Asia’s largest automotive show, Delhi Auto Expo is all set to return in January. The event will be organized in Greater Noida from 13th to 18th January, 2023. Hyundai Motors India will unveil some of its major upcoming products including the Creta facelift, new-generation Verna sedan, Ioniq 6 EV, an “affordable” EV concept and a mini SUV concept. The carmaker’s long overdue micro SUV (codenamed Hyundai Ai3) could debut in its concept avatar at the Auto Expo.
The production version of the new Hyundai mini SUV is likely to witness a market launch during 2023 festive season. Here, it will be positioned against the cars like Tata Punch, Renault Kiger, Nissan Magnite and Citroen C3. The Ai3 will be the smallest and most affordable Hyundai SUV in the country. Though, it will be slightly bigger than the global-spec Casper SUV. In order to make its way to India, the South Korean automaker invested over 1400 crore to increase its production from 7.7 lakh to 8.5 lakh units in the last fiscal year. It aims to produce 50,000 units of the new micro SUV on annual basis.
The new Hyundai Ai3 will be designed on the platform that underpins the Grand i10 Nios hatchback. In fact, the mini SUV is likely to share its powertrain with its younger sibling. That means, it could be offered with the 1.2L petrol engine that’s good enough for 83PS and 114Nm. Both manual and AMT gearboxes are likely to be on offer. The carmaker might offer it with the CNG fuel option as well.
Official details of the new Hyundai mini SUV are yet to revealed. Though, we expect it to be packed with features such as an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, automatic AC unit, power windows, reverse camera, electrically adjustable ORVMs, etc.
