Australian Car Advice | News Blog

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“We are extremely proud of having achieved this goal in such a short period of time,” said Ik-Hwan Kim, Vice-Chairman and CEO of Kia Motors. “We have been stressing the value of our products over the last few years and our efforts have not gone unnoticed by the public or the industry, neither quantitatively or qualitatively.

“Kia will continue to focus on producing a new generation of quality vehicles with distinctive design to keep the momentum of our brand growing. As a top global automaker, we are set to move in new directions with continuous improvements in quality, design, eco-friendliness and brand innovation for years to come.”

2007 Global Sales Rankings

1. Toyota 9,366,000

2. GM 8,902,252

3. Volkswagen 6,191,618,

4. Ford 5,964,000

5. Hyundai-Kia 3,961,629

6. Honda 3,831,000

7. Nissan 3,675,574

8. PSA/Peugeot 3,428,400

9. Chrysler 2,676,268

10. Fiat 2,620,864

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It’s been a while since l attended the Australian launch of Hyundai’s (pronounced – hee-unday) own smart car – the i30, and I had forgotten just how good this car really is.

When you add a common rail diesel with an automatic box to the range, what you get is an incredibly attractive proposition for new car buyers looking for the most complete four-wheel package available today in the small car segment.

And I’m not talking about the tricked up, top end SLX CRDi auto, which retails for $27,990, just the base model 1.6 SX CRDi auto at $23,490.

However, there is still a $2000 premium over the manual transmission diesel with the same spec, and frankly, it’s about time that all manufacturers selling cars in Australia, got with the program (as has the been the game plan in the US for the last thirty-five years) and provided an automatic transmission as a no cost option. The economy of scale would have to favour the auto box these days and therefore, make this possible.

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The new i30 (1,074), iLoad (257) and Tuscon (1,138) were all models in the Hyundai range to achieve their best ever sales result.

Figures for May and June show that customers opting for the addition of ESP has almost doubled across Hyundai’s model range, from 17 percent for April YTD to 31 percent in the May/June period.

Within the business sector, customer choice for ESP Stability Control on Getz increased from 3 percent in April to 14 percent in June, 15 to 76 percent on Elantra and 26 to 58 percent on Tuscon in the same period.

“Hyundai pioneered the introduction of an ESP Stability Control option within the light car market on the Getz back in February 2006 and our recent ‘End of Financial Year’ retail campaign reflects Hyundai’s continuing commitment to make the technology available to all Australian consumers,” said Kevin McCann, Hyundai’s Director of Sales and Marketing.

Independent research conducted by Monash University indicates that ESP Stability Control can reduce the chance of injury in a serious crash by as much as 68 percent.

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Although some media outlets reported earlier that Hyundai will receive funds from the Korean government for research into lithium ion battery technology, the company says that’s not the case.

“We don’t get any subsidies to that effect,” Hyundai spokesman Oles Gadacz said.

Initially the hybrid Elantra will only be available in Korea, where it’s known as the Avante and should hit showrooms by 2009.

The big news of course, is that it runs on electricity and LPG (liquefied petroleum gas), subtly named the Avante LPI (liquefied petroleum injection).

Hyundai says Gasoline-liquefied petroleum gas versions should follow in mid-2010 while larger vehicles such as the Grandeur are in the long-term plans.

The Korean manufacturer, which many analysts see today the same way they saw Toyota in the 90s, does not expect to sell many hybrid electric vehicle, aiming for just 50,000 in 2011, and that’s factoring in the launch of a hybrid electric vehicle in the United States.

It does make us wonder though, how can Hyundai have such low expectations given the benefits and relatively cheap cost of LPG?

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These two vehicles have been rated by ANCAP (Australian New Car Assessment Program) with Five Star Occupant Protection, in the Small Car Category.

With fuel prices going through the roof and household budgets under constant attack, more and more of us are heading to the small car category.

And why not. With talk of up to $2.00 a litre, by the end of the year, the small car market makes way too much sense.

But are they safe? Some, more than others. You need to look at what safety features are standard fitment, when shopping around.

Look at both ‘passive’ and ‘active’ safety features. Systems such as ABS brakes, Electronic Stability Control and Traction control are active safety weapons. Depending on how you drive, they may work all the time or, in many cases, rarely.

