Hyundai i20 Looking Good Value

The future is looking good for buyers of the new Hyundai i20, well especially where GFV's or Guaranteed Future Value's are concerned.

After close collaboration with the independent industry guides and whole life cost providers, Hyundai have announced the new i20 will enter the market with some of the most competitive figures possible.

After 3 years / 30,000 miles, the i20 Classic 1.2 5 door is expected to achieve 47% of its original value, whilst the i20 Comfort 1.4 CRDi 3 door reaches an extremely strong 49%.

Every mainstream version in the i20 range achieves a minimum of 43%, which is further confirmation that customers will benefit from the perfect package – as the WhatCar? website review summarises this week, "The Hyundai i20 is cheap to buy, costs peanuts to run and comes stacked with luxury kit. Safety is top drawer, and it rides well, too."

Latest Insurance Groups

In addition to the strong GFV's, the i20 has also this week been given a strong and very competitive set of insurance ratings.

Over a third of the range will be placed in the insurance group 3E category which is one of the lowest in its class. This includes both the 1.2 Classic and Comfort petrol models as well as the Comfort 1.4 CRDi diesel.

The remaining range will be listed as group 4E.

These groupings are extremely competitive and are evidence of the high level of quality and standard safety equipment in the i20, and the impact this will have on buyers' ownership costs.

First Hyundai i20's Arrive At Dealerships

The first batch of Hyundai i20 hatchback's started arriving at UK dealerships today in time for its official launch on the 15th January 2009.

Hyundai see the i20 as a replacement for its outgoing Getz, which despite its odd name, has sold more than 500,000 units since its launch in 2002.

Now the nomenclature has been changed to the more familiar 'i' family of names, Hyundai expect the i20 to achieve even greater heights and become its best ever selling car in Europe.

To do this, Hyundai needs to think smart because the b-segment is one of the toughest markets in which to succeed with supermodels like the Grande Punto, new Mazda 2 and Fiesta strutting the catwalk and taking centre stage.

One advantage Hyundai does have in its favour is the changing market. Nobody can argue in these increasingly hard times that value for money is the main focus on consumers minds and it's here that the Korean giant has this one in the bag. When you think 'value-for-money' you think Hyundai and only they can blow it by getting too confident and pricing themselves out of the market.

At £8,195 for the i20 1.2 Classic 3dr (due in April), Hyundai have certainly done their homework. Only the Mazda 2, mentioned above, has the edge in price here but lacks the specification and the warranty of the i20 and has the perceived image of being more expensive.

Of course one can always argue the Mazda 2, World Car Of The Year, will be superior in quality but that remains to be seen with Hyundai claiming price and budget wasn't the motivation behind this car. Instead the aim is to target the very same customers who'd consider the Mazda and who are also unfamiliar with the Hyundai badge, namely younger couples with families.

With the Autocar 'Automotive Manufactuer Of The Year' award and the economic downturn forcing consumers to downsize from larger cars, the momentum and opportunity is in the Korean car giants favour. The big question is: will the end of 2009 see the Hyundai-Kia group jump from the world's 5th largest car maker to the 4th?

I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Fiat 500 Gets The DIESEL Touch

At the same time as celebrating the recent VAT cut, which brought the price point of the Fiat 500 below the £8,000 mark once again, the busy people at Fiat also sneaked a limited edition version its award winning and hugely successful supermini.

Enter the Fiat 500 byDIESEL - a car that's not only unique in its design but could also change the way car manufacturers and consumers do business in the future. Well that is if you believe everything you read.

Offered exclusively online the 500byDiesel represents Fiat’s first venture into selling vehicles via the web and follows the success of the Abarth 500 on-line deposit offer, which allowed customers to pre-order 200 of the performance supermini six months in advance of UK availability.

This is all good and well but where does this leave the dealer?

It's no big secret that the likes of Jam Jar and Virgin's feeble efforts to tempt buyers into bypassing the dealer network went down like a lead balloon. The reason for that was simple: the cars were coming from the dealer network in the first place offering no real price advantages and the return on investment is less than 2% meaning they couldn't make any money out if it.

People prefer to see and feel what there buying especially as it's such a huge purchase. Then there's the part exchange to consider to help ease the burden. Couple that with documentation to complete where legislation requires the consumer to be on premises and it's a no brainer to see that buying a car requires the human touch and some major investment in infrastructure.

Of course let's not get carried away and remember that Fiat are only offering the consumer an opportunity to leave a deposit on a 500 byDIESEL in order to secure the vehicle before it arrives in the UK. The consumer will still have to select a dealer of their choice in order to pick up the car. They'll then want to drive it before handing over the cash by which time the part exchange will come into the equation and the whole human process will start over again.

So take it with a pinch of salt when Elena Bernardelli, marketing director of Fiat UK says: "This new route to market is an exciting and futuristic development for Fiat."

Hmmm...good to see some things never change.

Abarth Accessories

New Abarth dealers SG Petch York have added some genuine Abarth accessories to their online shopping store.

