The Hyundai i30 hatch may be approaching a decade on sale and there’s no replacement in sight – but the brand isn’t giving up on its popular model yet.
The bad news for small car fans is hatchback sales continue to decline globally, meaning an all-new model is unlikely. The good news is recent spy photos from Europe suggest an updated model is on the way.
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Camouflaged i30 wagons have been spotted in Europe, pointing to changes underneath that the brand doesn’t want us to see yet. The extent of these changes remains unclear, with the i30 already having gone through two rounds of updates over its nine years already.
Our sources suggest the changes are actually very minor, so minor it cannot be considered a genuine ‘update’ but rather just rolling model year changes. However, the very fact that Hyundai continues to invest in the European-sourced i30 hatch is great news for fans of the i30 N hot hatch.
Any changes, regardless of how minor they are, will likely require multiple years on sale to justify the investment. This means Hyundai Australia will be in a position to continue offering the i30 N and N Line variants for at least the short-term future.
Hyundai Australia CEO Ron Romano recently told Torquecafe that while the Australian market is still relatively strong for small hatchbacks, globally it is hard to make a business case. He effectively ruled out any replacement for the i30 in the long-term, as compact SUVs takeover.
“Well, what’s interesting [is] I’ve done a lot of work for New Zealand prior to this,” said Romano, who came to Australia after a long and successful stint at Hyundai Canada. “I was on the board of directors for Hyundai New Zealand, which is an independent distributor. And reaching out to them, asked them how many i30 hatches could they take? And they said, zero. It’s not a seller in New Zealand. There’s no demand for it in North America. There’s no demand for it in Canada.
“Hatches are just more popular here because I think the conditions are very specific here with small parking places and tight roads where it really makes sense to open that back [hatch] and put your supermarket groceries in or your luggage or whatever it is. You can easily put it in and out. In Canada we go through the side doors, here you need to go through the back, so SUV or if it’s a car with a hatch, it serves the same purpose.”
Romano indicated Hyundai Australia will keep the i30 N Line, i30 N and i20 N for as long as demand allows. Which is likely to be on-going as the N performance products remain amongst the brand’s best performers.
As we recently reported, Hyundai has confirmed that replacements for the i20 N and i30 Sedan N are confirmed and will have either petrol or hybrid powertrains, not all-electric like the Ioniq 5 N and Ioniq 6 N.
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