Hyundai I45 2012 News

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has issued its latest round of recalls, with models from Hyundai, Jaguar, Kia and Volvo impacted by the recent safety notices.

As the eldest in our family, I was a bit like Hyundai. I had some good ideas, and I got there first, but Keith always managed to take what I'd begun and improve things.When I started as a paperboy I was happy to clear around $20 a week, but he lifted that to more than $40 on the same route and put it all in the bank. No frippery or splashing on motor magazines, that's for sure. He was also way better at anything practical, tougher on a football field, and first to head out from home.Just last week I was driving the new Hyundai Sante Fe and was impressed by the design, space, quality and seven-seater practicality. The steering felt wonky and the ride was floppy, but all-in-all it was a very impressive thing. This week I'm in the latest Kia Sorento and almost the same as the Sante Fe - no surprise there, since they're among the Hyundai-Kia clone cars - but a bit better.I think the driver's seat sits way too high for comfort and control, but the Sorento's suspension is massively better and the steering is good. It also feels more 'together' and a little quieter, and the extra refinement in the Sorento means I will always recommend it ahead of the Santa Fe.It's much the same as the Kia Sportage, which I prefer over the Hyundai ix35, the Kia Rio that trumps the Hyundai i20 - and currently holds the Carsguide Car of the Year crown - and the mid-sized Optima which is way better than either the i40 or i45 from Hyundai.Look at the sales figures this year and Hyundai is up by 4.9 per cent over 2011, holding fourth in the charts. Kia is only 11th, but its numbers are up by 26.9 per cent. Kia has the obvious advantage of building up from the basics set by Hyundai in everything from cabin size to engines, but it scores with the styling work by design ace Peter Schreyer and it also has Aussie suspension guru Graeme Gambold on the books.The Schreyer-Gambold double-punch lands every time, which could partly explain a major change at Hyundai that put former Holden marketing boss John Elsworth into the driving seat this week. He's going to lead a more locally-focussed management team tasked to deliver what Australians want in their cars, while holding the prices and value at the level Australians expect from Korean.'He could do a lot worse than to take a look, and a drive, in something with a Keith - sorry, Kia - badge. 

The Korean brand is fast-tracking changes to the steering and front suspension of its good looking mid-sized newcomer to bring it up to the standard of Japanese rivals including the Mazda6, Honda Euro and Suzuki Kizashi. It has just completed a major back-to-back evaluation with its rivals and the outcome is an engineering update from Korea.  "We have asked for a change and it will be approved soon," says Edward Lee, managing director of Hyundai Australia. "The quick fix could be in three months. But the permanent fix, I'm not sure."  Carsguide helped trigger the changes, with Hyundai boss Edward Lee admitting feedback from journalists was crucial in evaluation of the i45. "HMC always listens to journalist opinion very carefully. We listen.  We try to improve.  After that criticism we are doing almost everything. We have to listen." Carsguide hit the car hard for its wonky front suspension and woeful steering response, which even Lee felt during the comparison drive.  "I am not an engineer... but I can tell the difference, a little bit. We what the difference is, but from the normal customer's point of view it is hard to differentiate." Lee says the comparative testing was crucial and the technical team in Australia has filed a detailed report to Korea.  "We discussed many times with our head office." He also admits Hyundai must establish a process to prevent such shortcomings hitting showrooms in future.  "We have an Australian engineering team and test drivers. But it's not enough. We will do something more. We need to invite Korean engineers here."

