Hyundai I30 2009 News

A successful Nurburgring 24 hour trial and new RM16 concept point the way to possible 2017 launch of hot Hyundai N brand.

Hyundai recalls HD Elantra models due to risk of losing steering assistance. The Hyundai i30and Elantra are being recalled due to a potential electric power steering fault that could increase the steering effort required to control the car, which could be hazardous.If the problem occurs, Hyundai advises that an electronic power steering (EPS) light will illuminate on the vehicle’s dashboard.The vehicles affected were sold in Australia between the start of November 2009 and the end of April 2010.More specifically, the recall affects Elantras with VINs (Vehicle Identification Number) ranging between KMHDU41DAAU929998 and KMHDT41B9BU084665. The i30 VINs affected range between KMHDC81TMAU064300 and KMHDC51TMAU267226.Hyundai will contact owners of affected vehicles by mail. Vehicles will need to be returned to an authorised Hyundai dealership to have their steering inspected for either motor replacement, or a software upgrade.

Economic woe clouding Europe has delivered a silver lining for Australia with the arrival of the new Hyundai i30 Tourer. The little wagon was designed and destined solely for Euro markets, but sliding sales there and a strong currency here gave the Aussie business case a leg-up and backflipped the previous decision not to send it to us. The i30 is Hyundai's star success story, their top seller -- and the sixth most popular car in Australia last year. Rivals for it on the sales leaderboard are the Mazda3 in first place, Toyota's Corolla in third and the Holden Cruze in fifth -- and just a whisker ahead of the Hyundai. But the i30 has a chance to leapfrog ahead this year, if the new wagon lends the hatch a hand by attracting extra buyers. Many of those will come from fleets that favoured the previously discontinued wagon, but with fresh looks and a sprinkle of extra equipment, it's going to lure private buyers too. In Europe, wagons are often an upmarket choice, and that tendency has seeded the more premium approach of the i30 Tourer', which was designed in Germany and built in the Czech Republic. Both Active and Elite spec get the classy grille seen only on the latter in the hatch, daytime running lights, speed limiter on the cruise control and smart 16-in alloys (and yes, a full-size spare) added to the already generous i30 fit-outs. That means the Tourer Elite also scores the hatch's rear view camera, 7-in touchscreen satnav with live SUNA updates and other goodies. But both wagons also get multi-link rear suspension, rather than the hatch's cheaper torsion beam. The Tourers share the i30 range's 94kW/260Nm 1.6-litre turbodiesel -- the Elite offers only that engine with a six-speed auto -- but the Tourer's petrol choice is the 98kW/163Nm 1.6-litre from the Veloster and Kia Rio, rather than the hatch's 1.8-litre (sacrificing 3kW and 15Nm with the change). There's a rise of $2000 over the discontinued wagon and current hatch, with the newcomer starting in showrooms later this month at $22,990 for the petrol and $25,590 for the diesel in Active manual spec (the auto adds $2000) and topping out at $31,190 for the Elite. Fuel misers might be philosophically attracted to the manual diesel's 4.6L/100km and petrol's 6.3L, but buying trends show most will then skip over it for the auto versions claiming 5.8L and 6.9L respectively. Load-luggers will love the increased cargo space, with 528 litres -- 113 more than the previous wagon and 150 more than the hatch -- ballooning to 1642 with the rear seats flat-folded. So... how does that stack up against that close leaderboard rival? The Holden Cruze wagon starts at $25,790 and is longer, wider and higher, but falls behind on 500 to 1478-litre cargo space -- and also on head and shoulder room. The Hyundai will also gain some applause with European styling and build against the Korean origins of the Cruze wagon. It will be an interesting race to the sales finish line this year. Wagons ho! This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott  