Airbags and things like head restraints, make up the passive defence force. Most drivers will never experience air bag deployment, but should you ever be involved in a side-on collision, you better pray you have Curtain Airbags on board.

I don’t need to sell you on this point, just have a look at the crash dummy in the recent “Pole Test” Car Advice witnessed at the RTA’s Crashlab facility in Sydney.

It’s not pretty. Without Curtain Airbags, as fitted as standard equipment to the Lancer VRX, it is highly unlikely that the driver of this vehicle would survive a real life impact, such as demonstrated by this simulated crash.

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“What we are now seeing is the provision of the latest vehicle safety features in cars below $30,000 – which is great news for consumers,” ANCAP Chairman, Lauchlan McIntosh said.

In order to achieve a five-star safety rating in ANCAP, manufacturers must donate a car for a pole test, which has resulted in many manufacturers refusing to participate. Despite popular belief, ANCAP buys all vehicles from the manufacturer for other tests.

The Mitsubishi Lancer which received the five-star rating was the top of line VRX with head-protecting side curtain airbags and Electronic Stability Control (ESC) – both of which are prerequisites for a five-star rating under ANCAP’s rating methodology. Lancers without side protection scored four stars.

The Hyundai i30 was essentially the same with the top-spec, which included side curtain airbags and ESC, receiving five stars after Hyundai fixed an issue with the vehicle’s knee impact area. The lower spec i30 scored four stars.

The issue to tackle now is the inclusion of curtain airbags and ESC as standard equipment to all models. It would almost seem logical for the government to make these features mandatory on all new passenger cars.

At the same time EuroNCAP has rated the Renault Laguna III and Holden Astra – both with side curtains and ESC - five-stars while four-star went to the recently launched Kia Rondo with side curtains, and base-model Ford Focus with chest-protecting side airbags.

Furthermore, it would seem that manufacturers have been so obsessed with gaining a five-star safety rating that they have forgotten about pedestrians. The Lancer, i30, Laguna and Focus earned two stars out of four for pedestrian protection and the Rondo and Astra managed only one star.

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As a result we are reluctant to make any resounding pronouncements about the driveability of the Sonata, other than to say it seems to be an improvement over the outgoing model, and the diesel drive train is up to the job.

Like its larger sibling, the Grandeur, the Sonata is spreading diesel power through the Hyundai range.

In the case of the Sonata the new diesel engine is from the same engine family as the one that’s being added to the Grandeur, but in this case it is a 2.0-litre common-rail diesel engine that produced 305Nm of torque from 1800rpm to 2500rpm and 110kW of power at 3800rpm.

The Sonata CRDi comes with either a six-speed manual transmission or a four-speed automatic, although we were only able to drive the manual version, which proved smooth and easy to use on our brief sojourn on the roads around Camden, near Sydney.

The gearbox is a little notchy in action but smooth and light, with well spaced ratios that produced strong acceleration from the diesel engine.

The manual version returns an impressive 6.0L/100km fuel consumption and the automatic 7.0L/100km. The engine is Euro Four compliant and the CO2 emissions are a very commendable 159g/km for the manual transmission car.

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Hyundai product planning manager Ben Hershman, said the company was looking at just what spec and trim levels it would bring the i30CW in and indicated that the two we looked at, a cloth trim base model and a luxury trim leather model were both likely to be selected.

He said the company was still deciding if it would bring both petrol and diesel engines in in the i30CW but indicated at was almost certain that the diesel engine would be selected.

He said test use of the vehicles had shown they were ideal for young families and said the rear cargo space was large enough to accommodate a stroller, an major criteria for the young families who will buy this sort of vehicle.

Mr Hershman also indicated that he believed there was a growing move towards station wagon type vehicles as many people looked at their options and potentially moved away from the compact SUV vehicles which have been very popular with this market in recent years.

He acknowledged that with the i30 already constrained by supply there may be little point adding another model immediately.

However, Hyundai will soon have a plant in the Czech Republic to build i30s for the European market and this will free up production from Korea to service the Australian market.

The CW has a slightly lengthened wheelbase over the i30 hatchback now on sale in Australia and a slightly longer overhang , which together provide it with a reasonable load carrying space behind the rear seats, which feature a 60/40 split.

