LATEST KOREAN SUPERMINI LAUNCHED IN SA

+ Click to Enlarge NOBODY'S LAUGHING AT HYUNDAI ANY MORE: The Korean brand has sold more than a million cars into Africa and as that's happened so its products have morphed into quality cars that are taking on the world. The i20 hatch was been launched in SA in July, 2009.

July 6, 2009
By Les Stephenson

While the rest of the automotive world is sinking in a morass of debt and slumping sales figures Korean automaker Hyundai is stomping through the global financial meltdown all in a pair of size-12 rubber boots.

Hyundai Auto SA's CEO Alan Ross said at the launch of the brand's i20 compact hatch in Cape Town today that Hyundai's global sales were up by nine percent over 2008 (and by 20 percent in Canada) while other automakers were down as much as 40 percent.

While the good-looking new i20 and the smaller-engined i10 ( released in South Africa exactly a year ago) hatches no doubt helped this situation, Ross confessed that - in the US at least - excellent advertising and allaying potential customers' fears of retrenchment and another fuel price catastrophe were the real sales-builders.

Hyundai SA has followed suit in easing fears of job loss by promising to refund up to 85 percent of a Hyundai's price in the case of retrenchment but - given SA's laws on discounting petrol - might not be able to copy the US scheme, called 'Gaslock', that has fixed the price of a US gallon of petrol at $1.49 for Hyundai customers - anything over that, Hyundai pays.

Coming fourth - with the i20 - in the latest JD Power quality survey behind prestige brands such as Cadillac and Porsche might just have had something to do with the sales jump as well as the five-star rating recently awarded after Euro NCAP crash safety testing and a 10-year warranty in the US.

Hyundai US, with its plant in Montgomery, Alabama, says it's the only automaker taking advantage of the recession in the US and the South's over-supply of fast-food outlet workers; they make up a large part of the 30 000 people involved with the plant. Why? Because auto production lines require quick hands and the ability to stand for long hours – just like a Burger King employee.

So, what are these ex-burger flippers making…? Well, a darn good-looking small four-door hatch with a choice of 74kW/136Nm 1.4-litre or the 91kW/156Nm 1.6-litre engine already used in the Hyundai Elantra is what. They're each hooked to a very smooth five-speed manual gearbox (no auto) and will make 180 and 190km/h top speed, respectively.

The fuel-injected engines have continuously variable valve timing and two camshafts, an aluminium block and a silent cam chain that, Hyundai says, will outlive the vehicle. One hopes that is good news…

CO2 emissions are well below the target about to be set, apparently, by the SA government.

ALL BOXES TICKED

The i20's cabin is big, given the car's overall modest dimensions. I'm more than 1.8m tall and have no trouble getting comfortable behind the (occupied) front passenger seat – plenty of head and leg room. The ride, however, is a bit harsh – especially over Cape Town's sometime unavoidable potholes and sunken manhole covers.

The car also ticks all the boxes on equipment level: aircon, four power windows, power external mirrors that can be heated and will fold on command, remote-controlled central locking with a third button for the boot hatch, remote control for the audio system that comes with three jacks for auxiliary input and an iPod (doubling as a charger, iPod info on a fascia screen), Bluetooth and a full-size spare wheel.

That screen also displays trip data in the form of trip distance, distance to refuel, external temperature and current fuel consumption.

The fascia glove box must be one of the biggest in the industry: though restrained by the seat belt, I could only just touch its bottom – and it can be chilled by the car's aircon. The rear seats fold, Hyundai says, to create a flat load area under a luggage volume of 295 litres – best in class.

FIVE-YEAR WARRANTY

"In value-for-money terms," said Hyundai SA's marketing boss Stanley Anderson, "the i20 is well ahead of the competition. It's the most competitive in its price bracket and it has features not carried by competitors."

Which include Ford's Fiesta, VW's now ageing Polo, Toyota's Yaris, Opel's Corsa, Honda's Jazz and the Mazda2.

And the i20 is not a replacement for the Hyundai Getz. The i10 and i20 are seen as cars for the younger generation, the Getz as wheels for the more mature buyer.

The Hyundai i20 1.4 costs R149 900, the i20 1.6 R159 900 and each comes with a five-year or 150 000km warranty and a three-year or 60 000km service plan. Service intervals are 15 000km.