Hyundai spokesman Bill Thomas replies on behalf of South Korean brands: "Hyundai uses only the finest grades of steel in the construction of its cars — in fact, we are the only car maker on earth that makes its own steel, so we can control its quality to very fine tolerances. It's not thinner or lighter, it's just very high quality. The new Elantra, for example, uses 53 per cent advanced ultra-high-strength steel in its body construction, which makes it 30 per cent stiffer than the model it replaces. It's also worth noting that Hyundai uses a huge amount of Australian iron ore in the construction of our steel, from Western Australia, so there's a bit of Australia in all of our cars."

YES, the Zafira is also powered by the Z22SE 2.2-litre engine, which has a timing chain, not a belt, so there's no need for additional servicing.