Hyundai i30: European boss hints at hatchback's demise

The Hyundai i30 will likely not be renewed for a fourth generation, leaving the brand without a model to fight the Volkswagen Golf and Toyota Corolla hatchbacks.

After the launch of the new i20 and Ioniq 3, Xavier Martinet, CEO of Hyundai Europe, was asked about the future of the i30 range.

He told Autocar: "There might be a reason why we don't talk much about it. The problem is that in this segment the demand is not growing, and it's also a vehicle that historically was mostly a fleet vehicle, on which the profit is not so high."

Mr Martinet described the business case for a new i30 as "not extremely compelling".

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If Hyundai does indeed pull the plug on the i30, it won't be the first brand to leave the combustion-powered small car market. Production of the Renault Megane hatch and wagon ended in 2024, while the Ford Focus was discontinued in 2025. The Megane, however, lives on as an electric-only model.

Hyundai might not leave the European petrol-powered small car space entirely, though, with Mr Martinet hinting cryptically, "We might still have some answers coming, but it might be a different answer to the one we've got so far."

With the recently-revealed fourth-generation i20 boasting SUV-inspired styling, including black plastic wheel arch protectors and a raised ride height, it's likely any i30 successor will adopt some of these elements to improve its showroom appeal.

The current i30 made its debut in 2016, and received facelifts in 2020 and 2024. The hatch was made in South Korea and Czechia, with the wagon and liftback exclusively made in Czechia.

South Korean production ended in 2023, forcing Hyundai Australia to switch sourcing of all i30 hatchbacks to Czechia from where it already imported Ns. However, non-N variants were discontinued in 2025.

It's unclear how much longer production of the current i30 will continue for. Although it continues to be popular in N guise in Australia, it has already been discontinued in the UK.

Since the third-generation i30 was launched in 2016, the Elantra has been renewed twice. The seventh-generation Elantra made its global debut in 2020, and is sold in Australia as the i30 Sedan in order to capitalise on the popularity of the hatch's name, as well as aggregate sales.

An eighth-generation Elantra made its debut last week in South Korea (where it is known as the Avante).

With the i30 hatchback's demise seemingly looming on the horizon, it's unclear whether Hyundai Australia will stick with the i30 Sedan name or revert to the Elantra nameplate used in most global markets.

MORE: Explore the Hyundai i30 showroom