Hyundai is bracing itself to launch new Mini SUV in India: This new SUV to rival against Tata Punch

Hyundai is one of the leading SUV makers in the nation, when talking about both, Creta as well as venue, both of them feature in top car sales in the nation. But Hyundai does not have any offering below the venue in India. Considering there is huge demand, for Tata Punch, Hyundai has sensed an opportunity here, Hyundai is presently preparing a challenger to this segment in the form of Ai3(codename). The latest spy shots reveal this car is in production ready guise.

It is no surprise, this is not the first time Hyundai Ai3 has been papped. Previous spy shots have revealed Ai3 test mules in grey color. A lower-spec model and a higher-spec model were spied separately. The top-spec had about 4 spoke design alloy wheel. The latest test mule is in white color and is spotted testing in South Korea.

When compared to previous test mules, there are not many differences. Although the top-spec test mules spotted before sported a different wheel design. New test mules sport alloy wheels in a new interesting design. This is almost help us to get reminded of 16, Scorpion wheels Fiat had offered Abarth Punto (RIP). Maybe Hyundai is offering different alloy wheels for different trim levels. There is a possibility of this being an N line Variant of the mini SUV.

This new SUV is aimed at a younger audience, Ai3 would receive funky features in the form of H-sharped LED elements in its headlights and tail lights. Headlights receive projector units in top -spec models and DRKS reside on top of in a separate housing. When it comes to exteriors get crossover elements like body claddings, roof rails seem to be functional, a single pane sunrrof and there is a shark fin antenna as well. Tata Punch Sunroof option is not on sale yet. We can expect Tata Motors to launch TATA: Punch with a sunroof once Hyundai Ai3 goes on sale in India.

On the inside, we can expect Hyundai to provide a boatload of features in the form of touchscreen infotainment system, wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto, Automatic climate control, Voice commands and more. Owing to segment, premium features such as ventilated seats and ADAS could be given a miss.

Bigger than Hyundai Casper

Hyundai already sells a mini SUV in a global markets called Casper. It sits below the Venue and it measures nearly 3600mm in length. For India, Casper would have been too small. When you compare it with Punch, it is about 230 mm smaller. For this reason, Hyundai has decided to make longer mini-SUV, for India. It is speculated to be around the same length as Punch.

When launched in India, it is likely to be equipped with a 1.2L NA petrol engine capable of developing 82bhp of power and 114 Nm of torque. Tranmssion would be via 5 speed MT AMT option is also likely to be on offer. If our speculation of N line Variant turn out to be true, we would see the 1.0L turbo petrol unit as well, developing 118 bhp of power and 172 Nm of torque. Punch Rival Hyundai Ai3 india Launch is expected later this year or early next year.