The South Korean car maker Hyundai is out with yet another trick to expand their dominance in the Indian market. This time, in the entry level hatchback territory, which is a big volume pusher in the country. Hyundai is reportedly coming out with a bigger 1.0l version of its popular Eon according to Autocar.
This is not for the first time stories about bigger Eon are surfacing in fact murmurs about the more powerful Eon have been making waves for quite some time now.
The present iteration of the Eon is powered by an 814cc three pot motor which produces a peak power output of 55bhp@5500rpm and 76Nm of maximum torque at 4000rpm. Moreover it has a claimed mileage of 21.1 kmpl (ARAI figure). These figures do seem to be good but like Alto K10, Hyundai intends to launch a more powerful version to pit it against the K10 as well as the new Datsun GO.
And here comes the most interesting part. The engine in question is NOT the 1086cc old iRDE petrol motor from the i10 or Santro. Instead, Hyundai is planning to bring the mill which powers the European i10, a 1.0L three cylinder engine producing 65bhp power and 95Nm of torque.
This will most probably be tuned for the Indian market conditions, concentrating more on economy. In terms of exterior, no massive changes are really expected but having seen Hyundai you never know. A few more additions to the already impressive equipment list would not go unwelcomed. Especially power windows for all four windows will be a great add on.
Eon is a much better looker against the Alto and Hyundai is definitely looking to capture those customers who sometimes take their hatchbacks for a little trip to the highways. This is where the present Eon feels underpowered and the Korean wants to expand its footprint across. Moreover, this could also be a ploy to gradually phase out the ageing Santro from the market.
The Eon is produced at Hyundai’s plant in Chennai and is also sold in the Philippines and Vietnam market. We have had no word whether the new model will also be exported or not. There have been no details yet about the price difference either but we can expect it to be around 30,000 costlier than the 0.8L Eon! Launch is expected within a few months from now!
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