That Hyundai is planning an MPV for India is no secret. The Korean carmaker, however, has recently confirmed that the new people mover will come to India only by 2016, as against the earlier speculated launch in 2015. Hyundai Motor India Vice President Rakesh Srivastava, in an interview with Business Standard revealed the new launch timeline. Unlike the recent MPVs introduced by Maruti and Honda, the MPV will not be a low-cost, low-spec vehicle. It would, instead, be a full-fledged, big, spacious car rivalling the market leader Innova.
“We will launch a compact SUV next year. We will also bring an MPV, but that will not be before 2016,” said Mr Srivastava, without divulging any further details about the product.
Hyundai’s new MPV is expected to be based on the Hexa Space Concept, which made an appearance at the 2012 Auto Expo. Code named the HND-7 the new MPV is said to be in an advanced stage of development. No test mules of the vehicle have been caught anywhere yet, though. As the codename suggests, the HND-7 will be built to seat 7 in comfort, and if Hyundai’s product history is something to go by, will try to beat the Innova in terms of space and comfort. Featuring the Fluidic Sculpture design, in its second version, the Hexa Space is expected to look modern and reasonably sporty with swept back lamps and great attention to detail. The 1.6 litre diesel engine from the Elantra may be an apt engine to power the new MPV.
While the new 7 seater is slated for a 2016 launch, Hyundai is planning to launch the Elite i20 based crossover next year, along with the ix25 compact SUV. The ix25 will be launched in India with as much as 90 percent localization and will be priced very aggressively to take the fight directly to the Ford Ecosport and the Renault Duster.
Hyundai India has been going great guns with robust sales in the domestic market while also posting healthy export numbers. The company is looking at selling close to 4.1 lakh cars by the end of December — the highest ever for the company in a year, and an eight per cent rise in volume over last year.
Source: Business Standard