After creating a big stir in the market with the latest Grand i10 and Xcent, Hyundai’s next shot is aimed at the burgeoning compact SUV segment. It is known and understood that the ix25 compact SUV which has been recently unveiled internationally will be Hyundai’s answer to our Dusters and Terranos here in India.
And in a big scoop, for the first time, the ix25 has been spotted testing in India and what is more interesting is that it has Duster and EcoSport for company! Clearly, the company is upto benchmarking their offering vis-a-vis the competition. This completely camouflaged ix25 mule was caught at NH7, Hosur, Tamil Nadu by a MotorBeam.com reader.
Showcased first at the Beijing Motor Show, ix25 appears to be a very interesting product. As per the spotter, this ix25 was shod with 17 inch tyres and had a premium build quality. The compact SUV also appeared to him to be bigger than the EcoSport, which it actually is.
The EcoSport is a sub 4 meter SUV, whereas the ix25 will be somewhere around 4.2m in length and at 4.3 meters, Duster will be the longest. In terms of wheelbase, the EcoSport again falls behind at 2520mm, the ix25 comes second with 2590mm while the Duster at 2673mm has the longest wheelbase of the three. This means that the ix25 will have better interior space than the EcoSport but may fall short of the Duster. Remember, the specs here are of the international version of ix25 and for India they may change.
The car will be placed much below the Santa Fe and will most probably share a lot of features with the recently launched elite i20. ix25 would most probably be priced bang on in the Duster and Terrano category and would definitely bring fresh competition in the segment.
We believe Hyundai will most probably also sell a four-wheel drive variant as an option probably on the range topper. The ix25 is planned to be launched first in the Chinese market in October and will most probably reach Indian shores sometime early next year.
Interesting battle is on the cards, for sure!
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