PARIS MOTOR SHOW: Hyundai i20 Coupe

Hyundai has provided the first look at its new i20 three-door via a sketch of what it calls the new-generation i20 Coupe, as well as full details and images of its second-generation i20 five-door.

While the latter has been confirmed to make its world debut at the Paris motor show on October 2, neither i20 model is guaranteed for release in Australia, where the existing i20 three-door and five-door range will continue on sale indefinitely.

As we reported earlier this week, Hyundai is struggling to establish an Australian business case for the new i20 hatch, which will be built exclusively in Turkey for export markets and won't go on sale here until 2016 at the earliest.

Although Hyundai is yet to confirm where the i20 Coupe will be released, it's likely to also hail from its Turkish plant, meaning the same exchange rate issues apply.

Indeed, Hyundai Motor Company Australia spokesman Bill Thomas told motoring.com.au the i20 Coupe is in the "same boat" as the i20 and the company is "looking at numbers" for both models.

Built in India, Australia's current i20 range is priced from $15,590 for the three-door, with the five-door starting at $16,590.

The new five-door would need to continue those price points – at most – to remain competitive in a burgeoning light-car class that now includes a $14,990 Honda Jazz and $15,990 Volkswagen Polo, and will soon be joined by facelifted Toyota Yaris and all-new Mazda2 models.

If the new i20 Coupe is positioned as a sportier, more premium version of the i20 five-door (rather than the price-leader as is currently the case), it would need to be priced well below the Veloster coupe (from $24,490).

Hyundai is also represented in the light-car class by the Accent sedan and five-door, both priced from $16,990. But while combined sales of the i30 hatch/wagon and Elantra saw Hyundai outsell the Mazda3 and Toyota Corolla in the small-car segment last month, the i20 continues to lead the light segment this year in its own right by a healthy margin.

Like the five-door, the i20 Coupe was designed, engineered and built in Germany. Apart from "indicating how the company's model range will grow beyond the recently revealed five-door version", the sketch reveals a more sharply raked roofline punctuated by a rear hatch spoiler, a wrap-around rear window and unique tail-light treatment.

No further details have been announced, but expect identical mechanicals to the five-door, full specifications for which have now been released.

While our i20 is powered solely by a 74kW/136Nm 1.4-litre petrol engine matched to either six-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmissions, Europe's new i20 will come with no fewer than five different Euro 6 emissions-compliant engines.

Among them are 56kW and 62kW versions of the old European i20's 1.25-litre Kappa petrol four, both offering 122Nm of torque, and a 75kW/134Nm 1.4. There will also be 56kW/180Nm 1.1-litre and 67kW/240Nm 1.4-litre diesel engines.

The small petrol engine will come only with a five-speed manual transmission and both diesels will have a six-speed manual, with only 1.4-litre petrol models offering a four-speed auto.

On sale in Europe from November, the MkII i20 is based on a new front-drive platform but still features MacPherson strut front and torsion-beam rear suspension, and electric power steering. Standard wheel sizes are 16-inch, in steel and aluminium.

It grows in all dimensions except height (which is down 16mm to 1490mm), with the wheelbase growing 45mm to 2525mm, length extending by 40mm to 3995mm and width gaining 24mm to 1710mm.

Hyundai claims that results in class-leading interior space and makes the new i20 a true five-seater, with 1892 mm of combined front and rear legroom, 33mm more front head room, 24mm more front legroom, 15mm more front shoulder room and a 10 per cent larger (326-litre) boot, extending to 1042 litres with the rear seats folded.

It says the car's sleeker new mini-i30 styling was influenced by contemporary interior design and lifestyle trends, and now features a hexagonal grille, bi-function headlights and LED daytime running lights.

Meantime, new soft-touch surfaces, piano-black inserts, chrome detailing, four colour options (Elegant Beige, Grey Blue, Cappuccino and Comfort Grey) and a new panoramic sunroof attempt to take the larger cabin more upmarket.

Hyundai says more extensive use of lightweight, high-strength steel yield stiffer torsional rigidity, improved ride quality, reduced core weight (now from 1040kg kerb) and less noise, vibration and harshness.

The body structure is composed of 42 per cent ultra high-strength steel (up from 16 per cent in the outgoing model) and features reinforcing loops in the B- and C-pillars and tailgate opening, upping torsional rigidity by no less than 81 per cent to 23.2kgf m2/rad.

Available new i20 technologies include lane departure warning, a seven-inch dashboard-integrated sat-nav screen, smartphone docking station, USB/Bluetooth connectivity, 1GB of music storage, 3.5-inch LEC instrument display, heated steering wheel, static bending headlights, automatic defog system, auto-folding mirrors and front/rear parking sensors.

The new i20 will be available in four trim levels in Europe: ‘Access', ‘Comfort', ‘Panorama' and ‘LED'.

Apart from a longer, wider footprint and 64 per cent greater overall body stiffness, new safety features include Emergency Stop Signal (ESS) system, which activates the hazard warning lights if a driver suddenly brakes heavily, Hill Start Assist Control (HAC) and tyre pressure monitoring.

Standard across the range is Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Vehicle Stability Management (VSM), six airbags, five seatbelt pre-tensioners and limiters, height-adjustable and sliding front head restraints, seatbelt reminders for all occupants, new Isofix child-seat anchors and automatic central locking.