Europe, Hyundai says the new i30 delivers less than 100 grams of C02 per km, thanks to its upgraded 1.6-liter turbo diesel four-cylinder engine.
Slotting in below the new i40, Hyundai hopes that this second gen i30 will help bolster sales of the brand in Europe. The original version, when launched back in 2007, sold more than 360,000 copies Europe-wide during its production run and with the C-segment poised to swell by some 7 percent in Europe in the next three years to some 2.4 million vehicles sales per annum, Hyundai appears to have timed the launch of it’s second generation i30 rather well. The car will face some tough competition tough, going up against the Ford Focus, Opel Astra and top-selling VW Golf.
Given that Ford is now offering North American buyers an essentially European flavored Focus, it will be interesting to see how the proposed 2013 Elantra Touring (kissin’ cousin to the new i30); will fare in our market (the previous version bombed). That said, with consumers on our side of the Atlantic appearing to embrace hatchbacks more keenly than before, there’s every chance it could do considerably better this time around.
Gallery: Hyundai i30
More by Huw Evans
Comments
Join the conversation
I don't understand something. Why car shown in Frankfurt is different comparing to photos in the net just couple of days ago??? The front is totally different.