Aussie Motoring

Hyundai’s Getz has reclaimed the title of Australia’s Best Small Car - its second win in three years - in the annual Australia’s Best Cars awards, the car industry’s most rigorous and comprehensive rating regime run by all the state Royal Automobile Clubs and the NRMA.

In the Large (formerly Family) Car class, mostly the preserve of the locally built ‘big sixes’, the new Sonata V6 Elite almost claimed an upset win with a very close second placing.

The Getz 1.6 3-door manual topped the 15 models in the Small Car class, displacing Fiesta and outranking VW Polo, Suzuki Swift and Honda Jazz.

Even Accent, winner in 2000 and 2001 and in the final year of its current model life, came in sixth, ahead of the new Kia Rio, Mitsubishi Colt, Renault Clio, Mazda2 and Toyota Echo.

Getz rated consistently highly in almost all 19 criteria across the three broad areas of Value-for-Money, Design & Function, and On-Road Performance, scoring the top ‘well above average’ ranking for Pricing, Running & Repair Costs, Warranty and - thanks to its strong resale value - Depreciation, the biggest single real cost of car ownership.

Other Getz strengths rating ‘above average’ were Fuel Economy despite its bigger and more powerful 1.6 litre engine, Environment (ie its star rating in the federal government’s Green Vehicle Guide), Space, Ergonomics, Ride comfort and Refinement (smoothness & quietness).

It was noted that Getz 1.6 is the most affordable car on the market to offer as standard the potentially life-saving features of ABS with EBD (electronic brakeforce distribution), plus rear disc brakes, active front head restraints and non-distracting steering wheel audio controls.

Chief Judge of the Australia’s Best Car Awards, Ernest Litera said: “A commitment to small car affordability is Hyundai’s greatest strength and hands the Getz its award-winning edge for 2005.

“The company’s top-selling three-door Getz is a standout on stemming losses at resale time and for its feats in running and repair costs.

“Even though Getz now gets along with a bigger 1.6 litre engine, its gearbox has been changed to keep fuel economy at a penny-pinching 6.2 litres/100km in manual versions.

“In a category well known for its noise levels and buzzy engines, Getz is gifted at dismissing din while its cosseting ride is a rung above for bump absorption”, Mr Litera said.

The Getz win was Hyundai’s fourth Australia’s Best Small Car title in the six-year year history of the national Australia’s Best Car Awards, the Getz also having won in 2003 and Accent in 2000 and 2001.

The winning Getz model is the 1.6 three-door, priced from a recommended $14,490 while the Sonata V6 is just $29,990 and the V6 Elite $34,490.

The awards are judged by the road test experts in the nation’s most authoritative, consumer-focused automotive voice - all seven state and territory road service motoring clubs, the NRMA, RACV, RACQ, RACWA, RAASA, RACT and the AANT.

The clubs, which have a combined membership of over 6.3 million motorists - close to a third of Australia’s total population - assessed all new cars offered on sale in Australian showrooms during the 12 months from mid October 2004 to October 13, 2005, not just newcomers released in that time.

In a major announcement the chairman of Hyundai Automotive Group revealed that by 2015 is aims to be selling 100,000 Hyundai and 50,000 Kia cars in Australia.

The chairman, Chung Mong-koo suggested that by the end of 2007 the company would be selling 70,000 units in Australia and by 2010 it would have doubled it’s market share. Currently that market share stands at around 4.5 percent.

New Kia models will be launched during 2006 and a new Hyundai Grandeur will be here soon. The new Grandeur went on sale in the United Arab Emirates last Tuesday.

The new Hyndai Sonata has been out on the streets for a short time now and, despite what some reviewers think, the new Sonata is proving popular with owners

The Sonata comes in either a 2.4 litre 4 cylinder version or a 2.7 litre V6 and each version comes in various levels of creature comfort and body styles.

If you’re looking for a big booming drag machine so that you can burn off the lads at the lights then, if you ask an owner they will tell you that the car goes like a scalded cat. But if you ask a reviewer then neither version is going to quite get your adrenalin pumping.

The 4 cylinder version is probably the more lively of the two although the 6 cylinder equipped Sonata is definitely not sluggish. But let’s face it, this is a car that you are going to buy because you want creature comfort more than you want to win the traffic light drags and the Hyundai Sonata is going to deliver that comfort.

The Courier Mail has a full road test report that you can find here and they suggest that the car isn’t quite all it should be. That could be a little harsh because most of the criticism the reviewer had for the car seemed to stem from it’s less than blistering launch times at traffic lights.

Personally, as a long time Hyundai owner, I can tell you that the cars are generally well-built and will just keep on turning in the kilometres.