HYUNDAI AURA

Can the Xcent’s replacement rise above the fleet, with a long list of features and a sporty turbo engine?

- SIMRAN RASTOGI

Let’s put a potentially large worry to rest right away, the Aura compact sedan will not be your next Uber or Ola ride. Hyundai is taking care of that market with the Xcent, which will continue to be sold alongside the Aura, but only for fleet operators.

Sort of like what Hyundai’s doing with the Grand i10, which is positioned lower than its replacement, the Grand i10 Nios. A hatchback which is (almost exactly) what the Aura is, if you take its sizable 402-litre boot away. Well that, and the 1-litre turbocharged petrol engine that’s now being offered in the Aura. It’s the same cracker of a motor that’s in the Venue but with tweaked power figures, and apart from the Tigor JTP, is the only turbo petrol in a compact sedan. Also available are 1.2-litre petrol and diesel engines, both being BSVI compliant and available with AMTs as well. And with Maruti Suzuki, Toyota and Tata shying away from small capacity diesels for now, Hyundai definitely has a market open. Let’s dive into what else sets the Aura apart.

How it looks

Though it shares much with the Grand i10 Nios, the Aura has a different two-part grille that extends into the lower bumper, apart from a different bumper itself, with slightly larger apertures for the fog lamp cutouts and twin boomerang LED DRLs that look like fangs. Menacing for sure, especially with the creased hood thrown in. Metalwork is shared all the way to the rear door, where like in the Nios, there’s a blacked-out C-pillar in gloss black shrouding. Unfortunately, the kink in the shoulder line here, that works so well in the Nios, looks out of place on the Aura, which sees that line then end a little abruptly in a relatively high boot deck.