To make way for all new Santro, reportedly.
Although it was a rumor for the past few days, it now seems confirmed that HMIL has discontinued production of the Hyundai i10 hatchback (not to be confused with the Hyundai Grand i10).
Team-BHP has acquired images of a black Hyundai i10 base variant that, according to its source, is the last i10 produced at HMIL's factory, marking the end of i10's nine year production run. Few of the factors attributing to the i10's discontinuation are low sales figures lately (average of 2,000 cars p.m) that is nowhere near close to the Grand i10's figures (over 11,000 units p.m), free up production capacity for other models, and reportedly, to make way for an all-new Santro.
Before the Grand i10 arrived, the i10 hatchback was available with the 1.2L four cylinder Kappa engine, sold as a more refined and powerful option to the 1.1L 4-cyl iRDE petrol engine. Since it bigger sibling was launched, the i10 was only sold with the latter option, which produced 66 PS. The Chennai plant was the global sourcing hub for the i10, but with the arrival of the second-gen i10 in 2013, European production shifted to Turkey. HMIL continued making the first gen i10 for India and few export markets.
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In its heyday, the i10 averaged a sales figure of 8,000-9,000 units per month, and posed a real threat to Maruti Suzuki's top selling products Wagon R and Ritz.
[Source: Team-BHP]
