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Hyundai Is Bringing the i20 N Back—and the Hot Hatch Revival Starts Here

For years, the affordable hot hatch seemed destined for extinction. Emissions regulations, shrinking demand, and the industry’s relentless march toward electrification claimed icons one after another, leaving enthusiasts with fewer choices than ever. But Hyundai is about to throw a very welcome wrench into that narrative.

The Korean automaker has confirmed that the i20 N is making a comeback, signaling a renewed commitment to accessible performance cars and proving that there is still room for lightweight, driver-focused machines in an increasingly electrified world.

And if Hyundai’s engineers have their way, the next i20 N won’t simply pick up where the old one left off—it aims to be even faster.

Hyundai’s Best Driver’s Car Returns

When the original i20 N arrived in 2021, it immediately established itself as one of the most entertaining front-wheel-drive cars on sale. Armed with a 201-hp turbocharged engine, a six-speed manual transmission, and a mechanical limited-slip differential, it delivered the kind of playful, confidence-inspiring handling that made every back road feel like a rally stage.

It was a genuine rival to the Ford Fiesta ST, Mini Cooper S, and Volkswagen Polo GTI, offering sharp steering, an eager chassis, and an unmistakably analog driving experience.

Then, just three years later, it disappeared.

Hyundai shifted its performance focus toward electric models like the Ioniq 5 N and the newly unveiled Ioniq 6 N, leaving a sizeable gap between its mainstream lineup and its flagship N performance cars. While those EVs have earned widespread praise, they also occupy a completely different price bracket, with entry costs approaching £65,000 in the UK.

Now Hyundai admits that gap has become impossible to ignore.

A Car for the Fans

Speaking about the company’s future plans, Hyundai Global R&D boss Manfred Harrer made it clear that bringing back an entry-level N model isn’t simply a business decision—it’s a necessity.

“The gap is too big,” Harrer explained, emphasizing that an i20 N for Europe is “a must.”

His reasoning is easy to understand. The N brand built its reputation by delivering attainable performance, and without a compact, affordable model, younger enthusiasts have been left watching from the sidelines.

“We need this entry-level back for our fans,” Harrer said, adding that Hyundai is working “intensively” to make it happen sooner rather than later.

Suddenly, the Last Petrol Hot Hatch Standing

Ironically, the new i20 N will return to a segment that has almost disappeared.

The Ford Fiesta ST is gone. The Volkswagen Polo GTI’s future remains uncertain in many markets. Manufacturers across Europe have abandoned small petrol performance cars in favor of electrification and lower fleet emissions.

That leaves the Mini Cooper S as virtually the only traditional hot supermini still standing.

Instead of battling familiar rivals, Hyundai’s newest N model will find itself competing with an entirely new generation of performance cars, including electric alternatives such as the Alpine A290, Volkswagen ID Polo GTI, and Peugeot e-208 GTi.

It’s a very different battlefield—but perhaps one that gives the i20 N an even stronger identity.

Hybrid Power, Nürburgring Ambitions

Hyundai isn’t revealing technical specifications just yet, but Harrer dropped some intriguing hints.

Rather than developing an entirely new engine, the company is expected to build upon its existing 1.6-liter four-cylinder hybrid technology. However, don’t mistake that for a fuel-economy exercise.

Hyundai’s engineers are already focused on extracting every ounce of performance from the system.

“I want to go to the Nürburgring and do really successful lap times—better than the existing one,” Harrer said.

That statement suggests the hybrid system won’t merely exist to satisfy emissions regulations but will be carefully calibrated to deliver consistent performance under demanding conditions, with battery management playing a crucial role.

If executed correctly, the result could combine instant electric torque with the character and engagement that made the original i20 N such a standout driver’s car.

Still an N at Heart

Perhaps the most reassuring message for enthusiasts is that Hyundai understands exactly what made the previous car special.

Despite the addition of electrification, Harrer insists the new model will retain the playful personality that defined its predecessor.

