Category: Hyundai

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Hyundai Motor Shows

AIMS 2011 gallery: Hyundai

Hyundai at AIMS 2011

Hyundai rocked up to the Australian International Motor Show with some nice looking metal, but it was their sweet offerings which really grabbed our attention. Seriously. The Baileys panna cotta was sublime!

Anyway, back to the cars, the Blue square (Blue2) pictured above is quite interesting. Not in the least because of its animated screens front and back, but because it’s a Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle powered by hydrogen. The Blue2 has 90kW provided by its fuel cell electric system and can travel 100km on just 2.86 litres.

Some may argue such technology is a better long-term solution than plugging your car into the electricity grid to ‘refuel’ (see the Honda FCX Clarity as an example). Hyundai say they hope to have their first FCEVs on the streets by 2014.

Also of note is the oddball Veloster with coupé styling on the driver’s side and a 5-door hatch look on the passenger’s side; complete with differently positioned B-pillars. It will go on sale locally before the year is out. An awkward looking hatch thingy powered by a 103kW 1.6 litre diesel and with the option of a 6-speed double clutch transmission; will Australians really go for it?

Something more likey to achieve dependable sales is the smart looking i40 Wagon. Designed in Germany and featuring ‘a package of powertrains, equipment and technology tailored for European tastes’ it also goes on sale later this year.

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Holden Hyundai Kia Mazda Mitsubishi Toyota VFACTS reports

New vehicle sales report – April 2011

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April’s Easter and Anzac day holiday break is being cited as the cause for an 8.8% drop in sales compared to 2010 figures. In all 74,214 new vehicles were sold.

Japanese marques are expected to have temporary ongoing supply issues following the unfortunate earthquake and tsunami.

Toyota and Holden continue their reign as the country’s top two selling brands. However, in April, they gain a rare visit from Hyundai in third place, ahead of usual rivals Ford and Mazda.

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Audi Holden Hyundai Kia Mazda Subaru Toyota VFACTS reports

New vehicle sales report – March 2011

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March was another month without much fanfare as far as vehicle sales go. The official press release from FCAI is very matter of fact.

In real terms, though, the numbers don’t seem too bad. A total of 93,984 sales were registered, a drop of just under 1% compared to March 2010.

FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar seemed to dismiss the drop in sales by saying, “Notwithstanding slightly lower sales during the month, the demand for new vehicles is broadly consistent with other retail and consumer demand indicators.”

Toyota and Holden remain unchallenged in their respective one and two positions on the sales charts. While it is Ford’s turn to hold the number three mantle from Mazda.

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Holden Hyundai Subaru Toyota VFACTS reports

New vehicle sales report – February 2011

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You can tell it’s not been a great month for new vehicle sales when less than a handful of companies issue press releases. That’s certainly been the case with February’s sales, which fell 1.6% on 2010 numbers.

FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar is talking things up, though, claiming private buyers are out in force, “Sales to private customers increased 4.1 per cent during February to total 39,776 units—outselling business and fleet purchases. This is an encouraging indicator of the market and reflects a strong level of economic confidence.”

Toyota, Holden and Mazda retain their positions as the top three selling marques.

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New vehicle sales report – December 2010

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Congratulations Australia, for just the third time ever we have managed to send over 1 million new vehicles out the door. To be exact, 1,035,574 passenger cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles found new homes in 2010 and that represents an increase of almost 100,000 sales on 2009 figures.

“This is an exceptional outcome and is the second highest result on record and only the third time ever that the market exceeded more than one million sales,” FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar said.

“With continuing strong levels of vehicle affordability there is no reason why the new vehicle market won’t continue to perform better than other areas of the economy.”

Toyota was the highest selling marque in 2010, with 214,718 sales registered. Holden and Ford followed with 132,923 and 95,824 sales respectively.

Holden can claim still bragging rights, though, with the Commodore proving to be Australia’s most popular car for the fifteenth year in a row. Its 45,956 sales placed it ahead of the Toyota Corolla, on 41,632, and the Toyota Hilux, with an impressive 39,896 sales.

Meanwhile, a number of other marques are shouting from the rooftops about their new records set in 2010, including BMW, Hyundai, Mazda, Subaru, Suzuki and Volkswagen.

UPDATE 7 January: Audi, Kia and Mitsubishi have released their brag sheets today, too.

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Holden Hyundai Subaru Suzuki VFACTS reports

New vehicle sales report – October 2010

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According to official VFACTS data things pretty much stood still last month in regards to new car sales. That is, sales rose by a tiny 0.1% (112 vehicles) compared to October 2009. Little surprise, then, that most manufacturers have kept quiet.

Although, FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar, tells us not to worry because last October was a ball tearer, “It needs to be acknowledged that sales this time last year were being boosted by the stimulus of the business tax break so it is encouraging to see that the market is maintaining that momentum.”