Although no official brochures have been published to date, Abarth have released a small online catalogue showing some merchandise including hats, t-shirts, sweatshirts, model cars, tie pins and keyrings.

SG Petch York have aquired the latest prices and part numbers for most of these accessories so you can purchase them securely online.

Paul Miller, parts manager for SG Petch Abarth said: "The Abarth franchise has been a huge success in the relatively short time since its relaunch in the UK. Naturally we get a lot of enquiries for Abarth accessories as well as the cars and so were delighted to be able to launch just a small range of accessories with more to follow".

For more information you can go direct and click and buy the Abarth merchandise or call Paul or one of his team on freephone 0800 072 0762.

Hyundai Announce i20 Prices & Specification

Hyundai today released prices, specification and launch information on its all new Hyundai i20 supermini.

The new i20 hatchback, which will replace the outgoing Getz, will launch Hyundai into a new market where quality, style and comfort takes precedence over budget and price. However Hyundai's main objective will be to retain its current Getz owners as well as attracting new customers not familiar with the brand such as younger families.

Hyundai are hoping the new i20, which was designed in Europe and built in Chennai, India, will account for 30% of all Hyundai sales in 2009. In come a new range of petrol and diesel engines with the 5 door being launched on 15th January and the 3 door following in April.

Product strategy for the i20 will be to offer high levels of standard equipment from entry model versus class norm such as rear electric windows as standard on mid-range models and half leather interiors and climate control on the top of the range versions. There'll also be fewer additional extra's other than the usual metallic paint and with ESP the only factory fit option.

Three trim levels will be introduced; Classic, Comfort and Style following the same convention as its smaller brother the i10. The i20 will also use the new 'Kappa' 1.2 engine shared with the i10, although oddly enough, won't be able to match the i10's 118 g/km emission output which would place it in band B and £35 per year road tax.

However, there will be an all new 1.4 CRDi engine which will find itself in the Comfort and Style versions with the latter producing a very green 116 g/km of C02.

Full engine lineup will consist of a 1.2 petrol, 1.4 petrol (as used in the Getz) and the new 1.4 CRDi.

Air conditioning will be standard on the Classic and Comfort models along with 6 airbags, USB/AUX connectivity for MP3 players like the iPod, CD player, electric windows, central locking and tinted glass all be standard across the range. Alloy wheels, heated mirrors, colour coded handles and audio controls on the steering wheel will come in on the Comfort.

The range topping Style will get leather seat trim, leather steering wheel and gear knob, climate control, bigger alloys and front fog lamps.

6 exterior colours will be offered at launch including one solid and five metallic paint finishes. Finally i20 prices will start from £8,645 for the 1.2 Classic 5dr upto £11,845 for the range topping 1.4 CRDi Style.

The i20 1.2 Classic 3dr which arrives in April will be priced from £8,195 upto £9,995 for the 1.4 CRDi Comfort 3dr.

All Hyundai i20 will come with Hyundai's 5 year unlimited mileage warranty.

Kia In The Black And The Red

Kia launched two new special edition hatchbacks designed to kick start an early agressive sales campaign in 2009.

The Kia Picanto Red slots in between the 2 and 3 trims and offers a sporty rear spoiler, new designed 14" alloy wheels and front fog lamps as well as lower emissions to keep it in the ever popular £35 per year tax bracket.

Available in a unique Scarlet Red for no additional cost, the Picanto Red comes in both manual and automatic version starting from £7645 and £8430 respectively.

To match the exteior you'll get a nice coordinated red cloth trim, alloy pedals, an iPod compatible CD player with the usual AUX/USB connectivity, air conditioning and a host of other goodies thrown in for good measure.

For those who like something a little larger than a supermini there's a new Kia Rio 'Black' Special Edition.

Priced from a very tempting £8,745 OTR for the 1.4 litre petrol manual and £9,720 OTR for the 1.5 CRDi manual, the Rio Black is a unique factory built model with 16" alloy wheels and a rear spoiler to give it that mean sporty look.

All–Round Electric Windows, Front Fog Lights, Air Conditioning, 6 Airbags and a Midnight Black Mica Paint complements a very generous specification.

Finally the 1.4 petrol and 1.5 CRDi engines come with a 5-speed manual transmission with the diesel offering a low CO2 and band B £35 VED road tax.

The Rio Black is available now with the Picanto Red following in January.

Hyundai i30 Specification Changes

Hyundai announced specification changes to its Hyundai i30 hatchback on the back of the commencement of production at their first European automotive plant, the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Czech (HMMC) in Nosovice, the Czech Republic.

Very soon, this facility will be taking over the supply of the highly acclaimed Hyundai i20 to the European market.

Key changes to the new i30 variants are the introduction of headlamps with black bezel, a re-location of the USB & Aux unit from the console storage box to the lower centre fascia, deletion of the centre fascia upper tray and new Material Codes starting with 'IR'.
Hyundai will be gradually introducing the HMMC (Czech) i30 variants to the network depending on the stock levels of the equivalent HMC (Korea) i30 variants.