Keen to give its vehicles a European image, Hyundai is calling the new body style a Tourer rather than a station wagon. The Tourer was designed in Germany and it comes as no surprise it uses what Hyundai calls its Fluidic Sculpture theme. This shape has been greeted with enthusiasm in many countries, with buyers saying it stands out from the crowd. Unlike the about to be superseded i30 wagon which had a longer wheelbase than the hatchback, the new Tourer will share the i30 hatch's 2650 mm wheelbase. That’s already a long wheelbase so there shouldn't be any compromise in interior and luggage space. The i30 Tourer is 185 mm longer overall than the hatch and has 528 litres of stowage capacity with rear seats up, an increase of 150 litres over the hatch. This increases to an impressive 1642 litres with the rear seats folded flat. Additional underfloor storage compartments add to the i30 Tourer’s versatility Again following the European way of doing things, the new Hyundai i30 Tourer wagon will be sold with both petrol and turbo-diesel powertrains. The 1.6-litre direct-injection petrol engine puts out 99 kW of power and 164 Nm of torque. The latter at a very high 4850 rpm – the sort of engine revs seldom, if ever, achieved by most drivers. Presumably the torque will be offered at much lower revs, we are yet to drive the new wagon and will comment on its performance as soon as we have done so. Sounding much more practical, the 1.6-litre turbo-diesel engine has peak power of 94 kW at 4000 rpm, with top torque of 260 Nm being produced between 1900 and 2750 rpm. Both engines will be offered with either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic, the latter having a sequential manual mode. The new Hyundai i30 Tourer has a sophisticated range of active and passive safety technologies. Standard across all models are Vehicle Stability Management (VSM), Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Traction Control System (TCS), and ABS with EBD and Brake Assist.  Safety during a crash will be assisted by ultra-high-tensile steel within the body shell and seven airbags on all models. The local importer tells us the Hyundai i30 Tourer will be sold in Australia in two trim levels, Active and Elite, and that standard equipment will be similar, but not identical, to the i30 hatchback. Full specifications will be announced closer to the launch of the Tourer. We will attend the press launch of the new i30 wagon and report on it immediately afterwards. The complete Hyundai i30 Tourer range is: GDI Active 1.6-litre petrol five-door wagon: $22,990 (manual), $24,990 (automatic) CRDI Active 1.6-litre turbo-diesel five-door wagon: $25,590 (manual), $27,590 (automatic) CRDI Elite 1.6-litre turbo-diesel five-door wagon: $31,190 (automatic)  

There's a two-year waiting list of 60 buyers for the $580,00 Ferrari F458 Italia, and luxury brands BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi also had strong sales months.  But its just not the high end of the car market seeing good times return.   New car sales rose 20 per cent last month compared to last November.Bargain buys and the Federal Government's small business tax break for new vehicles are driving sales.  Among the star cars last month were the Holden Cruze, Toyota Corolla, Hyundai i30 and Mazda Mazda3 - all with starting prices around $20,000.Toyota's workhorse HiLux ute was the best-seller for the month, clocking up 4230 sales largely because of the small business incentive package.  More than 85,000 new vehicles hit the road, up 14,000 vehicles compared to November last year.Many businesses are in a last-minute rush to take advantage of government tax incentives for utes and vans, which ends on December 31. "This is an extraordinary result that provides further evidence that the market and the broader Australian economy are showing signs of recovery," Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive Andrew McKellar said."Business sales increased an incredible 35.4 per cent during the month; spurred on by the substantial incentives available until the end of the year," he said.  The off-roader segment was one of the most popular with sales surging 44 per cent.Top 10 cars - November1 Toyota HiLux 42302 Holden Commodore 39563 Toyota Corolla 33094 Ford Falcon 28635 Mazda3 25486 Holden Cruze 22747 Mitsubishi Lancer 20238 Toyota Camry 20039 Hyundai i30 199810 Toyota Yaris 1725

The Mercedes-Benz E Class is good, the Ford Fiesta is better, but the Golf is best of all from more than 100 new cars that landed in Australia over the past year.

The wagon version of the previous COTY winner only made the field on a wildcard, but it was close even before it was included.