“It feels sporty—don’t worry about that.”

That’s encouraging, especially considering Hyundai N’s recent success in proving that electric performance doesn’t have to sacrifice emotion. The Ioniq 5 N demonstrated that software, chassis tuning, and clever engineering can create a genuinely engaging driving experience, and many of those lessons are likely to influence the next i20 N.

A New Generation, A New Mission

The revived hot hatch is expected to arrive alongside an all-new generation of the Hyundai i20, which is likely to draw inspiration from the recently revealed Brazilian-market model. The next car is expected to feature a more muscular stance, a slightly higher ride height, and an entirely redesigned interior, giving Hyundai a fresh platform on which to build its latest performance machine.

Exact launch timing remains under wraps, but prototypes are already undergoing testing, and according to Hyundai, the debut is “not so far out.”

Why This Matters

The return of the i20 N represents something bigger than the launch of another hot hatch.

It’s proof that even as the automotive industry embraces electrification, there is still demand for compact, accessible performance cars that prioritize driver involvement over outright power figures. Hyundai could have walked away from the segment entirely. Instead, it has chosen to double down on the philosophy that helped establish the N badge in the first place.

If the company delivers on its promises—a lightweight chassis, engaging dynamics, and performance worthy of Nürburgring ambitions—the next i20 N won’t simply fill a gap in Hyundai’s lineup.

It could become the last great affordable driver’s car in a market that desperately needs one.

Source: Hyundai

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Hyundai’s New Design Era Is Taking Shape

For a company that built its modern reputation on doing the opposite of what everyone else was doing, Hyundai now finds itself wrestling with a new problem: success has made its lineup look… chaotic.

That chaos, however, is intentional.

At the center of Hyundai’s design philosophy is head stylist Sang Yup Lee, who describes the brand’s cars as a set of “chess pieces.” Each one plays a different role. Each one has a different personality. None are meant to look interchangeable. The boxy, pixel-lit Hyundai Ioniq 5 doesn’t look like the futuristic Hyundai Ioniq 9, which doesn’t resemble the city-friendly Hyundai Inster. And that’s the point.

But now Hyundai wants something else too: a family resemblance.

From Chaos to Cohesion—Without Killing the Fun

According to Hyundai Europe CEO Xavier Martinet, the brand is in the middle of a visual recalibration. The goal isn’t to sand down all the quirks that make Hyundai’s cars memorable. It’s to give them a shared DNA that says “Hyundai” without turning the lineup into a corporate cloning experiment.

“When we revealed the Concept Three at Munich, people said, ‘Wow, finally—something different that’s not another SUV,’” Martinet said. That concept previews the upcoming Hyundai Ioniq 3, and it shows where the brand’s sleeker, lower-slung cars are headed: sharper profiles, more attitude, and less of the upright crossover sameness clogging today’s roads.

Hyundai, in other words, wants to look more like a brand—but never like a spreadsheet.

Two Design Tracks, One Brand

Here’s how Hyundai plans to square that circle.

On one side are the SUVs and crossovers. Early glimpses of the new Hyundai Bayon and Hyundai Tucson suggest they’ll take cues from the slab-sided Hyundai Santa Fe and the hydrogen-powered Hyundai Nexo—chunkier proportions, tougher faces, and more of that squared-off, quasi-4×4 presence buyers love right now.

On the other side sit the cars and hatchbacks. These will skew lower, sleeker, and more aerodynamic, borrowing from the Concept Three and the Ioniq design language. Think less off-road cosplay, more Blade Runner commuter.

Two visual lanes. One brand identity.

Design vs. Price: The Eternal Tug of War

Martinet boils down car buying to two forces: emotion and math.

Design pulls the heart. Price and powertrain appeal to the brain. Which one wins depends on what kind of car you’re shopping for. Big SUVs and flagships? Looks matter more. Small A- and B-segment cars? Price still rules.

