Hyundai EON Review

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South Korean car maker Hyundai, claimed to be world’s fastest growing automaker and fourth largest car manufacturer across the globe, has introduced its eight car and fourth hatchback-Hyundai EON in India. Within no time after its incorporation in 1996 in India Hyundai Motor India became the country’s second largest car manufacturer and it offers seven cars in India including three hatchbacks, three sedans and one SUV. The eight addition of a hatchback was earlier known as Hyundai HA and Hyundai 800 in car market. However the company started publicizing the name-EON soon after that. Hyundai EON is blowing trumpet left, right and centre with this three letter name which actually means ‘long period of time’. According to Hyundai ‘India is ON’ now with the advent of this bug-eyed hatchback.

Produced at Hyundai’s Chennai plant, the EON car has been conceived, designed and developed over four years, keeping the Indian consumer’s preferences in mind and is not a hurried result. Chennai-based Hyundai’s research and development team in Hyderabad worked in tandem with Hyundai’s R&D engineers in Korea to develop the Eon exclusively for the market in India. The new Hyundai small car is sure to stir competition in the under Rs 3 lakh price range as it is accorded with a starting price of Rs 2.69 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). It yells to be a close rival of cars from top player Maruti India and homegrown Tata Motors. It will be the arch enemy of Maruti’s bestselling car ‘Maruti Alto’ and will no doubt sit over Tata Nano. Although the car is launched the actual sales and acute competition will be visible after a few months only when the car will be perfectly perceived by the Indian audience. Being priced affordably, it will also prove to be an excellent option of people’s hatchback Maruti 800 which is thinking of a re-launch.

A hatchback by body built-up, EON is the lowest priced car by Hyundai in India running on and on and on at 21.1 kmpl mileage. It is powered by 814cc engine. The mighty petrol engine is packed in all 6 variants released at the time of launch and will manage to deliver maximum power of 56 bhp at 5,500 rpm which is quite enough to power a small hatch. What’s more interesting is that Hyundai Motors India unveiled 3 more new variants of Hyundai Eon, namely D-Lite plus, Era plus and Eon Magna plus in 2012. These variants are priced more than the corresponding variants but with more features on board. All these three variants are offered to the consumers in LPG options too. The company took a wise decision by launching LPG variants for the consumers as the fuel prices are amplifying with a super speed, which is preventing the people from buying petrol vehicles. These 3 variants are priced intelligently that it won’t burn a hole in your pocket. At this point of time, Hyundai Motors India tagged along with the policy of ‘Go Green’ and designed its LPG variants as a part of Hyundai’s Blue Drive range that is in the company of factory fitted individual 32 litre of petrol and 34 litres of LPG tanks, which make sure safety to the consumers together with a 2 year warranty.

Hyundai EON inherits its looks from Hyundai i10 but it is relatively smaller. At the same time it has some things in common to Hyundai Santro also. The new Hyundai car is much inspired by the company’s new Fluidic design platform also used in other cars of Hyundai. The front of Hyundai’s small car EON, similar to Hyundai Verna Fluidic, is much satisfactory with hexagonal grille and sweeping headlamps slanting towards back, while it has a side similar to Hyundai i10. It would seem to be too much of boasting but the wheel arches and shoulder line parallels Mercedes CLS Class in appearance. It shows-off an exclusive curvy rear with half-moonlike tail-lights to lure youngsters. The design revolution continues in the roomy interiors also, where there is a comfortable seating option for four persons.

In order to keep pricing in control, not plethora of features are given on EON but the list is certainly not condemnable. The higher end variants Magna and Sportz house advanced features such as power steering and power windows that can be operated with the touch of a button. Safety features including Anti-lock Braking System, EBD etc are missing from Hyundai EON although driver side airbag on EON Sportz ensures that EON is the safest car in its class. Amongst the new pricey variants of Hyundai Eon, the new D-Lite Plus model comes with powerful air conditioning system and power steering, which provides a terrific ride to the owner. On the other hand, Hyundai Eon Era Plus features central locking system, power windows while Hyundai Eon Magna Plus has 2-Din audio system with USB support that would make the ride much more entertaining and fun.

Following its low price, Hyundai has cut some features but surely stands on pedestal in front of Maruti 800 and Tata Nano who can be treated as mere audience in front of EON. The unique digital gear shift indicator helps attain maximum optimum gear usage and best possible fuel efficiency. Alternate Management System allows control of power supply to a battery depending on the load and thus reduces fuel consumption and improves entire performance. Now, what else an Indian buyer wants.