Hyundai Elantra loses base variant: No more 'most affordable' executive sedan

Hyundai India has silently removed the Elantra's base 'S' variant from the line-up. With this change, its entry-level pricing has now gone up by ₹2.6 lakh. The company has updated new brochure on the official website with only the SX and SX(O) variants.

Previously, the Elantra S Manual served as the base variant. It was priced at ₹15,89,000, but now SX Manual serves as the entry-level variant which retails at ₹18,49,000. With this rejig, Elantra has lost the 'most affordable executive sedan' title to Honda Civic which starts from ₹17,93,900 for the base V CVT variant and extends all the way up to ₹21,24,900 for the ZX CVT variant.

The brochure has also included the upcoming 1.5-litre U2 CRDi VGT diesel engine which was previously confirmed. But currently, the price list excludes the diesel's pricing.

With the launch of the new diesel engine in future, there is a possibility that the company may revise the current SX and SX(O) configurations.

The upcoming 1.5-litre diesel is known to produce 115 PS of power at 4,000 rpm and 25.5 kg.m (250.07 Nm) of peak torque at 1,500-2,750 rpm. It is going to be available with a 6-speed MT and a 6-speed automatic transmission.

The country's leap to the stricter BS 6 update has resulted in discontinuation of the Toyota Corolla Altis, which was once the top-selling car of its segment. Apart from that, another blow the segment came when Honda pulled plugs on the Civic's 1.5-litre diesel engine due to the stricter BS 6 emission norms. Also, it is currently not in the know if this powerplant would return anytime soon in the updated BS 6 form.

The next-gen Skoda Octavia will join the executive sedan segment in the Indian market by 2021.

(All prices, ex-showroom, Delhi)