The small car market in India is witnessing a transition. The rocketing prices of petrol have ensured that the small car market is increasingly becoming diesel-centric. From a time when we hardly had any diesel propelled
cars in the A+ and B segment, we now have a diesel engine variant available for almost every small car. Chevrolet will put in a 1.0-liter diesel engine in the Beat’s bay in the next couple of days , leaving the i10 as the only
small car in the A+ segment to not have a diesel option. Clearly, with the prices of fuel scaling their way northwards, the lack of an oil burner will have a negative impact on the car’s sales.
The i10 is currently the biggest volumes grosser for Hyundai, and they just cannot afford to let the sales of this potent city car dwindle away due to the lack of a diesel engine. There is a strong chance then, that the company
will soon offer a diesel variant for the car.
Internationally, the i10 is available with a small diesel engine. A 1.1-liter turbocharged CRDi unit, this engine produces peak power of 75PS @ 4000 rpm and peak torque of 153 Nm @ 1900-2750rpm. Those figures are
just right for a small city car. The engine is mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox, although no automatic transmission options are available yet for the oil-burner unit. The engine is known to officially return more than 20kmpl
per liter of diesel.
Equipping the i10 with one of these diesel engines would help Hyundai fend off the challenge thrown in by the crop of new cars. Fans of Hyundai small cars’ reliability and practicality would only be too happy to have a
diesel option to choose from. Let’s hope the Korean carmaker brings the engine to India as soon as possible.