Indian Autos Blog reported a couple of weeks ago that Hyundai was considering an automatic transmission for the Grand i10 diesel. The folks at FlyWheel now report saying that the launch of the Hyundai Grand i10 Diesel AT is on December 5th.
Apparently, Hyundai has already commenced production of the Grand i10 Diesel AT and the first cars would arrive in dealerships by the end of this month. However, deliveries will start only from early January.
The Grand i10 Diesel AT will be powered by the same 1.1-liter U2 CRDi engine. This three-cylinder unit is a smaller derivative of the four-cylinder 1.4-liter CRDi engine found on the i20. Power and torque outputs for the manual version are rated at 69 bhp and 15.6 kgm, and these are expected to continue unchanged for the automatic. The gearbox will be a four-speed unit, as opposed to a five-speed on the petrol car.
The Grand i10 Diesel AT if launched, will be the most affordable automatic diesel car in the country. Currently, this title is held by another Hyundai, the Verna diesel EX AT which is priced at INR 10.34 lakhs (ex-showroom, New Delhi), after which comes the Mahindra Scorpio VLX AT priced at 11.73 lakhs (ex-Showroom, New Delhi).
Prices for the Grand i10 Diesel AT are expected in the region of INR 7.5-9.5 lakhs, and at least two variants (Sportz and Asta) will be offered.
