We reported recently that Hyundai India is dropping some features on the Elite i20. However, it seems like the Korean carmaker will now offer an extra feature on its premium hatchback. The Elite i20, along with its i20 Active cousin, and the Verna 4S will soon get a touchscreen infotainment system.
Now, in retrospect, the reason for Hyundai India to have deleted some of the features on its Elite i20 becomes evident. If it weren’t for these omissions, an addition of this new touchscreen infotainment system would have jacked up the prices of the hatchback significantly.
In the hatchback space, the only two cars to come with a touchscreen infotainment system are the Tata Bolt and the new Honda Jazz. Hyundai is obviously aiming to keep its offering in the segment competitive, which would explain the addition of this new feature. As far as the Verna 4S is concerned, its chief rivals such as the Maruti Suzuki CIaz and Honda City both get a touch-enabled infotainment rig. So it isn’t surprising that the Korean carmaker is too interested in offering its customers a similar feature.
Hyundai India will offer this new feature by the end of July 2015 on the Elite i20 and i20 Active. While the Verna 4S saloon will get the touchscreen setup come Diwali.
Source – ACI
While Hyundai was always scheduled to add a touchscreen for i20 Elite and i20 Active, where they lack as a real option is an Automatic. If Jazz is getting 40% of its booking for its Automatic Variant the actual comparison of sales between the two premium hatchbacks is 100% of Hyundai i20 sales vs Honda Jazz’s 60% sales. Hyundai i20 Elite is a great product and Honda does not deserve to price Jazz at any premium over it. I trust Hyundai to spot the future trends and am looking forward for an Automatic to come soon, before it’s too late.