Hyundai is planning a major mid-season update to its i20 Coupe in a bid to keep up with its World Rally Championship rivals, with Toyota and Citroen starting strong.
While Thierry Neuville took the title fight to the final round last season, there’s a fear the Hyundai is slipping back in terms of pace against its world championship rivals.
Last week’s Rally Mexico – never an especially happy hunting ground for the Hyundai – was another lacklustre display with Thierry Neuville’s distant fourth the best the firm could manage.
Dani Sordo was fighting for the lead when he retired with an electrical fault while Andreas Mikkelsen hit a rock and retired from Friday with damaged suspension.
Citroen has won two of the first three rallies this season with Sebastien Ogier, while Toyota won in Sweden with Ott Tanak.
Hyundai is working towards the use of two homologation jokers in time for Rally Finland.
Despite a tough Rally Mexico, team principal Andrea Adamo remained upbeat.
He told Autosport: “From the first moment that I was asked to take on this responsibility [of team boss for 2019] I knew I had been asked to manage something tough.