But Kia has valiantly soldiered on against the odds as sales of fellow Korean Hyundai - which owns 38 per cent of Kia - has shot ahead on the back of the i30, iMax and iLoad and its market share has grown to 7 per cent. However, Kia is pinning its future on a product-led recovery that it expects to increase sales and its market share.Kia is one of only a handful of brands this year that have increased market share, despite its sales slipping 6.7 per cent. Kia Australia's national sales manager, Alan Crouch, acknowledges there will be comparisions with Kia's performance against Hyundai. "But they have reached a critical mass and we're still some way off," he says.Crouch says Kia is on track to sell around 20,000 vehicles this year, the same as last year, despite the economic slowdown. "We'll be very happy with that," he says. "We think the market will be around 850,000 and our market share will be about 2.5 per cent compared to 1.8 per cent last year."Crouch says Kia Australia has done a lot of development work this year "sowing the ground" for future product and more investment. Dealer numbers have grown from 108 to 117 and for the first time there is now a dealer in Alice Springs and Broome. "As we said when we launched Soul, Kia is a different company now," he says.Crouch says the company has also had a more consistent approach to advertising and marketing, moving away from the budget brand tag. Fresh European-inspired product is also driving new buyers into showrooms. "What we're noticing is that the people who are buying our cars are changing," he says. They are younger, design-driven people, he says. "We're seeing people we have never seen before in a Kia dealership."Crouch attributes this change to the new Cerato sedan and Soul and their competitive pricepoints. He expects more people will cross shop against Kia with the arrival of the Koup and the new Sorento off-roader in a few months.However, those looking to compare in the van segment will have less luck. The cheap and cheerful Kia Pregio diesel van won a legion of fans because of its practicality, and also helped underpin Kia sales locally. But since it was withdrawn in 2006 Kia has moved on and a replacement is unlikely, according to Alan Crouch. "The facts are that there is not a product applicable to the Australian market going forward, especially on safety," Crouch says.Given the high-level of specification and safety now required for the local light commercial van market, Crouch says filling the space left by the Pregio would be difficult.The Cerato, Soul and Koup also show that Kia is moving on from being a rudimentary carmaker, he says. 

New sales figures reveal that not only do buyers continue to prefer cars made in Japan by a ratio of almost two to one, they also prefer cars built in Korea to locally-made ones, which have been outsold by Seoul for the first time. In August we bought 26,456 cars from Japan and 11,704 from Korea — and only 11,540 big Australians. Cars made in Thailand, which include most Hondas, were the fourth most popular at 9711. The best-selling car for the second consecutive month was Toyota's imported Corolla, which outsold Holden's steadily declining Commodore by 3659 to 3329. The once Commodore-rivalling Ford Falcon sedan could muster only 2449 sales, behind the Mazda3 and barely ahead of the Mitsubishi Lancer and Hyundai i30 — all lean-running four-cylinder imports. Of the remaining Aussies, Ford's Falcon Ute and Territory, Holden's Statesman and Toyota's Aurion all lost ground compared to August 2008. Tellingly, the only locally-produced car to improve performance was Toyota's four-cylinder Camry. An increasing proportion of the cars made in Australia are Toyotas. While not the worst ever result for Commodore and Falcon, it was a dismal return for a month in which the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) said private buyers returned to the market. The difficulty is that Commodore and Falcon rely on fleet sales for more than 70 per cent of their volume. And while a respectable total of 73,287 vehicles were driven out of sales yards last month, the large car segment was down by a massive 21.3 per cent on the same period for 2008. The small car segment, dominated by Japan and Korea, was up 7 per cent. Holden markets several models made in Korea, the newest of which, the Cruze, was its second best seller on 1971. It will be made here from next year. FCAI chief executive Andrew McKellar says the rise of Korean cars is ‘well deserved’, but Australian car makers have ‘plans to enhance their positions' including a range of economical new engines, not least of which is Ford’s much-discussed proposal to stick a 2.0-litre turbo diesel in the Falcon and to belatedly give the Territory the diesel it needs. McKellar says these are among the moves crucial in securing the Rudd Government's controversial $6.2 billion/four-year commitment to help Australian car makers. Toyota remained the top seller in August monthly market with 15,994 vehicle sales, ahead of Holden (9,505), Ford (7,623), Mazda (5,863) and Hyundai (5,980). But August was a month in which makers of cars from the land of kim chee were entitled to crow — not least Hyundai, which achieved market share of 8.2 per cent in a total market that has decreased 14.2 per cent year to date. It remains the only top 10 brand to post a sales increase — eight consecutive months of year-on-year growth and an overall increase of sales of 32.5%YTD. “Hyundai’s sales results are a global success story and reflect the company’s acceptance as one of the top five global manufacturers,” Hyundai director of sales and marketing Kevin McCann says. “In Australia, Hyundai has achieved remarkable growth this year based on our ability to deliver outstanding design, quality and value. Our growth here has enabled Hyundai and its dealers to invest in new facilities, people and training and in community sponsorships such as Hyundai A-League, Hopman Cup tennis, Carlton FC and numerous charitable involvements.” TOP 10 BRANDS AUGUST 09, YTD 2009 (+/- 2008) 1 Toyota 15,994 126,891 (-) 2 Holden 9505 75,923 (-) 3 Ford 7623 61,862 (-) 4 Mazda 5863 50,490 (-) 5 Hyundai 5980 42,141 (+) 6 Nissan 3657 34,367 (-) 7 Mitsubishi 4551 35,780 (-) 8 Honda 2841 27,848 (-) 9 Subaru 2602 24,418 (-) 10 Volkswagen 2115 20,410 (-) TOP 20 CARS AUGUST 09 1 Toyota Corolla 3659 2 Holden Commodore 3329 3 Mazda3 2898 4 Ford Falcon 2449 5 Toyota Hilux 2327 6 Toyota Camry 2192 7 Mitsubishi Lancer 2171 8 Hyundai i30 2105 9 Holden Cruze 1971 10 Hyundai Getz 1868 11 Toyota Yaris 1406 12 Mazda2 1134 13 Subaru Impreza 1120 14 Toyota Kluger 1108 15 Ford Focus 1097 16 Toyota Prado 1065 17 Toyota RAV4 1061 18 Nissan Navara 1043 19 Holden Captiva 1031 20 Mitsubishi Triton 1026

