Hyundai's baby budget car hits road block in Australia

Hyundai – and budget car buyers – will be left with a large void when the remaining stocks of the popular $12,990 Getz sell out in the next month or two.

The replacement for that vehicle, the i10 city runabout, has officially been cancelled in Australia because it does not meet the latest five-star safety ratings.

The self-imposed ban on the i10 by Hyundai executives in Australia means the starting price for a new Hyundai will soon be $15,990 drive-away for the i20 hatch.

Once the Getz sells out, it will be the first time Hyundai hasn't had a budget vehicle since it pioneered the $13,990 drive-away Excel in the 1990s.

It has been advertising the Getz at $12,990 for more than a year, and some of its rivals – such as the $11,990 Suzuki Alto – have even limboed under this price point.

"As part of moving our brand upmarket, we are trying to select vehicles that are five-star [safety] rated and … the i10 is not a five-star car in its current guise," Hyundai Australia spokesman Ben Hershman told the Carsales Network on the eve of a technology conference in Korea last night.

The i10 scored a four-star safety rating by independent authority Euro NCAP – the same result as the Getz, which is a much older design.

When the Hyundai i10 was tested in 2008 Euro NCAP testers found: "Protection of the driver's chest was rated as weak owing to the extent to which it was compressed during the test. Structures in the dashboard presented a risk of injury to the knees and femurs of the front seat passengers."

The i10 would likely have met Australian regulations but, Hershman said, there were "other commercial factors" that also thwarted the i10's chances, such as price and transport costs from its factory in India (where the larger i20 hatch is also built).

With the exception of the iLoad van and iMax people mover (both of which are four-star rated and only come with two airbags) and the initial shipment of i20 hatches last July (that only came with two airbags instead of the six that are now standard), every new Hyundai passenger vehicle introduced in Australia since 2008 has achieved a five-star safety rating.

Meanwhile, the remaining supply of Getz hatches is expected to be gone within the next two months.

Hyundai Australia ordered up big late last year to bring in the final shipment of Getz hatches before a ban on cars without stability control came into effect in Victoria after January 1.
 

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