After leading the world on so many fronts - from quality to comfort and reliability - they have been hit badly by the global financial crisis.  Toyota and Honda and many of the others wound back dramatically at the onset of the GFC, not just on their production lines but also in their motorsport programs - F1 was the first casualty - and new-product development.We are now seeing the results in Australian showrooms, where the Corolla and Civic are now mid-pack in the small-car class and former pacesetters including the Mazda6, Honda Accord Euro and even the locally-made Camry are struggling against newer and better rivals.  They are fine for everyday transport, but not as impressive as they were just five years ago.Subaru has also cut costs and its latest styling work - particularly on the Liberty and Outback - reflects a desperate desire to win sales in the USA.  Contrast all of them against the Suzuki Kizashi, which comes from one of the few Japanese brands that held its nerve through the GFT. Suzuki has cut its production targets, and admits that extra Kizashi models are on the back-burner, but is going to do brilliantly well with the car.Toyota and Honda, in contrast, are relying on value-added deals to keep customers coming in Australia. They are recovering from the economic downturn but nowhere near as rapidly as some of their rivals  - particularly Hyundai.In Australia, many of our Japanese cars are now also actually built in Thailand. It's not a major drama, because the quality is much the same, but it shows how the battle to cut costs is influencing the Japanese makers. The Thai drive also shows that Japan Incorporated is now happy to produce bland transport modules instead of appealing cars, going for numbers first - in showrooms and on the balance sheet. It's a reasonable response to the GFC but is going to cause problems in coming years.Why? Because Australia is seeing so many classy European cars at more affordable prices - look at the Volkswagen Polo - and because Korean is coming up fast.  Hyundai is now doing a better job than Toyota at building Toyota-style cars, with adventurous styling, classy quality and great prices. It's latest, the i45 replacement for the dowdy Sonata, is really good on every front except its awful steering and lacklustre front suspension.The i45 is a Camry done better and, like the Kizashi, one of the stars of 2010. And it's not the end for Hyundai, which has all sorts of new models coming from the baby i20 to an overdue sporty car sometime in 2012.And that's whan the Japanese really could be in trouble. It's not because Hyundai has something new but because the Japanese wound their development programs back during the GFT and the results of that conservative risk management will not really be known until we see - or don't see - the work which should have been done over the past two years.Follow Paul Gover on Twitter!

CEO Edward Lee says diesel isn't on their agenda, despite the fact that the Sonata the i45 replaces had a two-litre diesel engine.  "At the moment, we don't have that plan but we have some different ideas," he says. In the US, it will be available with LPG and as a petrol-electric hybrid.  "The hybrid is just for the US, but if the market is ready we will consider it." He rejected a stronger V6 engine for the i45, declaring that the 2.4-litre petrol Theta II engine "performs like a V6".  Product planning manager Roland Rivero says diesel does not represent a high proportion of their car sales or throughout the medium-car segment. "Looking at the sales split for petrol versus diesel in Mondeo and Mazda6 it it struggling to grow," he says.  "It's not huge in this segment.  But if the market demands it, we will investigate an alternative fuel, but it might not be diesel."

It's fussy, with plenty of chrome and some complicated panel creases that test the high build quality standard of the South Korean manufacturer.  However, Hyundai's North American design manager Andre Hudson, is proud that a lot of his out-there styling cues have carried through to the production vehicle.  "Our speed of development at Hyundai means the original idea stays very true and doesn't get watered down," he says. He points to two main features which made it from the drawing board to the showroom - the chrome strip down three-quarters of the side of the car and the C pillar "porthole" window.  "The chrome strip under the window sills goes all the way to the headlights across three separate panels. Getting them lined up is a testing process," he says. The C pillar window is one of his favourites.  "I'm so proud that the glass carried through to production despite the extra cost. It gives more sense of space." Hudson spent seven years with GM in Detroit and the UK before moving to Hyundai five years ago.  "That has given me a border approach to designing cars and understanding the European market," he says. Hyundai has studios in South Korea, southern California China, India, Germany and Japan.  "In the US this is considered a large car," he says. "I was 30 when I started on this project and designing a medium-sized family vehicle is not something you dream of doing at that age.  "However, I can now see it being a family car for me for the future." The car continues Hyundai's theme of 'fluidic sculpture'. "It's time to make an emotional connection with our customers and pull at people's hearts a little," he says, referring to the car's "natural organic quality" and "athletic and taut" lines. "There is a movement of line on this vehicle. It looks like it's in motion when it's standing still," he says.  He also describes the front grille as looking like a bird of prey. While the exterior was designed in the US, Hudson's studios collaborated with South Korea on the colours, introducing a metallic red to Hyundai's line-up for the first time and an adventurous "espresso brown" which looks almost black except in direct sunlight.