2021 Hyundai i30 N: UK pricing revealed, providing best clue yet of Australian price and specs
Hyundai UK names a price for its updated hot hatch, though Australian buyers will pay significantly less than those on Her Majesty's island.
UK pricing and specifications for the 2021 Hyundai i30 N have been announced, as our best hint yet at how the facelifted hot hatch could be priced in Australia come its local launch in June.
Available to order now, just one i30 N variant will be offered in the UK, priced from £33,745 (approximately AU$60,500) drive-away with a six-speed manual, or £35,695 (AU$64,000) with an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox – both offering the full 206kW/392Nm 'Performance' engine tune.
However, if positioning of competing cars in the UK and Australia are a guide, don't expect local prices to be near as high, with buyers likely to pay less than $50,000 (more on that in a moment).
Standard equipment in the UK includes 19-inch forged wheels, a 10.25-inch touchscreen, LED headlights, leather and suede upholstery, heated power-adjustable front seats, and front parking sensors (but no sunroof) – all features expected to be fitted to the 'Premium' (without sunroof) grade in Australia, according to leaked Hyundai dealer information published in December 2020.
The sole equipment option in the UK is a pair of N Light front bucket seats for £600 ($1076) – pews expected to be standard-fit in Australia's i30 N Premium. Add the upgraded seats to the aforementioned price tags and they increase to £34,345 (AU$61,700) and £36,295 (AU$65,100) respectively.
While those figures seem high at first glance, they don't provide the full picture of how the updated i30 N will be priced in Australia, given new-car prices in the UK and mainland Europe tend to be higher than those Down Under.
Pairing the prices with those of a similarly-sized hot-hatch rival – in this case, the new 'Mk8' Volkswagen Golf GTI – allows for a far more accurate comparison, however.
Aligning the standard equipment lists of UK-market Golf GTI and i30 N models with their Australian counterparts finds the entry-level automatic GTI to be around 11.8 per cent more expensive than a manual Hyundai, with optioning the i30 N's dual-clutch auto decreasing the price gulf to 5.8 per cent.
Calculating those differences equates to estimated Australian pricing of around $47,000 before on-road costs for a manual i30 N Premium (without sunroof), or around $50,000 before on-road costs for a dual-clutch automatic model.
For reference, Golf GTI pricing in Australia kicks off from $53,100 before on-road costs, while the outgoing Hyundai i30 N with the Luxury Pack and a manual transmission costs $44,400 before on-road costs – pushing the new model close to $55,000 drive-away, once an automatic transmission is fitted.
The above prices all remain calculations at this stage, with Hyundai Australia not expected to officially announce local pricing until closer to the hot hatch's local launch in June.