20120702

All-new Hyundai Elantra spotted testing again


It's been just more than a week since we spotted the all-new Hyundai Elantra on its test run near Sriperumbudur on the Chennai-Bangalore National Highway (NH4). Along with a whole lot of images, we also had a fairly detailed write-up giving our readers a honest opinion of what we felt about the car. We are sure that most of the enthusiasts around would agree to our thoughts. Now, thanks to a pal, here is another snap of the car taken sometime last week. Looking at the car, its registration plate and the background, we think that this snap might have also been taken at exactly the same location as one of our spy-shots and on the same day too. But, being someone with no particular inclination towards cars, here is what he said over the phone: "I have just sent you a picture of a Hyundai test car. It looked very similar to the 'fluidic' Verna and I think it's a new variant of the Verna".

As we already stated in our earlier post, the new Elantra looks stunning, is expected to be powered by a powerful petrol and a stonker of a diesel engine, might be fully loaded with many segment-first features, topping these off with a plush ride and not-so-sporty handling. But, will the 'Fluidic Sculpture' that has been a major factor of growth for Hyundai in recent years, be its nemesis too? Obviously, people buying an Elantra (or a Sonata) would not like their rides being referred to as a Verna. Will Hyundai be able to overcome the dual challenge of its not-so-high brand image and the similarity to the Verna and make the Elantra a success in India? We really hope it does. Hyundai should probably take a cue from companies like Volkswagen or Audi that have multiple models looking exactly similar to each other but still are individually successful in their own right.

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