New i20 goes on sale

The new generation Hyundai i20 is just going on sale in Ireland at a starting price of €14,995, writes Brian Byrne.

The new car is longer, wider and lower than the version it replaces, and with a longer wheelbase it offers interior room that's closer to compact family models than its supermini direct competitors.

There are three grades available, Classic, Deluxe, and Premium, with 1.25 petrol engines available in 75/84hp versions, and a 1.4 100hp with automatic transmission. A 1.1 diesel is an option on both Classic and Deluxe grades at a premium of €1,500.

Hyundai Ireland is targeting buyers who value specification with good pricing, and claims that it offers significantly more standard equipment than its main competition, Toyota's Yaris, Ford's Fiesta, and VW's Polo.

Among the standard fittings is a smartphone dock which can accommodate both IOS and Android phones, and which can incorporate all the phone's abilities, including sat-nav, into a completely connected system. The phone's navigation directions can also be directed through the car's centre-dash screen where preferred.

All versions will come with a spare wheel as standard. The Irish distributor expects the Deluxe grade at €17,495 will be the biggest seller of the model, and says it offers as standard up to some €1,430 worth of extra specification over an equivalently-specced competitor.

The i20 comes with Hyundai's 5-year unlimited mileage warranty — Ford's Fiesta has a 5-year/100,000km one, while Toyota and Volkswagen vehicles have 3-year warranties.

Hyundai Ireland's Stephen Gleeson says the distributor is guaranteed a supply for 2015 of 1,245 units and he has no doubt that they will be quickly sold. "Our only issue with this car may be supply, and if we can get more units they will also sell," he said today, adding that with a revised i40 and a new grade within that D segment car, along with the new i20, that the company expects to achieve a 9.5 percent market share in Ireland in 2015, up from the 8.6 percent expected outturn this year.

Extra units of the brand's Santa Fe large SUV will also be available, allowing the Irish distributor to meet a demand beyond the 580 units which were allocated this year.

During 2013, Hyundai Ireland tripled its city car segment sales with the new i10, and doubled i40 sales. "The outgoing i20 was the weakest car in sales of our range," Stephen Gleeson says. "With the new one, we have a great opportunity, and we expect to have a fantastic year in 2015."