Igniting new passion in entry-level cars

Looks matter Eon is the cheapest car from Hyundai, but its styling and features stand out

This is why most entry-level cars keep just the bare minimum needed to offer as the focus is more on “most affordable price” rather than style or other features. But now there is a welcome change as Hyundai Motor India, the second largest car maker in the country after Maruti Suzuki, has launched ‘Eon’ an entry-level car that has a sleek design and can boast of a few interesting features we normally don’t see in such cars.

Re-configured engine

But before we look at the features that set Eon apart from the rest in the same class, let us discuss the performance of the car from the driving perspective. At a time when the small car makers are de-emphasising cars with engines smaller than 1000 cc – Maruti is phasing out Maruti 800 and is stressing more on its one litre (1000 cc) K-series engine, Hyundai has launched Eon with 800 cc petrol engine.

Hyundai’s Eon has a 0.8 litre iRDE engine delivering 56PS@5500rpm of maximum power and 7.65 Kgm @4000 rpm of peak torque. Although it is the same engine the company uses in its popular car Santro, the engine for Eon has been tweaked to give more power. What is means is that the 814cc petrol engine, mated to a 5-speed manual transmission has become more efficient in terms of power and fuel efficiency, a major obsession of the Indian buyer. The company claimed that Eon gives a mileage of 21.1kmpl as per the ARAI figures, making it the most fuel-efficient car in the segment. In my test drive, however, I could not precisely measure the fuel efficiency of the car.

Driving the Eon out of Bangalore through some hilly terrain and flat highways with four passengers, I found that for an entry-level car it delivers sufficient power on lower gears and slowly picks up speed even on higher gears thanks to a flat torque can. But this older generation engine will disappoint if you are used to the refinement of Hyundai’s new generation one litre Kapa engine used in its hugely popular petrol i10. The primary reason Hyundai re-engineered the older engine, mainly for the Indian market, was to keep the cost low. “We deliberately did not scale down a Kapa engine to 0.8 litre only to keep the cost low,” said a Hyundai marketing official. For the same reason of using the older generation transmission, gear shift is not as effortless as in many new generation cars.  

The power and the torque also make it easy driving on a congested, bumper to bumper city drive. But those who want the kick from quick acceleration – useful for fast overtaking, shifting to appropriate gear is must. Ideally, one should always shift to lower gears when overtaking a fast vehicle on the highway to get the thrust of more power and quick acceleration.

The Eon engine also allows you to use the aircon, without much drag, cutting out the noise from honking maniacs on our roads and the obnoxious fumes that many vehicles (including autos that use spiked fuel) belch out. Of course, the added benefit is that you enjoy your favourite music in a cool and quiet cabin.

Just to make sure that an entry level car will not have to have a boring look, Hyundai’s design and development centre at Namyang in South Korea has worked in sync with its Hyderabad-based R&D centre to firm up on the fluidic design of Eon. This design, which first appeared on the Hyundai’s new sedan Verna, has a fresh, appealing look normally not seen by the entry-level segment customer. Since most customers in this segment are young, buying their first car, Eon has a distinctive sporty and youthful profile with low roofline. Eon also boasts of rich interiors with comfortable leg space normally not seen in high compact segment cars. In its class, the company claims, Eon has widest and longest body, longer wheel space and largest boot space. It also has multiple bottle and cup holders, a spacious glove box and practically designed dashboard for storing small utility items.

Other interesting features, in some variants of Eon are: front power windows, internally adjustable mirrors, tilt steering, keyless entry, remote fuel & tail gate opening, central locking, front door full armrest, front room lamp, rear seatbelt knuckle holder, rear speaker grill and rear parcel tray. The higher variant Eon is loaded with an infotainment system which comes with a 2-DIN integrated type audio with features like Radio/CD/MP3/USB/Aux-in/i-Pod connectivity.

Pricing strategy

As an entry-level and the cheapest car from the company, Eon is priced lower than Santro (so far Hyundai’s cheapest) in all comparable segments. While the base level variant D-Lite at Rs 2.73 lakh ex-showroom price in Bangalore is the cheapest, it comes without AC and power steering. Hyundai expects this variant to sell well in the B and C class cities, where people are extremely price sensitive and normally do not drive for long distances. But for the customers in the big cities the variants that will probably see maximum tractions are Era and Magna, with power steering, AC and other features, whose ex-showroom prices in Bangalore are Rs 3.19 lakh and 3.41 lakh, about Rs 25,000 cheaper than Santro with almost similar features.

Though the Eon Era is priced about 10 per cent more than Maruti Alto LXI, both are fitted with an older generation engine, AC and power steering, Hyundai claims that Era offers higher features like the body coloured bumper, manual transmission shift indicator, integrated rear spoiler, remote tailgate release lever etc. Hyundai claimed  Eon also scores over Alto in terms of higher mileage, power, torque and superior AC cooling. Its larger wheel base results in better interior space (leg room space, shoulder room space & head room space, etc.) and luggage room space in Eon is around 23 per cent more than Alto (215 litres vs 170 litres).

Safety aspects

Eon also offers high-end safety features in higher variants, unseen in low compact segment cars like driver’s airbag, front fog lamps and an immobiliser that prevents the car from starting without the correct key. It has also incorporated an interesting feature called ‘Alternator Management System’ (AMS), developed by Hyundai especially for Indian customers, to deliver more eco-efficient driving.

It controls the power supply to the battery to relieve the engine workload and reduces fuel consumption & emissions while decelerating and idling. Additionally, the manual shift indicator in Eon prompts the driver whenever a gear shift is required. “Thus together the AMS and gear shift indicator ensures better fuel economy and extended battery life, adding to customer’s benefit.,” Hyundai spokesperson said. Eon comes in six variants and six colours.