Hyundai Teases Sportier All-New i20, Clearing Path For Next Kia Rio

Hyundai has released official sketches of their upcoming i20 hatch, which is now confirmed to make its first official appearance at the 2020 Geneva Motor Show next month. More accurately, there’s just two images for us to dissect.

As with many teaser ‘artists impressions’ of a new car, automakers are prone to some embellishment for effect. However, the degree to which Hyundai has exaggerated the i20’s proportions are approaching hilarious levels. 

The car looks much too wide and low to be a little brother to the i30 and the wheels don’t wear tyres necessarily but instead seem to have painted outer barrels. For what will be a price-focused compact urban hatch with rivals such as the Ford Fiesta and Peugeot 208, setting expectations this far afield can be problematic. 

Along with their newest generation of cars, the South Korean automaker terms the i20’s styling as ‘Sensuous Sportiness’, and says that it will be the first car with this new design language to be sold in Europe. 

It will be replacing the second-generation i20 which has been in production since 2014, and with Geneva being the venue of its grand reveal, an on-sale date window of mid-2020 seems very plausible followed by deliveries starting in latter 2020 or early 2021. 

Inside, notably, Hyundai says that dual 10.25-inch screens will dominate the dashboard as a digital instrument cluster and infotainment combo, bringing to mind Mercedes-Benz’s own approach. The rest of the cabin, though, remains a mystery. 

Though it is very unlikely that the i20 will be arriving for sale in Malaysia, how this plays out will impact its sister car, the Kia Rio, which should mirror its platform, powertrain, and tech features. That said, the Rio should only surface as an all-new model in 2023 or 2024 if they adhere to their current refresh cycle.