Hyundai Automotive South Africa says it would “love” to bring in the new i20 N hot hatch but admits pricing could prove a major stumbling block.

Stanley Anderson, sales and operations director at Hyundai Automotive SA, told local media that pricing would be key, pointing out the new hot hatch would be built in Turkey.

“We’re not importing any vehicles at the moment from Turkey,” he said during the local launch of the new Grand i10.

“Obviously, we’d like to expand the N range but [the i20 N] has got to be reasonably priced. We’d definitely love to bring it in – that is the intention – but [pricing] is the only challenge,” Anderson said.

Of course, Hyundai SA imports the standard i20 from India rather than Europe, with the latter continent having already moved to a new generation of the hatchback.

The Korean firm’s local arm launched the i30 N – which is produced in the Czech Republic – in limited numbers in February 2020, almost three years after it hit the international stage.

As a reminder, the new i20 N features a turbocharged 1,6-litre petrol engine mated to the front axle via a six-speed manual gearbox. The four-cylinder unit delivers 150 kW and 275 N.m, which Hyundai says is enough for a 0‑100 km/h sprint of 6,7 seconds and a top speed of 230 km/h.

Original article from Car