New Hyundai Elite i20 Takes on Polo, Swift, Punto EVO

Hyundai has finally rolled out the second generation of the i20 in India before the rest of the world. The new i20 prices starts at Rs. 4.89 lakh (for the petrol trims) while the diesel starts at Rs. 6.09 lakh. Adorning a completely new design courtesy to the Hyundai Fluidic Sculpture 2.0, the Elite i20 looks radical, premium and mature compared to the already good predecessor. However, mechanically the hatch remained same but it is entirely spruced up inside-out. Lets pit it against the recently refreshed rivals – 2014 VW Polo, 2014 Fiat Punto EVO and the sales king Maruti Suzuki Swift (which is about to receive a facelift).

Price comparison: Hyundai Elite i20 vs VW Polo vs Fiat Punto EVO vs Maruti Swift

Diesel engines: Hyundai Elite i20 vs VW Polo vs Fiat Punto EVO vs Maruti Swift

Petrol engines: Hyundai Elite i20 vs VW Polo vs Fiat Punto EVO vs Maruti Swift

Safety Features:

The top two variants of Elite i20 Sportz and Asta come with driver airbags along with ABS and EBD while the Asta adds passenger airbags too. Fiat Punto EVO starts offering ABS from second variant trim – Dynamic while dual airbags are offered in Emotion and Sports 90HP (diesel). Swift offers dual airbags in the top-end variant while ABS is optional from the mid variants in both petrol and diesel. VW Polo is the only car here that offers dual front airbags as standard across all the variant while ABS starts from second variant – Comfortline.

While at the end it all boils down to pricing, both the 2014 Punto EVO and 2014 VW Polo are priced a notch lower than their predecessor but i20 is a nudge over the outgoing version while it skimmed on few airbags but it packs more than it offered earlier. Moreover, VW Polo undoubtedly possesses the most powerful diesel engine with more torque plus GT siblings are way more powerful than any other rivals present.

Fiat Punto on the other hand still retains the Italian curves, carved out in modern avatar. The curviness flows inside the cabin, the new Punto packs an entirely new dash and features segment first ambient light, the Punto EVO features dual tone soft touch interiors while the agile EVO Sports gets all-black interiors! Even on the features list it competes pretty well with the new Elite i20 and has brought several segment first features with this upgrade like rear AC vents, ambient lighting, rear taillamps to name a few. While Swift continues to lead the sales despite being decently loaded however it offers an excellent driving fun that comes with impressive efficiency.  

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