But Hyundai is betting that emotional connection—design—can tip the scales everywhere.

“When you look at the Ioniq 5, there’s nothing else that looks like it,” Martinet says. He’s right. In a sea of melted-soap-bar EVs, Hyundai made something that looks like a concept car escaped from an auto show. That willingness to be bold is what Hyundai refuses to give up, even as it tightens the family resemblance.

The Chessboard Expands

What Hyundai is really doing is maturing. It’s keeping the eccentricity that made its EVs and SUVs stand out, but adding enough shared styling cues that you don’t need to read the badge to know what you’re looking at.

Not a photocopier.

A chess set.

And in an industry drowning in lookalike crossovers, that might be the smartest move Hyundai could make.

Source: Hyundai

News

Hyundai to launch five new EVs in the next two years

By the time Milan Design Week wraps up this April, Hyundai will have thrown a very pointed gauntlet into the compact-EV arena. It’s called the Ioniq 3, and it’s aimed squarely at the heart of Europe’s most hotly contested electric segment.

Think Volkswagen ID.3, Renault Mégane E-Tech, and Peugeot e-308—but with Hyundai’s design swagger and the kind of platform sharing that’s made the Korean group such a quiet juggernaut in the EV space. Previewed by last year’s Concept Three, the Ioniq 3 will be Hyundai’s new electric hatchback for the masses, sliding neatly between the city-sized Inster and the family-friendly Ioniq 5.

Underneath, it rides on the 400-volt version of Hyundai-Kia’s E-GMP architecture—the same bones as the upcoming Kia EV4—bringing with it shared motors and battery packs. The biggest of those should be good for around 390 miles of range on Europe’s optimistic test cycle, which, even after real-world trimming, still puts it in the sweet spot for daily commuting and long-haul autobahn runs alike.

Hyundai plans to build the Ioniq 3 in Izmit, Turkey, starting late this summer, on the same lines as the gasoline-powered i20. That dual-track production strategy says a lot about where Hyundai’s head is right now: all-in on electrification, but smart enough not to bet the company on one powertrain alone. Expect prices to start around £35,000, making it a direct, unapologetic rival to Europe’s EV establishment.

Size-wise, think i20 footprint with i30-grade interior room—a trick made possible by the flat-floor, skateboard-style EV platform. That’s exactly the sort of packaging magic that’s turned once-humble hatchbacks into legit family cars, and it’s why the B- and C-segments are where the real EV fight is happening.

And Hyundai isn’t stopping at one. The Ioniq 3 is just the opening act in a five-model electrified blitz planned for Europe over the next 18 months. Two more small-car EVs are on the way, and don’t be surprised if one of them takes on a more SUV-ish stance, mirroring Kia’s EV3/EV4 double act.

At the same time, Hyundai is hedging with hybrids. A heavily revised i30 is in the works, along with a new Tucson and a second-gen Bayon—all set to go hybrid-only. It’s a pragmatic approach in a market where EV demand is still spiky and uneven from country to country.

“We’re betting on hybrids and EVs for the next few years,” says Hyundai Europe CEO Xavier Martinet, and he’s refreshingly candid about the uncertainty baked into Europe’s electrified future. Regulations change. Incentives come and go. Geopolitics gets messy. Hyundai’s answer is flexibility—something it can afford thanks to its vertically integrated empire that spans everything from batteries and software to robotics and heavy industry.

That agility is already paying off. Last year, Hyundai’s EV sales in Europe jumped 48 percent, pushing the brand to an 18-percent electric mix and helping it hit its CO₂ targets without leaning on emissions pooling. Hybrid and plug-in sales rose too, and overall the company grabbed a 4.5-percent slice of the European market, with the UK now its single biggest territory.

The message is clear: Hyundai doesn’t just want a piece of Europe’s EV future—it wants to own it. And the Ioniq 3, a compact hatch with big ambitions, is poised to be the car that makes that vision feel very real indeed.

Source: Hyundai