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By
EWAN KENNEDY in Kuala Lumpur
3 December 2007
Hyundai, the South Korean vehicle maker, has surprised just
about everyone including, we suspect the judges, by winning two major
car of the year awards with its new i30 model.
A few weeks ago I spoke in confidence to two of the judges the
day after they had completed their final exhaustive three-day
testing. Neither would reveal the results, but both admitted that
the winner had come right out of the blue. There were certainly no
preconceived ideas about this car of the year victory.
Yet the result probably shouldn’t have surprised anyone.
Because the Hyundai i30 is as much a European design as a South
Korean one, having been penned on the continent for that tough
market. As a result the i30 manages to combine a lot of the flair
of a European machine with the cost advantages of an Asian car (it’s
made in South Korea).
The new i30 design was benchmarked against cars like the Ford
Focus, Opel (Holden) Astra and particularly the king of the Euro
medium market, the Volkswagen Golf. Fascinatingly, the Cars Guide
guys placed the Golf (in GT TSI Twincharger format) in second
place behind the i30. The final spot on the podium is occupied by
the new Mazda2 Maxx. The full table of results can be found at
carsguide.com.au/.
Cars Guide gave its award to a very specific model, the Hyundai
i30 CRDi turbo-diesel in SX manual format. And only when it’s
fitted with the $1790 Protecz Pack consisting of ESP (Electronic
Stability Program) and additional airbags. Total price of the car
is $23,280 plus on-road costs.
At this stage the turbo-diesel is only sold with a five-speed
manual gearbox, but a four-speed automatic transmission is
expected as an option in the first few months of 2008.
Of the Hyundai i30, the Daily Telegraph’s motoring editor,
Kevin Hepworth, says, "Quite simply, it impressed more of the
judges in more areas than any other car at the finals."
The Herald-Sun's Paul Gover says, "Hyundai has made the
final breakthrough to finally kill its cheap-and-cheerful approach
to car making".
The Sunday Telegraph’s Paul Pottinger issued this warning,
"Europe and Japan beware – the Korean car has come of
age".
Hyundai i30 CRDi took out not only the overall Cars Guide Car
of the Year prize, but also the award for the Cars Guide Green Car
of the Year.
It seems that the readers at carsguide.com.au are less
interested in the environment and practical motoring than are the
editors of the newspapers – they plumped for the big Commodore
SV6 sports ute as their first choice.
Carsguide is a relative newcomer in the car of the year
business. Still to come are the findings of Wheels
magazine, the granddad in the business, and the awards that some
say are the most realistic of them all, those from the combined
motoring associations, titled Australia's Best Cars. Both will be
announced early in 2008.
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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