Hyundai Has Axed The i30 N & i20 N Hot-Hatches in Europe

Hyundai has axed the i30 N and i20 N from the European market in favour of more hot EVs in the future.

The European market is witnessing yet another ICE-powered performance model heading to the guillotine, and this time it's Hyundai's beloved N-badged twin—the i30 N and i20 N hot-hatches.

This decision is part of Hyundai’s plan to transition into a full-fledged EV marque on the Old Continent by 2035, which leaves the manic Hyundai Ioniq 5 N as the sole Hyundai N model on sale here.

“Production of the ICE N models has ceased for the European market starting from February, in line with our commitment to offering a zero-tailpipe-emission line-up to our customers by 2035 and to operating 100 per cent carbon neutrally by 2045,” a Hyundai Europe spokesperson told CarScoops regarding this matter.

The Hyundai i30 N is purposely engineered to shatter down the VW Golf GTI's dominance in the European hot-hatch market segment.

Launched back in 2017, the manic i30 N was touted to topple down the long-reign of the infamous Volkswagen Golf GTI as the best hot-hatch in the land. Hiding beneath its menacing front face is a peppy 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbocharged mill tuned by Hyundai’s N division, capable of delivering up to 276 HP. Said mill is mated exclusively to a six-speed manual gearbox, before the 2021 facelift which brought along a dual-clutch automatic option.

The Hyundai i20 N supermini hot-hatch is positioned as the smallest model in the N Division's lineup.

Not content with one hot-hatch model, Hyundai also brought up the i20 N to compete against the likes of the Ford Fiesta ST in the uber-competitive supermini hot-hatch market segment. Powered by a smaller 1.6-litre 4-cyl turbocharged mill that hooks up with a six-speed manual transmission, this small hatch packs a decent 201 HP and 275 NM under the wraps.

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N now stood as the sole N model on sale in the European market.

While sales figures for said models could’ve been better, both the i30 N and i20 N serve a very important role in shifting Hyundai’s brand image from the maker of boring, economical cars to a marque that is brave enough to delve into the performance realm. The relative success of these hot-hatches also paved the way for Hyundai to develop more N models in the future, including the Ioniq 5 N EV hatch.

Hyundai’s decision to axe the ICE-powered N models from Europe could also spur the growth of more N-badged EV models in the near future. Besides the Ioniq 5, we’ve previously reported that Hyundai is in the midst of developing an N version of the Ioniq 6 EV saloon, possibly based on the manic RN22e EV concept.

The Hyundai i30 N was previously on-sale in the Malaysian market, with only 20 units brought in by HSDM back in 2019. (Photo credit: Top Gear Malaysia)

Closer to home, local Hyundai brand custodian Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors (HSDM) previously offered the i30 N Performance for the Malaysian market for a brief time. With only 20 units brought in, the Malaysian-spec i30 N was technically one of the rarest hot-hatches available in the market at that time, with each of them tagged at RM298,888 sans insurance.