“Our future Hyundai i10 will boast Italian-inspired style”, Thomas Bürkle, head of design for Hyundai Europe, confided in us – with a wink – during a recent event. At the latter, the history of the brand was traced, beginning with a virtuoso (and forgotten) work by Giorgetto Giugiaro: the 1974 Hyundai Pony. At first, it seemed like a simple homage to the ingenious father of Italdesign, but the aesthetics of the latest i10 (heir of the version launched in 2013) truly revives a sensation that is both dynamic and clean, and close to Italian taste. Observing it on the road during the dynamics test, in the countryside around Brescia, proved to be a pleasant confirmation of this.
It is no coincidence that the configuration is the work of Davide Varenna of Milan, the young senior exteriors designer. He has proven capable of imprinting a bright, fresh note on a vehicle body that has essentially unchanged proportions – if you exclude the scant 20 mm fewer in height, the same number added to the width, and the extra 40 mm in the wheelbase’s length. Clean, taught lines, without excesses, run the length of the bodywork and, according to those who created them, accompany the softer volumes “like the texture of technical wear compared with the musculature of an athlete”.
Ten well chosen colours, three of which have never been seen before, complete the project. With the addition of two chromatic offerings for a contrasting roof (black or red, as an alternative, of course, to the mono-colour versions), 22 exciting combinations have been conceived, to be paired with the five palettes in which the seats and dashboard are offered. In total, there are around sixty variations on offer.
But the real surprise, that the public will only learn of in May 2020, is called N Line: an unprecedented sporty version that is morphologically much tougher, thanks to the unique daytime-running lights and, above all, to the front bumpers that enhance its width. The i10 will truly light up with Latin dynamism.
