The Hyundai i10 goes on a 10,000 km drive into history books.
Ten years. That’s how long Hyundai have been operating in India. Nearly 12 years ago, the Korean automaker signed a deal with the government of Tamil Nadu to construct a 1,50,000 a year capacity plant in Sriperumbudur. Now, with a state-of-the-art 6,00,000 a year capacity plant—of which more than half of the production last year was exported — Hyundai India today is just second to Maruti Suzuki in terms of production, and is fast catching up.
One product that has been responsible for Hyundai Motor India's meteoric rise is the i10. Since its launch in October 2007, Hyundai have managed to produce nearly 2,00,000 of these cars, a sizeable chunk of which have found their way to international markets. And now, to celebrate its 10th anniversary in the country, Hyundai have embarked on what it calls the i drive to Paris. Hyundai i10s, powered by the new 1.2-litre Kappa engine, will traverse a distance of roughly 10,000 kilometres to Paris, where the cars will make their grand entry to coincide with the Paris Motor Show.
The cars have already completed the leg from Delhi to their plant on the outskirts of Chennai, with the longer 8,000 kilometres having flagged off from Istanbul in Turkey. The two cars, driven by journalists from various auto publications and Hyundai officials, will cover ten countries, including Italy, Greece, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany, before reaching France.
The drive, that ends on September 29, will cover a wide number of cities in the above mentioned countries such as Ankara, Athens, Rome, Pisa, Milan, Vienna, Prague, Warsaw and Frankfurt. Partnering Hyundai on this drive are Mobis, Shell, Bridgestone, Mando and HSBC.
These cars will cover an average of 500 kilometres a day, driving through different terrain and roads. From autostradas in Italy to autobahns in Germany, the cars will face rather varying extremes. Over such a long distance, the i10 will go through high levels of strain and mechanical wear and tear, and with that, Hyundai hope to prove the abilities of its small car to a world audience.
BS Motoring will cover several legs of the drive in the coming weeks. Watch out for updates from our team as the i10 makes its way to Paris.