If you have seen images of Hyundai’s HB20S saloon on the internet, and thought it would make a great addition to the company’s Indian line-up, don’t hold your breath. Hyundai has has no plans to bring the HB20S to India.
Both the HB20 hatchback and HB20S saloon have been designed specifically for the South American market, where the saloon is offered with 80bhp 1.0-litre and 128bhp 1.6-litre petrol engines. Considering these cars are built on an entirely different platform from the ones used for the i20 and Verna and share very few common components with them, it would be a financially unviable move for the carmaker to bring any HB20-based model here. Assembling cars from an all-new platform in India would require a huge investment.
Moreover, considering that the HB20S is not a sub-four-metre saloon, if introduced here, its pricing and positioning would also clash with the Verna in Hyundai’s model range.
Viraaj Bhatnagar
Dipan Sur
Dhruv Dhaka