The vehicles we looked at both had alloy wheels , the lower spec running on 16-inch, and the up-spec vehicle on 17-inch.

The interiors were very similar to the current hatchbacks although the cloth trimmed wagon’s brown trim seemed unlikely to find favour in Australia. However, the black leather trim had a very high quality, luxury look and feel to it.

If the i30CW is given the go ahead Caradvice expects we will see it on the market early in 2009.

- David Twomey

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Hyundai has hopes that adding the diesel engine to the Grandeur will revitalise the car, which has been an extremely slow seller for the Korean company, with just 297 finding homes in Australia last year.

The diesel Grandeur gets Hyundai’s 2.2-litre Common Rail Direct injection (CRDi) with 5-speed Selectronic automatic transmission.

This engine pushes out a generous 343Nm of torque between 1800rpm and 2500rpm, while power is 114kW at 4000rpm.The engine is suitable frugal using just 7.9L/100km.

For those who want to stay with petrol the 3.8-litre V6 with 5-speed Selectronic automatic puts out 194kW of power at 6000 rpm and 348Nm of peak torque at 4500 rpm. And it offers respectable 10.8L/100km fuel consumption.

From a look around the new cars the mild restyling gives the cars a somewhat smarter look and the interior; including leather upholstery certainly gives the impression of luxury for a very non-luxury price.

Not that the 2009 model is a completely new design – like its junior sibling the Sonata it should be up for a complete redesign in the next 18 months, but the soon to be release Grandeur receives notable updates both inside and out.

From the outside there is a revised front grille, outside mirrors with integrated side repeaters, chrome inserts in bumpers and body mouldings and new 17” alloy wheel design. Step inside and you’re greeted with new blue interior illumination within the audio and dual zone climate controls and a new supervision instrument cluster.

Additionally there is new wood grain and metal treatments, USB / AUX jacks as well as an iPod® connector in the centre console. Although not exactly an expensive trinket, Hyundai will also give owners a 1GB USB memory stick while those that opt out for the diesel variant get a pack of latex free vinyl gloves!

Doing away with a previously offered cloth trim option means the Hyundai Grandeur now comes with leather only trim, making the decision rather easy, petrol or diesel.
The V6 petrol is priced at $39,990 and the CRDi diesel variant comes in at $41,990.

To further simplify choices, the Grandeur is only available in four colours, Noble White (solid), Black Diamond (pearl), Sleek Silver (metallic) and Iron Silver (metallic). Inside you can pick between black or beige leather.

In a further inducement to prospective buyers Hyundai is adding free premium Roadside Assistance to its already industry leading five-year new car warranty with unlimited kilometres.

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Hyundai plans to begin mass-production in the “early part of next year”, but no other details are currently available.

The Korean company is currently the 2nd largest car manufacturer in India, coming in behind Maruti Suzuki India. Hyundai India last year exported just above 100,000 cars and expects to hit 200,000 this year.

Hyundai Motors will also build luxury buses in India with technical assistance from UK-based Caparo group.

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The Genesis should start from around USD $30,000 and go all the way to USD $40,000, it will be offered with V8 and V6 powerplants and come in a range of variants.

Hyundai CEO Kim Dong-Jin, is still concerned that the Hyundai brand name remains weak in the United States, hence the need for a large marketing campaign. So far 4 million dollars was spent just on commercials during the 2008 Super Bowl.

The company plans to provide 100 cars in a 15-city ride and drive event across the States, expected to reach 150,000 potential customers.

“This car will allow us to reach new customers and talk up quality like we never have. They’ve given us enough resources, and we will spend the money over a short period of time — over the summer. We have to make every cent count. We will be talking to a broad audience to use this as a brand lift.” ,” said Joel Ewanick, vice president of marketing for Hyundai Motor America.

So far nearly 20,000 customers have expressed interest in the car with 700 already presold.

The Genesis sedan is not expected in Australia or Europe for some time, Hyundai is tempting the Asian/Middle Eastern and American market first to gauge public reaction before embarking on a global invasion.

The Korean company is also banking on the Genesis sedan as a platform to launch its own Luxury brand to compete with Lexus. More on that here.

Does Hyundai also suffer from a weak brand image in Australia? Will the company need to take similar actions to launch the Genesis down under?

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