Report - Hyundai India confirms compact SUV for launch next year

03/06/2014 - 12:42 Hyundai ix25, Hyundai Anjan Ravi

Hyundai India will be driving in its compact SUV next year. The update comes from Rakesh Srivastava, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Sales, Hyundai Motor India Limited.

Hyundai ix25 white front three quarters at Auto China 2014 — Hyundai India will launch a compact SUV next year.

The compact SUV segment in India, which is composed of the Renault Duster, Nissan Terrano and Ford EcoSport, is a 11,500 units/month strong segment which a manufacturer cannot afford to miss. While the Indian car industry witnessed a decline of 5 percent last financial year, the compact SUV segment and compact sedan segment were the bright spots, showing positive growth.

Hyundai's contender for this segment would likely be the the Hyundai ix25 which was revealed at the Beijing Motor Show in April this year. Measuring over 4 meters in length, at 4.27 meters, the ix25 would miss out on the sub-4 meter segment, but would rival the 4.3 meter long Duster nevertheless.

Hyundai ix25 side at Auto China 2014 — At 4.27 meters in length, the ix25 will be more of a Duster rival, positioned above the new i20.

The styling which is based on the second generation Fluidic sculpture borrows inspiration from other Hyundai SUVs like the new Santa Fe. While the exteriors of the ix25 were fully shown at the Beijing Show, the interiors were not revealed and the windows of the display cars were opaque.

If Hyundai were to launch the ix25 in India, it would be safe to assume that the crossover would come with the engine options offered on the i20 and Verna.

[Source - Financial Express]