Hyundai Getz 2010 News

Hyundai Australia CEO Edward Lee says the company's plan is no longer centred on entry-level pricing, but values such as safety, driving experience and ride quality. With the exit of the Getz and the introduction of the Accent, the company now has a full five-star safety rating on all of its passenger vehicle fleet. "We're not concerned with leaving the bottom of the market," Lee says. “I think we changed people's perception of the brand a lot already.Five-star safety is our new strategy.” "Australian people think safety is one of the most important things along with driving and ride." Sales and marketing manager Oliver Mann says the Getz name has gone the way of the Excel and doesn't expect to see either model name returned to the brand. Australians bought 153,000 Getz in their model lifetime and only about 400 are left after production ended last year. That's less than half the 1000 they sell each month. The Getz 1.4-litre three-door is listed at $13,990. It's a big hole for Hyundai to fill, but Mann is not concerned. "Even though it was our entry level car, we mainly sold the 1.6-litre five-door model, anyway," Mann says. "We're not planning to fill the entry level price again.” "We're getting out of the bottom end of the market. Getz won't be replaced directly." However, with the introduction of the 1.6-litre, slightly larger Accent, the 1.6-litre i20 models have been deleted and the $15,490 1.4-litre three-door is being sold at $14,990 driveaway. Hyundai also does not have room in its five-star strategy for the four-star i10 as a replacement bargain car. "We looked long and hard at the i10 business case, but it wasn't profitable and didn't fit in with our five-star safety rating strategy," Mann says. Product planning senior manager Roland Rivero says supply of the Indian-made i10 also could not be guaranteed with the factory able to build 450,000 a year and the domestic market taking 400,000. "That would leave Europe and ask to argue over the remainder," he says.

Small car sales were up more than 40 per cent last month as the industry tracks to a bumper one million-plus sales year. Budget buys continue to dominate, filling out seven of the top 10 sales spots in April.South Korean importer Hyundai was one of the stars, recording 16 consecutive months of month-on-month sales growth. Its sales are up 65 per cent this year. Hyundai's budget sub-$15,000 Getz and i30 hatch, which starts around $20,300, are the big sellers. Spokesman, Stephen Howard, said more buyers are chasing value for money with small cars. "And that's our whole philosophy," he said.Toyota's HiLux ute was the No1 seller last month, beating the Holden Commodore by just 254 cars. Despite the popularity of the workman's ute, the home-grown Holden remains the country's top selling family sedan. More than 14,500 Commodores have been sold this year.Solid sales delivered the second highest April result on record. Figures released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries show that 81,401 vehicles were sold last month, up 27 per cent on the same month in 2009. FCAI chief executive Andrew McKellar said most segments were strong."It is certainly very encouraging and shows the competition between the brands is intense," he said. "But challenges still remain."McKellar warns that interest rate increases could dampen demand in coming months. "However, the industry is hopeful that they are now at a level where further increases will be more difficult to justify," he said.Toyota holds on to its top selling position with a market share of 20.5 per cent. Holden is in second spot with 12.2 per cent and Ford third with 10.1 per cent. This year-to-date, 333,228 vehicles have been sold.Top 10 sellers1 Toyota HiLux 34192 Holden Commodore 31653 Mazda3 30794 Toyota Corolla 28295 Ford Falcon 27636 Holden Cruze 25147 Hyundai i30 24838 Hyundai Getz 21929 Mitsubishi Lancer 191210 Toyota Yaris 1799

The Korean brand was third for the month in showrooms, only beaten by Toyota and GM Holden.Once again it was the combination of the classy i30 compact and the dollar-driven Getz that did the job for Hyundai, which is now fast-tracking a challenge on Mazda and Ford in Australia. It is only fifth in the year-to-date sales figures but gaining ground rapidly. There was no champagne or celebration at Hyundai headquarters in Sydney, just a commitment to growth and more new models through 2010."We're keeping our heads down and keeping working. That was last month," Hyundai spokesman, Ben Hershman, said yesterday. "We've just launched the ix35 SUV and there seems to be good interest, and we're also looking forward to the arrival of the (baby) i20 this year."Hyundai only beat the home-grown Falcon brand by 60 sales in February, but the result is still a reflection of Hyundai's growing power and the vulnerability of Ford. The local results are a contrast to the USA, where Ford went to number one in February as Toyota and General Motors both struggled. Sales of Fords lifted by 43 per cent during the month as Toyota, reeling from its crash-and-recall fiasco, reported an 8.7 drop."We sold everything we had so there is not much else we could do," Ford spokesperson, Sinead McAlary, said yesterday. "We've worked a couple of overtime days at Broadmeadows and we are trying to get more vehicles. The harder issue for us is imported vehicles. "We had a record with Fiesta in February but we have had trouble getting the right models in the right numbers. We're working on what we need to do to get vehicles to match demand."TOP 10 BRANDSFEBRUARY 20101.  Toyota 16,8142.  Holden 11,2133.  Hyundai 72084.  Ford 71485.  Mazda 70036.  Mitsubishi 50267.  Nissan 45968.  Subaru 32789.  Honda 310210. Volkswagen 2998