SPY PICS: New Hyundai i20

Hyundai’s second-generation i20 has been spied testing in Europe about a year before its official release there late next year.

Due on sale in Australia in 2015, the new i20 will also form the basis of Hyundai’s World Rally Championship assault that year, following its debut in 2014 with the current i20, which will be piloted in part by Australia’s Chris Atkinson.

The existing i20 replaced the Getz as Hyundai’s cheapest model in Australia in July 2010 and is currently priced from $15,590.

Australia’s i20 is produced in India and competes with light-size B-segment hatchbacks including the top-selling Toyota Yaris, Mazda2, Holden Barina, Ford Fiesta, Honda Jazz, Mitsubishi Mirage, Nissan Micra, Suzuki Swift and the Rio from sister Korean brand Kia.

However, motoring.com.au understands its successor will be sourced from either Turkey or the Czech Republic in Europe, which will also provide our i30 three-door and ix35 SE, in addition to the i30 wagon.

As is the case currently, different versions of the i20 will be produced for markets inside and outside Europe, and the model to again be built in India is unlikely to achieve the five-star crash safety standard now expected in Australia.

Hyundai will announce details of its next i20 in the second quarter of next year, but these Automedia spy shots reveal a far more stylish design comprising a sportier, more wedge-shaped profile with a lower roofline and rising shoulder line.

Indeed, the new i20 appears to have hit the stair-master, as this prototype presents a more muscular, better defined rear-end than the existing model’s smooth and flat derriere. The new rear-end is accentuated by a subtle but effective roof spoiler, which adds to the sporty new look.

Although heavily covered up, the i20 sports a new trapezoid grille and slimmer, ‘angrier’ headlights on what appears to be a much wider front-end, giving Hyundai’s newest hatch a much more aggressive stance compared to the current i20.

The new i20 could be the first Hyundai design influenced by new design chief Peter Schreyer. Hyundai will reveal its new design direction at the 2014 Geneva motor show next March via the Intrado concept, a sketch of which was released earlier this month.

Like the second-generation i10, which remains a chance to be sold in Australia too, the MkII i20 will be bigger in all key dimensions thanks to a wheelbase that will grow from its current 2525mm, bringing more passenger space and improved stability.

In an effort to leverage its massive investment in the WRC, the i20 expected to be the first new Hyundai to receive the N treatment, providing the Korean car-maker with a rival for hot-hatches like the Fiesta ST.

Expect the N-badged i20 to be powered by Hyundai’s 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine, as seen in the Veloster Turbo, and developed by the company’s motorsport arm, based at Alzenau in Germany.

Hyundai hopes to sell 100,000 B-segment cars annually in Europe, where 90 per cent of them will be built, and the next i20 will be a key player in that goal. As part of its Product Momentum 2017 business, Hyundai says it will release 22 new models in the next four years.

Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site...

Don't forget to register to comment on this article.