After achieving global success with its Creta and Kona SUVs, Hyundai is now determined to venture into the small SUV market. This development was confirmed by Hyundai’s Latin America’s product specialist Armando Cardoso in a recent interview which he had with Argentina Autoblog.
The car under consideration will be a city car and it will feature a crossover-ish design. As far as slotting is concerned, it will sit under the Creta and Kona in Hyundai’s SUV line-up.
The car’s development is currently underway and in fact, Hyundai has come up with an all new platform for this baby SUV/crossover. Maruti Brezza / Tata Nexon can be considered to be one of the closest direct competitor for the car.
At the moment, the product is expected to launch first in the US in 2019 or 2020, which will be followed by launches in other international markets shortly. It is also possible that this small SUV under consideration is the Leonis which Hyundai was planning for the South Korean market.
For the Indian market, Hyundai is currently working upon a new sub-4 metre SUV, which will be positioned to directly compete with the segment leader, the Vitara Brezza. This new SUV will based on the Carlino concept which was displayed at the 2016 Auto Expo.
Expected to be launched later in H1 2019, this new compact SUV (internally known as Hyundai QXi) will most likely feature a 1.0 litre T-GDi petrol unit and a 1.4 litre diesel motor.
