Peugeot 108, Citroën C1, SEAT Mii, Volkswagen Up? Disappeared. Renault Twingo, Ford Ka, Skoda Citigo? Disappeared. Opel Adam/Karl, Ford Fiesta? Disappeared. Shall we continue? Suzuki Baleno, Nissan Pulsar, Volvo C30? Disappeared. Ford Focus, Kia Rio, Audi A1? Soon ! These last years most manufacturers have drastically reduced their range. Mini city cars, city cars and even some compact sedans were removed from the catalog. A replacement is not planned, at least in the same form. Some decided to give them offspring in the form of a crossover, with the false appearance of adventurers. Others simply deleted them. preferring to focus on larger, higher-margin models…. And then there’s Hyundai, which continues to put faith in its entry-level models.

European assortment

The manufacturer understood very early the importance of adapting their models to the European market which he introduced in the late 80s. Atos Prime, Accent then Elantra from the very beginning, thus giving way to more Europeanized models in the 2000s. 2007 i30, 2008 i10, i20 (replacement of the already European Getz) in 2009. At the same time, Hyundai was developing SUVs (Santa Fe, Tucson, Kona), people carriers (Matrix, iX20, Journey) and sedans (i40, IONIQ…).

Over the years, the brand has positioned itself in most niches, and it has paid off. In 2022, it won a 4.6% market share on the Old Continent, the highest rate in its history! Where French car market fell nearly 7% in 2022, Hyundai went against the wind by offering itself a 0.4% increase over 2021 to reach 3.1% of the market.

i10, i20, i30: on the verge of replacement

The brand is healthy in Europe, and continues to multiply new products (Kona, IONIQ 6, restyled Tucson, etc.). And unlike most of its competitors, it has no plans to give up small cars anytime soon. Director of the European branch of Hyundai, Michael Colethus confirming “reluctance to turn away from any group of buyers”. Therefore, the i10, i20 and i30 will have a future, it remains to be seen how this will affect the product roadmap. We know that the niche of small city cars (i10, i20) is becoming increasingly difficult.

Will Hyundai decide to give them more of a crossover look in the future? Distributing, for example (in the case of the i10) a low-cost Indian crossover like the Venue or the Creta? Citroën is also looking into its low-cost C3. We do it ourselves less worries about the i30which is located in category of mothers in Europe : segment C, which has a better margin than segments A and B i10 and i20.