Hyundai prepares for new-model rush -- and upmarket push

Korean car maker Hyundai is preparing for a new model onslaught, with four significant arrivals due in the next 9 months.

As the company launched its new slogan, New Thinking, New Possibilities, in an attempt to pitch the budget mainstream brand upmarket, it confirmed the Accent compact sedan, Elantra small sedan, i40 mid-size wagon (pictured) and Veloster sports-coupe would all arrive by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, the new generation Santa Fe four-wheel-drive, a hybrid version of the i45 mid-size sedan and a turbo version of the Veloster are poised to arrive next year.

After a record result in 2010, Hyundai sales in Australia are down 3 per cent so far this year -- and dropped by 8 per cent last month compared with the same month last year.

However the company says it will still post sales growth this year, even though one of the staples of its brand will be phased out in a few months.

So far this year the Hyundai Getz small car accounts for 28 per cent of sales for the company in Australia -- but that model is going out of production in May and supply is expected to run out in July.

"We will still post sales growth this year, that's the plan," the director of marketing for Hyundai in Australia, Oliver Mann, told the Carsales Network. "That's why we're launching all these new models."

Hyundai has traditionally achieved most of its sales volume with sharply-priced and affordable cars. The Hyundai i30, a Toyota Corolla rival, is at least $2000 cheaper than the competition and the Getz is between $1000 and $3000 cheaper than its main competition.

Indeed, Hyundai sells more than three times as many Getz models as it does of its newer and more stylish i20 hatch, which starts at $15,990.

Given that Hyundai has vowed to move its models (and presumably prices) upmarket, it is unclear how it can continue on its sales juggernaut.

Hyundai sold more than 80,000 new cars in Australia last year -- the highest tally since the brand was introduced here in 1986.

In 2010, the Getz was also the top-selling Light Car for the second year in a row.

The Carsales Network understands that Hyundai may introduce a price-leading model of the i20 hatch to fill the void left by the Getz -- but it will not limbo as low as the current promotional price of $12,990 drive-away.

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