Aussie Motoring

We’ve always been a nation of big car buyers. There was a time when you weren’t a real man unless you drove a six cylinder, a V8 or even a big 4WD and you could have been considered unpatriotic if you drove anything but a car built in Australia - unless of course you were driving that big 4WD that looked like a tank and could pull the side off a mountain.

But times change, pain in your hip pocket can cause you to make decisions that reflect on your manhood and your patriotism and now we’re beginning to see change in the buying habits of Australian motorists … and the local manufacturers have been caught flat-footed.

Sales of Imported Cars Surge
In the period January to June this year - at a time when new car sales were increasing substantially - less than 20% of cars sold were actually built in Australia. Ford and Mitsubishi were the hardest hit as Australian car buyers looked overseas for their next new car.

Sales of light and small cars continued to climb as did sales of smaller 4WDs. Sales of small 4WD models are up by over 18% while sales of big 4WDs have dropped by over 13%.

And this trend will only continue to become stronger. The strong Aussie dollar means that imports from overseas are cheaper, the rising cost of fuel - tipped to be $100 a barrel by year’s end - will reinforce the appeal of smaller cars and another rise in interest rates tipped for August will further impact on the sales of big cars.

Manufacturers’ Response
And where are the manufacturers in all of this. Toyota is doing very well with it’s Aurion and Camry models but Holden has the VE Commodore with a fuel consumption that hasn’t improved in years. Ford has a new Falcon coming out next year that is just another big car and Mitsubishi is revamping its 380 - a car that hasn’t sold well in the past and probably never will.

It seems that there’s just more pain on the horizon for the local manufacturers. Admittedly Ford has announced that it will begin production of the Ford Focus here in Australia but that won’t begin to happen till 2011 - the first smalal car to be built in Australia since 1999 - and you might be forgiven for wondering if, in today’s ever-changing world, Ford Australia can last that long.

Meanwhile more and more small cars are coming in from overseas as savvy manufacturers take advantage of the Australian car makers inability to respond to market trends and things are only set to get worse for the big car makers when Kia launches it’s new cee’d range later this year. Trendy economical small cars like the Kia cee’d hatch and cabrio will become even more appealing to Australian car buyers.

A new plant and a new car

by Stuart Livesey

A new car every 57 seconds, 34 new cars every hour, 822 new cars every day, 24,657 new cars every month, 300,000 new cars every year … the figures are staggering. But that’s the output that Kia expects to achieve from their new plant in Zilina, Slovakia.

The plant began production in December 2006 after a 1 billion euro investment by Kia. Production has been slowly increasing since then; the plant turned out 12,000 units in March and the target for May is 14,000 units.

When the plant is in full production it will be employing a workforce of around 10,000 and will be producing just one vehicle - the Kia cee’d. Initial production is focused on the four-door version but the plant will begin to turn out the five door cee’d wagon in August and the three-door cee3′d will begin to appear in December.

In Europe the cee’d is being offered with a whopping 7 year/150,000km warranty that covers the entire car for five years and the power train for an additional two.

You can expect to see the Kia cee’d in Australia before the end of the year.

by Stuart Livesey

Despite some heavy advertising campaigns Kia continues to not live up to its potential in the new car market in Australia. Kia’s share of the market currently wanders between 1.8% and 2.1% but things might improve for Kia if they were to bring these three models into the country.

Two are based on the cee’d (spelling is correct) - Kia’s European built small car. One is a convertible and the other is a small station wagon.

cee’d Cabrio

Now this is definitely one sweet looking fun car. The vehicle is based on the yet to be released cee’d sporty hatch - not due out till December - but includes several new exterior panels plus a folding fabric roof.

It will come fitted with 19 inch alloy wheels and if it ever makes it to Australia it should be a hit in the cities.

cee’d Sporty Wagon

This wagon features a unique extended tailgat for maximum access to the luggage area. Luggage space when loaded to the bottom of the rear window is 534 litres - but who only loads a station wagon to the bottom of the rear windows?

It will go on sale in three equipment levels and buyers will have the choice of 4 engines with manual or automatic transmission.

Kia Rio Hybrid

The Kia Rio Hybrid is been in limited production - or ‘real-world testing’ - for some time now. It features a unique powertrain with a 1.4-litre, 90 ps gasoline engine, mated to a high-torque 12kW, 95 Nm AC synchronised electric motor and a CVT gearbox.

The electric motor is mounted between the flywheel and the gearbox and ‘assists’ the gasoline engine during starting, accelerating and hill-climbing. During steady cruising the electric motor switches off, while during deceleration it employs ‘regenerative braking’ to store energy and re-charge its power pack.

The hybrid Rio is the first Kia to employ a CVT (continuously variable transmission) and also features computer-controlled stop/start motoring which switches both engine and motor off whenever the car comes to a standstill for more than a few seconds.

Special lightweight components parts cut the Rio Hybrid’s weight by 220 kg. It accelerates briskly from 0-to-100 kph in 12.2 seconds, can reach a top speed of 180 kph and returns a fuel consumption of 5.29 litres per 100 km (53.4 mpg). Air pollutants are reduced by 37% and fuel efficiency is improved by 44%.

I’m sure that all three of these Kia models would find a niche in the Australian market and just might get Kia out of the sales doldrums.