No chance of shorter waiting times for Hyundai i20 N hot hatch, facelift coming

Buyers at the back of the queue for the Hyundai i20 N hot hatch could find good things come to those who wait.

The company is putting the finishing touches on the mid-life facelift which is due about 18 months from now.

Delivery delays for the Hyundai i20 N in Australia and Europe remain up to two years – even though Hyundai Australia paused orders last month.

The line-up of customers could get longer now the Ford Fiesta ST has been pulled from local showrooms – once i20 N orders eventually resume.

Hyundai says there is nothing else it can do to reduce waiting times – having already pushed the factory in Turkey and its suppliers into overtime to ramp-up production.

But there could be some surprise and delight features in the Hyundai i20 N update, even though the core ingredients such as engine, transmission, suspension, and brakes will likely remain unchanged.

“The mid-life update is not too crazy because … we have still supply issues, we still cannot build enough cars to meet demand,” Albert Biermann, who was until recently the global boss of Hyundai’s performance division, told Drive at a media conference in Germany this week. 

The high-ranking Hyundai executive said the i20 N would adopt minor colour and trim changes with the mid-life update in line with running changes for the regular i20 range (which is not sold in Australia).

“Why spend a fortune on a car that you cannot get enough of anyway?” said Mr Biermann. “Of course we will do the typical stuff, try to bring more emotions with the facelift. We will bring something.”

When asked if there was a possibility for a revision to the suspension or any other mechanical components on the Hyundai i20 N, Mr Biermann said: “If you asked me today, I would say there is no need for any change. The car is wonderful. I wouldn't touch anything when it comes to those things that matter (dynamics).”

Mr Biermann said a revised suspension tune would depend on other demands on the broader engineering team.

“It depends a lot on what else is going on,” said Mr Biermann. “Do the engineers have enough time to do (some adjustment), or are there other priorities at that time?”

Meantime, Mr Biermann also ruled out a twin-clutch automatic, meaning the Hyundai i20 N facelift will likely retain the current six-speed manual gearbox as the sole transmission.

“A twin clutch? I don't think we will do that,” said Mr Biermann, citing engineering and development costs required for a niche model in a shrinking market segment.