Toyota rules the roost, as usual, followed by Holden and the Ford–Mazda flip-flop for third has ended in Ford’s favour this month.

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AIMS 2010: Photo gallery

AIMS 2010

Here is the AUSmotive photo gallery from the Australian International Motor Show industry day. There are 128 photos in all and you can simply click on each thumbnail to access a 2000px super image.

Highlights include a couple of track specials in the form of the awesome Porsche 911 GT3 Cup and the rear-engined V6 Renault Megane Trophy. Others to look out for are the Toyota FT-86G concept, the Ford Focus RS, a trio of Lamborghini Gallardos and the highly desirable Audi R8 V10 Spyder, which looks great in all white.

Dedicated articles on the following cars can be access by clicking on the links below:

A big thank you to Daniel McKenna who joined the AUSmotive crew at AIMS and brought you many of the pictures you see here.

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Holden Hyundai Kia Mazda Subaru Toyota VFACTS reports

New vehicle sales report – September 2010

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Official VFACTS data released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) showed that 85,054 passenger cars, SUVs and commercial vehicles were sold in September, up 8.9 per cent (or 6,923 vehicles) on the same month in 2009. It also represents a new record for the month of September, beating the old mark (2005) by 584 sales.

Toyota and Holden retain their place at the top of the charts, while perennial top-three challenger Mazda has once again knocked Ford back to fourth place.

Year-to-date sales now tally 780,720 and the full year prediction has been raised to over 1 million, up from the previous forecast of 980,000. It would be only the third time in Australia’s history that 1 million new cars have been sold in a calendar year.

Press releases from FCAI and various manufacturers are available after the break.

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Holden Hyundai Kia Mazda Subaru Suzuki Toyota VFACTS reports

New vehicle sales report – August 2010

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Official VFACTS data released by the FCAI states 82,122 new vehicles were sold in August, up 12.1% on the same month in 2009. Toyota, Holden and Ford retain the top-three positions on the sales charts.

Press releases from FCAI and various manufacturers are available after the break.

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Holden Hyundai Mazda Mercedes-Benz Subaru Suzuki Toyota VFACTS reports

New vehicle sales report – July 2010

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Last month’s high of 108,722 new vehicle sales came crashing back to earth in July. A comparatively low figure of 82,376 sales were registered. However, this result represents an increase of 9.3% on July 2009 data, so it’s not all bad news.

Andrew McKellar, FCAI Chief Executive, explains July usually provides a slow start to the new financial year, “This is a very solid result for July with the start of the new financial year usually resulting in slower sales.

“These figures provide further evidence that sales to private customers continue to increase strongly – recording a 20 per cent rise compared to this time last year,” Mr McKellar said.

If we go back to the results from May we can see sales across all segments were up almost 20% on 2009 figures. Year-to-date numbers have now eased a little, but are still up 15.6% compared to last year, with a total of 613,544 sales so far in 2010.

The SUV segment continues to lead the charge, with light commercials and passengers cars behind. Toyota and Holden retain their positions at the head of the sales chart. While Ford hung on to its third placing by a single sale over Mazda.

More from the FCAI and manufacturers after the break.

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New vehicle sales report – June 2010

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The end of financial year saw some big numbers in terms of new vehicle sales in Australia. In fact, the final sales tally of 108,722 vehicles is the highest selling month on record. It betters the previous monthly high by over 2000 sales, set back in June 2008.

“The record June result is a clear demonstration of renewed confidence in the marketplace,” FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar said.

“It is encouraging to see that private buyers have returned to the market in greater numbers and have taken over the momentum previously attributed to business sales.”Year-to-date sales now sit at 531,168 and the FCAI has upped is 2010 prediction by 40,000 vehicles. It now expects 980,000 sales to be registered in 2010.

Toyota, Holden and Ford continue as the three highest selling marques. But that hasn’t stopped many other brands from bragging about their sales results.

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Hyundai MINI

Hyundai v MINI

Hyundai v MINI

There’s big news for those who have been following the MINI USA challenge to race a Porsche 911. Like Porsche, you might have stopped worrying about the try hard Jim McDowell, even though there have been developments since our last update—including a Rocky IV spoof.

Back to that big news, well, the article title kind of gives it away I guess, but Hyundai have thrown their hat into the ring and have laid down a counter challenge to race MINI. After the break you can see the YouTube reply from the Korean upstarts who still have a lot to learn in Slick Marketing Presentations 101. (Although, the Hyundai Top Gear spoof was very well put together).

That said, in their 3.8 litre V6 Genesis Coupé, Hyundai might have already prepared a match for the best MINI can offer around Road Atlanta. It seems this desperate PR stunt originally launched by MINI won’t go away, so let’s wait and see what happens next…

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