Hatches in disguise: Jeep Avenger, Hyundai i20, Fiat Pulse and Chevrolet Sonic face off in Brazil

Brazil's Quatro Rodas magazine has gathered four of the market's most affordable soft-roaders — the Jeep Avenger, Hyundai i20, Fiat Pulse and Chevrolet Sonic — for a group test. Its take on the segment is blunt: these are essentially subcompact hatchbacks that have morphed into entry-level SUVs, sitting a size below the Tracker, Creta and Renegade yet matching them for equipment while costing less and burning less fuel. The i20 doesn't even claim to be an SUV, while the Avenger is judged the model that best hides its hatch-car platform roots.

The Fiat Pulse Audace came last. Its new 2027 range drops the top Impetus trim and, more significantly, sees the 1.0 turbo's output cut from 130 hp to 116 hp — a deliberate move to duck under a power class threshold in Brazil's forthcoming consumption-tax reform. Even with the 12-volt mild-hybrid system retained, official performance figures slipped by up to 5 percent. The Fiat is still the quickest and most frugal of the four and the only one with a CVT, but just four airbags, thin driver-assistance kit and the smallest trunk, at 320 litres, drag it down.

Third place went to the R$ 140,990 Chevrolet Sonic RS — effectively a reskinned Onix with new front and rear styling and revised suspension, though the doors carry over. It boasts the biggest cargo bay of the group at 392 litres plus a raised, comfortably soft ride, but leans heavily in corners, has slow steering, no sport mode and needs 10.4 seconds to reach 100 km/h. The Sonic's arrival has already killed off the Onix LTZ and Premier hatch trims.

That leaves the Avenger and i20 to fill the top two spots: the Hyundai impresses on space and safety despite plain performance and finish, while the Jeep pairs premium presentation with the group's heaviest fuel appetite. Two expected rivals, the Renault Kardian and Volkswagen Tera, were unavailable — the Tera's 2027 update will swap its 116-hp 170 TSI for the T-Cross's 128-hp 200 TSI and an eight-speed automatic — and Fiat will add the Argo X, yet another hatch in crossover clothing, by October.