An updated version of the Hyundai i20 N hot hatch is about 12 months from showrooms – as Hyundai works to clear its backlog of orders in Australia.
A facelift for the Hyundai i20 N hot hatch is due in overseas showrooms later this year – and likely in Australia next year – as orders remain closed locally amid two-year wait times.
Former boss of Hyundai’s N performance division – now an executive technical advisor for Hyundai – Albert Biermann confirmed in a video on the Hyundai N Australia YouTube channel the facelifted i20 N is due for unveiling in the European summer of 2023 (June to August).
Australian launch dates are yet to be locked in, however Drive understands this timing could correlate to local showroom arrivals in early 2024.
This could see buyers at the back of the queue today – who were quoted wait times of up to two years when i20 N order books closed in July 2022 – take delivery of the updated model.
Mr Biermann has indicated changes for the 2024 model will be skin-deep – and the engine, transmission, suspension and other key mechanical components will likely remain unchanged.
“Yes, there will be a facelift. It’s coming next summer, so we need to wait a little bit. But on the technical side, you don’t need to be afraid, it’s still the crazy corner rascal it is [today],” Mr Biermann said.
Mr Biermann told Drive at a media conference in September: “The mid-life update is not too crazy because … we have still supply issues, we still cannot build enough cars to meet demand.
“Why spend a fortune on a car that you cannot get enough of anyway? Of course we will do the typical stuff, try to bring more emotions with the facelift. We will bring something.”
The Hyundai executive poured cold water on any possibility of changes to mechanical components such as the suspension. ruled out the option of a dual-clutch automatic transmission, due to the development cost, and its weight.
As reported by Drive in December 2022, the future of the i20 N beyond the current generation – with turbo-petrol power – remains under a cloud.
Mr Biermann confirmed a new i20 range is in development for Europe – but said the N division is struggling to get Hyundai management to sign off on a new, petrol-powered i20 N.
“We need a strong voice for i20 N. I need a strong voice from everywhere. As you know, the trend in the industry, all the small cars are dying,” he told media at the Hyundai N Festival in South Australia last month.
“I’m not saying i20 N will die. I’m not saying i20 will die. There will be an i20 successor, but we have a tough time to get commitments for a [new] i20 N, which is ridiculous.
“We can never get enough [of the current i20 N]. The whole [production] plan was just wrong, and now with the semiconductor limitations and so on … we are sold out in Germany with i20 Ns two months ago, [now] we will not get new cars until next summer [Australia’s winter],” the executive said.
It is now known the “next summer” date referred to the launch of the facelifted i20 N.
The arrival of a facelifted Hyundai i20 N in Europe in mid 2023 – and likely in Australia in early 2024 – may seem early given the original i20 N did not go on sale in Australia until mid 2022.
However, the regular i20 hatchback it is based on launched in Europe two years earlier – and would be three years old by the time the i20 N facelift arrives.
Updated i20 N prototypes are yet be spied testing on the road, however the regular model has been photographed testing in camouflage in South Korea (images via Autospy).
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