Hyundai i10

The latest addition to the company's range is the i10, a new-age baby car that will be manufactured in Hyundai's plant in Chennai, India, as well as in Korea.

It will be exported to over 70 countries, but there's no official word yet as to whether Australia will be among these. It seems unlikely, as the micro-car class has never been a high-volume proposition in Oz.

The Getz is currently Hyundai's entry-level car in Oz (with a starting price of $13,990), and there seems little value in undercutting this with an even smaller model.

The i10 measures a diminutive 3565mm long, 1595mm wide and it has a 2380mm wheelbase. These dimensions mean it will be targeted primarily at the Asian and Euro markets, where demand for baby cars is booming.

Motive power for the i10 comes from a 1.1-litre engine with a towering 49kW, and there's also a 1.2-litre turbo-diesel unit.

The i10 will be one the better equipped baby cars originating from an Indian factory as standard kit across the range includes air-con, front power windows, central locking, power steering, alloy wheels, body-coloured bumpers and a CD player.

In Europe, the i10 will lock horns with the likes of the Toyota Aygo/Citroen C1/Peugeot 107 triplets, although it's slightly larger than this trio.

The i10 is the second car (after the i30) to feature Hyundai's 'i'-prefixed naming protocol, and still to come are the i20 (which will replace the Getz), i40 (Sonata replacement) and i50 (Grandeur replacement).

Although undoubtedly inspired by Apple's iPod, Hyundai's new naming strategy is also conceivably a ploy to mimic the alphanumeric model designations of Euro carmakers such as Mercedes-Benz and Volvo.