History has a tendency of repeating itself. Ten years ago, at the ‘98 Auto Expo, two new cars were previewed that dramatically changed the rules of the small car game. Hyundai, then an unknown name, brought in the Santro and Daewoo, known for the Cielo, gave us the Matiz. Even then, the Zen, India’s only premium small car, had gone through a round of updates to take on the Koreans. Ten years later, the scene is hardly any different.
What these cars did was make B-segment hatchbacks the staple diet of millions of Indians. What you see here today is the next generation, one that takes over from the Santro, Matiz and Zen. The i10 is Hyundai’s next gen Santro, if that’s what you want to call it. Sure, it co-exists with its predecessor, but it will replace the Santro in several world markets. The Spark might enjoy new parentage, but it retains a lot of the characteristics of the Matiz, all updated for the 21st century. The Zen, now the Zen Estilo, is Maruti’s ‘not-so-tall boy’ with the erstwhile low-slung car’s moniker used for brand recall. A lot is riding on the three, so much so that GM recently offered a massive discount on the Spark, bringing in customers by the hordes. Ditto Maruti, which is doing the same with the Estilo to revive the slow moving car’s fortunes. Can the new kid on the block, with its slightly inflated price tag, justify its presence? Let’s go find out.
Pretty, petite or presumptuous?
Hyundai have this habit of designing cars with attention value. Like the original Santro, the i10 looks like nothing else on the market. Its squint headlamps, with a tiny front grille and large air dam, are unlike Hyundai’s traditional designs that allow for a questionable large grille. The frontal package appears as a clean, uncluttered design unlike the Spark. In profile, it still retains some of the Santro’s lines, and it’s only once you get to the rear that you start to see images of primary school craft class. Somehow, the inverted C tail and the unexciting boot lid don’t make for the best aesthetic pairing.
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