The Hyundai Ai3 micro SUV, christened the Exter earlier immediately, will go on sale in India later this yr. The upcoming Hyundai Exter marks the following step within the Korean model’s SUV vary enlargement. It shall be based mostly on the Grand i10 Nios and, as such, is about to retain the hatchback’s powertrains – the 1.2-litre petrol engine with guide and AMT gearboxes, and a CNG model based mostly on this. However, the Exter may additionally inherit an engine that was once provided with the Nios, however was discontinued a short while in the past – the 1.0-litre turbo petrol.

1. Hyundai Exter SUV shall be launched in August 2023
2. Positioned between Grand i10 Nios and Venue
3. Will be aimed squarely on the Tata Punch

Hyundai Exter SUV is not going to get a diesel engine

The platform designation of the Grand i10 Nios is ‘Ai3’, a code that denotes its longer wheelbase in comparison with the European i10. The new Exter micro SUV shares that designation internally, and sure the wheelbase too (as does the Aura sedan). The Hyundai Exter SUV is scheduled for launch in August this yr, and Hyundai has begun teasing the automobile just lately. The Exter micro SUV will sit beneath the Hyundai Venue, and whereas Hyundai has acknowledged that diesel is vital for SUVs in India, this one shall be an exception.

This is owing to its measurement and positioning in a section the place patrons are way more value delicate. With ever-tightening emissions rules, just like the just lately enforced BS6 Phase II or RDE norms, diesel engines have turn into increasingly costly. Moreover, in smaller, extra city-focused cars like this, purchaser choice is skewed closely in the direction of petrol. This is why virtually no hatchback makes use of diesel anymore, why Hyundai discontinued its 1.2-litre diesel from the Nios and Aura final yr, and why the Tata Punch by no means got here with one.

The inclusion of Hyundai’s 1.0 T-GDi engine will give the Exter SUV a bonus over the Punch, whose sole 1.2 petrol engine is considered one of its few weak factors. Apart from including a little bit of selection, the mid-range punch of the T-GDi engine will considerably make up for the absence of a sometimes torquey diesel. It may even assist set the Hyundai Exter SUV aside from its Ai3 siblings – the Nios and Aura – from which the identical engine was just lately discontinued.

And, though a high-tech engine that options direct injection, it’s not extraordinarily costly, because the 1.0 T-GDi is closely localised to be used within the i20, Venue and Kia Sonet. Hopefully, it can even use the identical 120hp state of tune, and maybe they may promote it as an N-Line mannequin.

Hyundai Exter SUV to tackle Tata Punch

The Tata Punch is the mannequin the brand new Hyundai Exter SUV is squarely geared toward. Company sources inform us that having a product on this section is a ‘no brainer’, conceding that Tata managed to steal a march in the marketplace with the well-conceived and acquired Punch, which sells roughly 10,000 items a month. While there are not any different direct rivals anymore, now that the Mahindra KUV100 has been discontinued, related fashions vying for a chunk of the Punch pie are the Maruti Suzuki Ignis and decrease variants of the Nissan Magnite and Renault Kiger.

Hyundai acknowledges that hatchbacks are falling out of favour with Indian patrons, who would a lot somewhat have SUVs or SUV-looking autos as a substitute, at any value level. In reality, there was no harder-hitting proof of this for the model than having to discontinue the second-gen Santro and the Eon earlier than that. A powerful presence within the entry segments is crucial if Hyundai desires to stay India’s quantity two carmaker, but it surely has opted for this Exter price range SUV to generate volumes, somewhat than aiming for the price range hatchback section once more.

Will there be an SUV-styled Hyundai automobile beneath the upcoming Exter micro SUV? It’s impossible, as Hyundai says when prospects purchase even a small SUV, they anticipate a specific amount of area. In reality, on the infancy of this very Exter SUV undertaking, the Hyundai Casper, a Korean-market micro SUV was thought of for India, however at 3.6 metres lengthy, it was deemed too small for India, in addition to too costly. The Exter SUV that’s headed to India shall be round 3.8 metres lengthy, just like the Tata Punch, and the closely localised Ai3 platform is cost-effective too. Early spy images reveal it to have a boxy form, good floor clearance and cut up headlamps just like the Venue.

Would you pay extra for a strong turbo petrol engine in a price range SUV? Let us know within the feedback part beneath.

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