The Toyota four cylinder eclipsed the Holden Commodore by just 35 cars last month to become the biggest seller. It is the fourth time in 18 months it has turned the tables on Holden's locally built big six. The Japanese carmaker sold 3856 Corollas versus 3891 Commodores last month.The Corolla led a modest small car sales spike last month as buyers continue to chase economy purchases over large sedans. Apart from small cars, the latest VFACTS industry sales figures for July reveal that sportscars and off-roaders also recorded positive sales gains.Small car sales were up 2.7 per cent in July compared to the same month last year. Sportscars increased 10.3 per cent while medium and luxury off-roaders were up 2.4 per cent and 7.2 per cent.The FCAI's sales figures show that 75,333 vehicles were sold last month, 8643 fewer than the same month last year. Year-to-date 530,556 new vehicles have been sold, down 15 per cent or 96,115 vehicles, compared to the same period last year.Toyota continues to dominate as sales leader. It has sold 110,897 vehicles so far this year to secure a dominate overall market share of 24 per cent. Toyota's lead is almost double that of its nearest rival, Holden with 66,418 sales with Ford in third spot with 54,239 sales.The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive, Andrew McKellar, said the Federal Goverment's business tax stimulus continued to have a positive knock-on effect on sales.Despite overall sales being down 10 per cent last month compared to the same month last year, business sales remained strong, he said. There was evidence of a flow-on from the very strong June sales result with strong demand for work vehicles, he said. "Particularly from buyers accessing the business tax break on new investments," he said.Some dealers are also reporting waiting lists of several months on certain models because of a backlog of orders on work utes and light commercial vehicles.Top Ten sellers (July) 1 Toyota Corolla 38912 Holden Commodore 38563 Ford Falcon 28344. Mazda3 27855 Toyota HiLux 25636 Hyundai Getz 21477 Mitsubishi Lancer 21298 Hyundai i30 20459 Holden Cruze 198210 Toyota Camry 1717Top Ten brands (July) 1 Toyota 16,6642 Holden 10,2663 Ford 77834 Hyundai 62265 Mazda 60246 Mitsubishi 41667 Nissan 37568 Subaru 28079 Honda 265710 Volkswagen 2361