Hyundai's Terra is gone but LCV awaits to boost volume

Hyundai has discontinued its Terracan offroader. The old-school ladder chassis offroader has quietly been axed and is in run-out now with available stock limited to units already landed Down Under.

The demise of the Korean brand's only true offroader 'leaked' out in discussions at this week's launch of the new 3.3-litre V6 petrol front-wheel drive Santa Fe. According to Hyundai Oz sales and Marketing Director Kevin McCann only a "couple of hundred" Terracan units remain up for grabs.

"Terracan is in run-out now," McCann told The Carsales Network. "All the cars we're going to get are in the country."

According to McCann, the Terracan demise was a head office decision. He dismissed suggestions that the local operation was simply walking away from the market and customers.

"We're a sales subsidiary of a major manufacturer and it's made a manufacturing decision so it's just something we have to live with and look for alternatives," he said.

The key alternative, McCann suggests is the CRDI-engined AWD Santa Fe. This suggestion will be argued strongly by offroaders, we'd suggest.

Meantime McCann also dismissed the suggestion Terracan would be replaced by a right-hand drive version of the US-market Veracruz (more here) any time soon.

"The Terracan was a real offroader while the Veracruz has opened up what Hyundai has described as a new sub-set [of SUV] -- LUV, luxury utility vehicle. It [Veracruz] represents a point which Hyundai has withdrawn from the more purist offroad business."

According to McCann the recently released Veracruz is not engineered for right-hand drive. Such a version, if it were to come to Australia, would have to wait for the second generation of the large seven-seat SUV. No firm timetable is set for the revamp, though it's unlikely to be within five years.

McCann also said that at an expected $60,000-plus pricetag, the Veracruz would be a bridge too far for Hyundai Down Under.

Last year, Terracan accounted for around 1793 (2005: 2656) of Hyundai's total of 46,523 sales. Santa Fe did just over 2000 units in total.

Hyundai says Terracan's departure should be more than offset in overall sales terms by the addition of a midsized van variant early in 2008.

Expected to wear the H1 badge (it's called Starex in Hyundai's home market -- more here), the all-new commercial will be launched in both cargo and 'people-moving' variants, al la Mercedes-Benz's Vito.

McCann says around 70 per cent of Hyundai's Australian sales will be the commercial variant. Final specification details are not yet available, however.

Echoing the Vito and VW Transporter in walk-though layout and styling, the H-1 is expected to be offered in both turbodiesel engines and petrol variants Down Under, McCann said.

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