Hyundai i20 Coupe revealed

One of Hyundai's smallest cars has been enhanced with the addition of a sporty new cousin in the form of the i20 Coupe, revealed in Europe overnight at the company's Product Momentum showcase.

Sporting an athletic new look thanks to a 25mm lower roofline, angled pillars, a rear spoiler and a more assertive front end design, the i20 Coupe follows in the footsteps of the European-market i20 hatch launched at the 2014 Paris motor show held in October.

The i20 will be pitched as a sportier, more premium model compared to the i20 five-door model.

The good news is that the spunky little number shows that Hyundai is open to developing unique solutions to differentiate new models. The bad news is that it's about as likely to reach Australian soil as a North Korean ICBM.

Hyundai Australia's public relations general manager, Bill Thomas, told motoring.com.au "We’re looking at both [European] i20 [hatch and coupe] models and they are under consideration."

But he cautioned that the business case to make the vehicle viable at its current $15,590 entry-level price was challenging, with exchange rate issues clouding the situation.

"It's difficult to get the European-market i20 models for Australia," said Thomas, confirming the i20 Coupe is built exclusively in Europe.

He observed that Indian-sourced i20 vehicles would continue to be sold in Australia throughout 2015, which means the European-made i20 models – both Coupe and  hatch – are not on the agenda in the foreseeable future.

Another factor is the Indian-sourced i20's popularity. It is doing very good business for Hyundai in Australia as the top-selling vehicle in the light car segment, commanding 14.9 per cent market share for the first 11 months of 2014, for a total of 14,061 cars registered.

Previous years' sales leaders Mazda2 and Toyota Yaris are second and third-placed in 2014's sales race and are struggling to match the i20's pace, with 12.7 per cent (12,016 units) and 12.3 per cent (11,668 units) market share respectively.

European-spec i20 Coupes are powered by four engines, two diesel, two petrol, spanning 1.1- to 1.4-litres in capacity. Six-speed manual, plus five- and four-speed automatics are offered.

The new-look i20 Coupe is also tipped to be the first vehicle to get extreme engine and chassis enhancements via Hyundai's new 'N' high performance division.

As previously reported, Hyundai's head of powertrain engineering, Jurgen Grimm, said that a 250 horsepower – about 185kW – version of the 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine is tipped to be deployed in the i20 N, paying homage to the i20 World Rally car (WRC).

The updated i20 WRC was also unveiled at the same event as the i20 Coupe, albeit still covered in psychedelic camouflage.

This new rally car is still based on the four-door i20 body and won't be introduced until at least round six of the 2015 World Rally Championship. The 2016 Hyundai i20 WRC is expected to adopt the two-door i20 Coupe body shell, providing clues as to when the i20 N production car may emerge.

The regular i20 Coupe will be available in Europe from March 2015.