Hyundai To Launch Brand-new Fronx-rival In Second Half Of 2026 | V3Cars

The Fronx is essentially a slightly redesigned version of the Baleno with more or less the same features but costs almost 1 lakh more in terms of on-road price. Where the Fronx justifies its premium is not with its higher ground clearance or better feature set but in exterior design. Specifically, the front and rear. Because these are the angles of the Fronx we normally see when driving around. When we are following the car, we see its rear. And when the Fronx is following us, we notice the front design in our rear view mirrors.

In both of these areas, the Fronx delivers on its promises. Especially when seeing it follow you, it almost feels like we have a Grand Vitara in our rear-view mirror. And, that, my friends, is the value proposition of the Fronx. That is what makes 1 lakh extra over Baleno seem justified. Because, you are getting the design of a car that's almost twice as expensive as the Baleno.

Moreover, with the Fronx, Maruti opened up new avenues in terms of profitability as they have fat margins on the Fronx compared to the other 4m SUV, the Brezza. Because of our strange length-based and displacement-based tax slabs, the Brezza has 40% GST while the Fronx has only 18%. In upfront pricing, the Fronx only slightly undercuts the Brezza. Moreover, the economies of scale and cost efficiencies that come from using the Baleno’s platform also add up to help Maruti make quite a bit more money than they do on either the Baleno or the Brezza.

Hyundai’s Likely Strategy For Fronx Rival

While Hyundai brought the current generation of i20 back in 2020 and it will be up for an overhaul in 2026, we believe that they will put the i20 on hold for a while and focus all of their energies on the Fronx rival. Their version of the small-ish 4m SUV will most likely use the same platform as the next-generation i20. However, when it’s time for the i20 to get its generation update, borrowing the platform from a more expensive car, and an ‘SUV’ at that, will help the i20 establish itself as a value offering compared to their Fronx competitor.

On the pricing front, we have already seen Hyundai move the Venue higher up the price and value chain to make room for another 4m SUV. On a similar note, strictly comparing from the customer’s POV, the Brezza does come across as an expensive option because of its basic set of features in price-comparable variants against the Fronx. The Brezza also has poor efficiency figures because of its more aggressive SUV proportions and its larger displacement engine.

At the cost of repeating ourselves, we would like to highlight that the styling is going to be the key to the success of Hyundai's Fronx-sized SUV. The lukewarm sales response to the Exter while the Punch continues to sell without a strong contender is as clear a signal as it gets that buyers want upmarket styling at lower prices. Moreover, they should also borrow cues from the styling of their more expensive models down to more affordable cars. The lack of design consistency in Hyundai cars is another likely reason why the Exter’s H-pattern DRLs don’t give it the perception of a more expensive Hyundai car.

Also Read: Hyundai Exter & Verna To Get Mid-life Refresh In H1 2026

November 2025 — Hyundai Exter, Creta, Nios, Venue Discount Offers

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