12 July 2011
New Car Report; A market leader in the making?
An agricultural show might not seem the obvious place to launch a compact family sedan, but when the show is Waikato’s Fieldays, the largest show of its type in the Southern Hemisphere with attendance numbers approaching 120,000 it all starts to make sense.
Hyundai has had a long standing association with Fieldays, and the 2011 event was chosen as the location to launch the new Elantra saloon. Prospective buyers, existing Hyundai owners and members of the motoring media were invited along to Hyundai’s ginormous stand at Mystery Creek, where Hyundai sales people were rushed off their feet keeping up with customer enquiry.
Each time a deal was sealed Hyundai complied with local Waikato tradition with the ringing of a cowbell, and judging by the ringing in our ears at the end of the day, Fieldays 2011 was a resounding success for Hyundai.
Hyundai boss quietly content with Fielday's success.
Hyundai New Zealand boss, Tom Rudinklau says that a good spread of Hyundai models were sold at the show and that the new Elantra was very well received by the public. Although reluctant to divulge exactly how many cars were sold over the four day event, he told us “We don’t like to boast about these things, but suffice to say we’re delighted with the result. We sold more cars this year than we did at Fieldays 2010 and it was a great platform for us to showcase the new Elantra.”
Hyundai has big plans for the Elantra too, with their sights clearly set on being number one in its sector. And if ever the number one Korean brand had a product to beat off the competition into the top spot in its class, it’s the new Elantra in the compact sedan segment.
Priced from $35,990, even the entry level model comes with Bluetooth, a feature conspicuous in its absence in other Hyundai product, but one that we’re delighted to see in the new Elantra. Capping off the three model range are the Elantra Elite priced at $39,990 and the $41,990 Elite Limited.
Adding to the standard model’s impressive spec sheet, Elite and Elite Limited versions are equipped with leather trim, climate air, proximity key, reversing sensors, rain sensing wipers and auto headlights. For the extra $2k, the Elite Limited adds a sunroof.
A new 1.8 litre 110kW/179Nm four cylinder petrol engine powers all three models and a new six speed automatic transmission is a welcome addition to the Hyundai compact car range, which has until now had to make do with four ratios. No manual version is offered.
Performance is lively enough and on the road the Elantra foots it well with other vehicles in its class. It’s pleasing on the eye with styling cues that have filtered down from the i45. Hyundai’s i30 hatchback which has featured well in the sales charts is starting to look conservative and a little dated in comparison, however we’re told a replacement is due next year.
Elantra might just have what it takes to lead the pack.
When compared against the current top seller in the segment, the Holden Cruze, the Elantra stacks up pretty well, with slight advantages in power (6kW), torque (3Nm) and fuel consumption (7.1L/100km vs 7.5L/100km) over the 1.8 litre Cruze.
The all-important Bluetooth is absent on Holden’s compact sedan and you’ll get steel wheels with the Aussie car rather than the attractive alloys that come standard on the new Korean model.
With an impressive 485 litre boot capacity, Elantra beats the Cruze by 40 litres and braked towing weight of 1,300kg means that the Elantra can haul 100kg more, although Holden’s 695kg unbraked capacity betters Hyundai’s 500kg unbraked rating.
And the Elantra’s 48.5 litre fuel tank is 11.5 litres shy of the Holden’s 60 litre capacity, so we’d imagine the Holden will go quite a bit further on a tank full. Also, the Holden wins out on pricing, with the entry level Cruze auto retailing at $31,400, some $4,590 under the entry level Elantra.
If there’s one criticism of Hyundai in recent times, it’s their retail pricing regime, which seems to have leap-frogged ahead of the competition. A cynic might say it’s been marked up to be knocked down but either way, we’d be surprised if there isn’t room for negotiation.
Overall, there are quite a few plusses and a few minuses when pitched against the current market leader, however the car is good enough to take on the competition and realise Hyundai’s ambition to be number one in class.
But ultimately the market will decide whether or not Hyundai’s newcomer is good enough to warrant the price premium and take the top spot.