Despite tremendous growth in the sedan segment in the Indian car market, Hyundai shelved the 4th generation of its Elantra couple of years back as it failed to generate anticipated sales. The failure of the car can be attributed to its lack-lustre appeal, which failed to strike a chord with the Indian buyers who preferred a more contemporary design and stylish interiors. At the time of its shelving, fuel prices had not been hiked yet and the sedan offered good mileage. However, that did not suffice and the model failed despite the car maker offering an attractive rebate on its price.
In spite of dismal performance, Hyundai promised to make a comeback. After a few years, the Elantra sedan has returned in a new fluidic avatar, a platform which is being shared by the entire range of the car maker. The new car adopts an aggressive stance, with its coupé inspired body lines, pronounced character lines, stretched headlights & tail-lights and sculpted wheel arches. The main highlight of the car, however, is the 16 inch alloy wheels with 205/60 R16 tyres which accentuate the overall look of the sedan. By deviating from the contemporary design culture and exploring beyond, Hyundai has managed to overcome the main reason of the failure of previous model of Elantra.
The car maker will offer the D-segment sedan with both petrol and diesel powertrains. Though Elantra is sold as a petrol car in the rest of the world, India is the first to receive the diesel version. The diesel variant will be powered by the 1.6 litre Common Rail Direct Injection (CRDI) turbo-diesel unit, which is built to deliver 126 bhp of peak power and 260 Nm of maximum torque. The petrol variant is run by the 1.8 litre unit, which is capable of producing 148 bhp of maximum power and 180 Nm of peak torque. These variants are expected to be available in both manual as well as automatic transmission.
The new car comes with a moderately capacious cabin space and a comfortable leg room; however, the sloping roof-line does compromise a bit on the head room in the rear. The overall look of the car is the proof of Hyundai's efforts to please the buyers, especially after the failure of the previous model.
Hyundai has also improved the overall package of the car, incorporating features like dual zone climate control, ventilated front seats, high end audio system with AUX/iPod and Bluetooth connectivity as well as rear seat audio controls. Other significant features enhancing the drive experience include steering mounted audio and cruise controls, a cooled glove box, an electro-chromic rear view mirror with rear view camera, rear parking sensors and rear air conditioning vents.
In terms of safety features, the sedan boasts of six airbags, Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), vehicle stability management (VSM) as well as electronic stability control (ESC). Considering the overall package, including features and looks, the new refreshed D-segment sedan is expected to bring good news for the South Korean brand.
