Hyundai's New Diesel Car To Challenge Swift

Updated: Thursday, January 31, 2013, 17:25 [IST]

Hyundai Motors appears to be desperate to wrest back lost market share in India. The Korean carmaker is developing a new car under the code name BA that will be aimed at the segment leader, Maruti Suzuki Swift.

The Hyundai BA will be available with both diesel and petrol options. Some say the car will be replacement of the current i10 as there have been reports about a i10 diesel being launched in the next couple of years. The Hyundai BA could also be an all new car placed between the i10 and the i20.

The Hyundai BA will be styled in the by now familiar Fluidic design language. It will be powered by a 1.2-litre petrol engine and more importantly a 1.1-litre diesel. Hyundai developed the BA at its R&D Centre in Korea. Engineers from Hyundai Motors India have also been involved in the development of the BA.

The Hyundai BA has already completed its initial development phase and is being tested in South Korea. Reports say Hyundai's Swift Challenger could be launched in India as soon as this year's festive season.

Hyundai is expected the BA to generate annual sales of 1.5 lakh units within two years of its launch. The launch of the Hyundai BA will expand the carmaker's small car portfolio in India to five cars. Hyundai currently sells the Eon, Santro, i10 and i20 compact cars in India.

The compact car segment in India has been dominated by the Maruti Suzuki Swift. The Swift has jumped two places in India's best selling cars list and has reached the second spot in 2012. Hyundai is looking at the combination of the BA and the i20 to pose a serious challenge to the Swift's dominance.

We have been reporting about a new Hyundai car that could be the new i10. The car could also be the Hyundai BA. Here are images of this new Hyundai car.

Hyundai BA

This is an image of the new Hyundai car that could be the Ba. Flip through images of the spy shots of the car shared by Carscoop.com

Hyundai BA

Hyundai will be looking at a greater boost to its market share once its new diesel engine plant becomes operational by the end of 2013. It is also considering to develop a compact SUV and an MPV that will help improve sales further. The company is aiming to sell more than 4 lakh cars in 2013.