Third Generation Hyundai i20 Will Be Safest Iteration Yet

The Hyundai i20 is an important model for the Korean carmaker in India. The premium hatchback segment continues to show growth and large volumes, and the Hyundai i20 along with the Maruti Suzuki Baleno has dominated the space for the past few years. The i20 has sold 1.1 million units in India, and overall production for the model line is at 1.6 million units, with half a million in exports. Now with the arrival of the new generation i20, Hyundai says it was time to improve the benchmarks set by the previous car. And the good news is that its not just on the connectivity, tech or gadgets side, but also safety. The new generation Hyundai i20 is set to be the safest one yet - with increased equipment, but more crucially - better crash worthiness.

Also Read: New-Gen Hyundai i20 Launch Date Out

WATCH: 2020 Hyundai i20 First Look

The chassis of the new Hyundai i20 uses 66 per cent high tensile steel.

For starters, the new Hyundai i20 uses nearly 15 per cent more advanced high strength steel as compared to the previous generation model. This takes total content of the advanced high strength steel to 66 per cent of the overall body. This not only makes the body stronger, but more protected against severe crashes. Ganesh Mani, Director - Production at Hyundai Motor India told carandbike, "The percentage of increase (over the previous i20) is 13 per cent in terms of the tensile strength point of view. The crashability index has also improved by 12-13 per cent as far as the strength is concerned." The company says the car not only meets the recently improved crash and safety regulations in India, but goes further.

Also Read: New-Gen Hyundai i20 Evaluated On 18 Test Tracks

The high tensile steel makes the car lighter in weight and safer too. Hyundai has used high quality grade coils for sculpting.

And it's not just the material used that has changed on the next gen Hyundai i20. The premium hatch's manufacturing process has also undergone a change. Mani says, "You have to make sure the product also become crack free. We have also introduced something known as a hotspot analysis, before we start manufacturing, to find out all the possible places where things can go wrong." The process uses high definition digital cameras that use advanced imaging, to identify potential weak spots in the car's body shell. These are identified in early prototype production and addressed, to ensure a stronger, safer shell leaves the body shop. While we have no crash test results for the Indian made Hyundai i20, the hope is that such techniques will ensure the car is much safer now. And of course like the previous generations, the new i20 will also be exported in large volume from India to markets like Mexico, South Africa, etc.

The third generation model of the i20 will have diesel and petrol variants along with multiple gearbox options

The car also drives in with higher variants sporting 6 airbags, Electronic Stability Control (ESC), and more. But dual airbags, ABS (anti-lock brakes), rear parking sensors and ISOFIX child seat mounts are expected to be standard across the model line. Sadly like most mass models launched in India, the middle passenger at the rear will likely get only a lap seat belt. The i20 will also have diesel and petrol variants, and is expected to get the added benefit of the turbo petrol as seen in recent models from Hyundai. Similarly, it is also expected to get the IMT (intelligent manual transmission), DCT (dual-clutch automatic), CVT (continuously variable transmission that Hyundai calls IVT) and manual gearbox options. The launch is scheduled on Nov 5 2020, which is when we will have confirmed details on the equipment available.