Hyundai Grand i10 sedan arrives as practical alternative

Hyundai SA is right up there at No 4 behind Toyota, VW and Suzuki in the overall vehicle sales race. To play at the top of the charts, you must have a multitude of well-priced products to offer.

Looking to add to their comprehensive product portfolio, the Korean carmaker have just added another small slice by launching the Hyundai Grand i10 Sedan. The Citizen Motoring got to spend a week with this practical newcomer.

The first question is a business one and you might ask why Hyundai would bother bringing in a compact sedan to a segment exploding in terms of SUVs and declining in terms of sedans? Easy. They have the car, and there are still a couple of thousand sedans being sold in this segment each year.

If you can sell more cars, why wouldn’t you take the money?

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Not the most attractive segment

There is no easy way to say this next part, but I asked myself who in their right mind would look at the Grand i10 Sedan and decide this is the car they desire most. This is not a great-looking sedan in any traditional sense, but in saying that, none in this segment are: not the Suzuki Dzire, the VW Polo Sedan, the Kia Pegas, the Proton Saga, the Honda Amaze and the Suzuki Ciaz.

What they are is practical by offering a lot of luggage space via four doors and a boot.

The interior of the Hyundai Grand i10 Sedan offers a fair amount of tech at this level in terms of an eight-inch touchscreen infotainment centre that is compatible with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, while also reflecting pictures from the rear-view camera when the car is in reverse.

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Plenty of features

A multi-function steering wheel with cruise control buttons as well as remote control buttons for the infotainment sound system, telephone, electric windows, mirrors are also offered as standard.

There are three cell phone charging options in the middle console: a modern USB-C, conventional 12V and a USB port, and a centre console for the rear passengers which contains air vents and a USB charging port for added convenience.

The drive is provided by the trusty 1.2-litre Kappa four-cylinder naturally aspirated engine, that produces 61kW of power and 114Nm through a clunky five-speed manual gearbox down to the front wheels.

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Hyundai Grand i10 easy on the juice

None of its rivals produce fireworks, so don’t expect the Grand i10 Sedan to do so, but you can expect a more than decent fuel consumption number of under 6.0 litres per 100 kilometres.

Priced at R285 500, the Hyundai Grand i10 Fluid Sedan doesn’t really represent great value for money when compared to its rivals, coming in as the second most expensive to the R60 000 more expensive VW Polo. It does have the best warranty, but the smallest service plan.

In terms of power, it is outgunned by all except the Suzuki Dzire. And it stays off the bottom of the list by pipping only the Suzuki Dzire, which is about R60 000 cheaper, in terms of boot space.