Hyundai is set to fire a new shot in the fray at the bottom end of the SUV market.
The heavily disguised car pictured here, courtesy of the spy photographers at Automedia, is the ix25 – an SUV cut from the same cloth as the Ford EcoSport, Holden Trax, Peugeot 2008 and Renault Captur. Automedia discovered the ix25 undergoing cold-weather tests in Scandinavia, ahead of the car's introduction at the Beijing motor show in April.
According to the spy photographers, the SUV is based on the next-generation i20 platform, but will reach the market before the light passenger car, which will be seen for the first time at the Paris motor show in October.
The ix25 is to be built in China by a joint venture formed by Hyundai and the Beijing Automotive Group.
Hyundai in Australia couldn't cast any light on the prospects of the ix25 making it to Australia.
"It's too early to say..." said Bill Thomas, Hyundai Australia's Public Relations General Manager.
"We don't have enough information about that product to make any sort of decision yet."
Mr Thomas acknowledged that the ix25 would not necessarily eat into sales of the ix35 in Australia, being significantly smaller. Presumably any decision to bring the ix25 here will rest in part on the market acceptance of other SUVs in the same niche.
– with Automedia
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