Speculation for Advanced Users
The Hyundai i30 has had a very long run. The current model has been around for almost ten years, and Hyundai has not yet commented on a successor. The new Hyundai Elantra could very well be its long-awaited successor.
Despite the current, and already third, generation Hyundai i30 being ten years old this year, Hyundai recently brought a new 1.6 T-GDI petrol engine to the model. However, the delivery range has been greatly thinned out. The i30 Hatchback is now only available in one version, and the i30 Wagon’s delivery range is also just a shadow of what it once was. The Hyundai i30 is on its last legs, but the brand has said nothing about a successor. AutoWeek suspects that the i30 could very well be replaced by the Elantra. That requires an explanation.
The Kia Ceed – the i30’s cousin – will be succeeded by a brand-new model with a model name that is at least as new to us Europeans: K4. The Kia K4, which will come to the Netherlands as a Hatchback and a Sportswagon, is an international model also sold in the United States, among other places. A significant difference from the i30, which was specifically developed for Europe. The wrapped new Hyundai Elantra is the technical equivalent of the new Kia K4. It could therefore very well be that Hyundai decides to bring the new Elantra to Europe as well. For now, we only see the Elantra as a sedan. Should the Elantra indeed come our way, Hyundai could develop other body variants for it. A hatchback and a station wagon would find more eager buyers in Europe than a sedan.
For now, the new Elantra is always a sedan. In Europe, a hatchback and station wagon would do much better.
In terms of naming, the Elantra also fits the Dutch picture. Hyundai carries few model names starting with an ‘i-‘. The i40, ix20, and ix35 have been gone for years and have been successively replaced by the Optima, Bayon, and Tucson. The i10 is out of production, and the i20 has also been around for a while. A generation change is a good moment to more or less harmonize the naming internationally again. Also, European, and thus Dutch, car buyers are certainly still familiar with the model name Elantra. Before the i30 was a thing, Hyundai’s compact mid-range car in Europe was already called that. The first two generations of the model, which was internationally called Elantra, were known as Lantra in Europe.
For now, we are purely speculating, but the above would fit well into the current Hyundai picture. The fact that the prototype of the new Hyundai Elantra was spotted in Europe only strengthens the suspicions. The current Elantra was presented in 2020 and underwent a thorough facelift in 2023. There’s even a fierce N-version of it!