Hyundai to Offer Free Servicing????

[csv8]

Hyundai is considering including the cost of servicing in the price of a new car as the Korean brand looks to consolidate its place in the Australian market after a big growth spurt in recent years.

Hyumdai is considering including the cost of servicing in the price of a new car as the Korean brand looks to consolidate its place in the Australian market after a big growth spurt in recent years.

The company's local boss, Edward Lee, says the company will look at a range of measures, including free or fixed-price servicing, to ensure the customers the company has won in recent years stay with the brand.

Hyundai sales have grown from about 45,000 units in 2008 to more than 80,000 last year, making it the fastest-growing major brand in the country.



But the company that wooed buyers from its rivals with attractive drive-away pricing is looking to shed its ''cheap and cheerful'' image. The transformation is likely to begin when the Getz small car, one of the spearheads of the company's growth, is retired from the Australian market in the next three to four months.

The Getz now sells alongside Hyundai's i20 small car (pictured), which is more expensive and has sold in only modest numbers since its launch last year.

But Lee says the company won't be rushing to offer drive-away deals on the i20 to fill the gap left by the Getz. ''I do not incentivise a lot,'' he says. ''You know, there are so many different ways to sell the product. Basically, I'm not crazy about the incentives.''

When asked if free servicing costs could be a way to win customers without discounting, Lee tells Drive he is considering ''something like that''.

He also says the company is ''studying at this moment'' whether to match Toyota's capped-price servicing initiative, which guarantees the cost of regular services for the period of the warranty.

But a company spokesman, Ben Hershman, backtracked when asked for details of the plan, saying there are ''currently no plans to introduce any kind of complementary service program''.

Hershman says he would not rule out an offer in the future, though. ''Hyundai is always studying ideas and the opportunities for best practices globally,'' he says.

No brands offer free servicing in Australia but Mazda is trialling the initiative in New Zealand, while Hyundai has offered it in the US for limited periods.

My comment..if Hyundai do this, then Ford will have to consider it also. The price of servicing at a Ford dealer is expensive. It just might sway a buyer from Ford to Hyundai..Toyota already has fixed price servicing.

[Pedro]

There's no such thing as a free lunch. Anything offered for "free" has the cost of the "free" article built into the purchase price.

[glavas]

i cant understand why Hyundai is booming such ugly and slow cars.

[MAGPIE]

Mazda aren't trialling it in NZ, they have done it for years

[Auslandau]

Originally Posted by glavas

i cant understand why Hyundai is booming such ugly and slow cars.

Hope the other manufactures including Ford don't have their head in the sand like you as they will be left so far behind in the sales race and be broke in a few years asking themselves "What the hell just happened"

[FG XR]

Originally Posted by glavas

i cant understand why Hyundai is booming such ugly and slow cars.

Coz they are cheap and Joe public sees them as value for money with good fuel economy

[chevypower]

Originally Posted by Pedro

There's no such thing as a free lunch. Anything offered for "free" has the cost of the "free" article built into the purchase price.

Yes, Hyundai is known for outrageously inflated purchase prices.

Originally Posted by glavas

i cant understand why Hyundai is booming such ugly and slow cars.

Look at the current lineup, definitely not slow or ugly. Genesis, Genesis Coupe, Sonata Turbo. Which decade are you living in?

I sat in the back of the Equus about a year ago, and couldn't believe I was sitting in a Hyundai.
http://www.hyundaiusa.com/equus/experience/

[pauljh74]

You just have to look closely at the fine print when they say
"Free servicing*"
or
"fixed price servicing*"

where *= does not include oil, parts, labour or even the coffee in the waiting room

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by chevypower

Yes, Hyundai is known for outrageously inflated purchase prices.

Look at the current lineup, definitely not slow or ugly. Genesis, Genesis Coupe, Sonata Turbo. Which decade are you living in?

I sat in the back of the Equus about a year ago, and couldn't believe I was sitting in a Hyundai.
http://www.hyundaiusa.com/equus/experience/

Equus looks awesome, too bad the Genesis and the Equus aren't sold here, would be something to flip the bird at Ford and Holden with I reckon.

[Riksta]

Originally Posted by chevypower

Look at the current lineup, definitely not slow or ugly. Genesis, Genesis Coupe, Sonata Turbo.

I just went to their website and can't see any of those cars listed on there.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Riksta

I just went to their website and can't see any of those cars listed on there.

http://worldwide.hyundai.com/Showroom/all-models.html

They don't sell the Equus or Genesis models in our market.

[chevypower]

Originally Posted by Riksta

I just went to their website and can't see any of those cars listed on there.

What? no new Elantra in Australia yet? Sonata is the i45, but no turbo there yet. No Genesis sedan or coupe and no Equus. No wonder everyone there still hates Hyundai. Though the i45 without the turbo would still be good.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by chevypower

What? no new Elantra in Australia yet? Sonata is the i45, but no turbo there yet. No Genesis sedan or coupe and no Equus. No wonder everyone there still hates Hyundai. Though the i45 without the turbo would still be good.

Elantra is an old model that is on it's way out. The replacement car for the Elantra (in terms of class / size) in the I30.

Just looked up the site. They have a new coupe coming soon called the Veloster.. looks pretty aggressive.

[naddis01]

"Something like that" does not mean they are going to offer free servicing or are even thinking about doing it. Some writers can make a story up out of nothing.

[TURBOTAXI]

My I30 turbo is a great little car, Hyundai deserve a higher regard than it gets.

[Belial]

Ford did free servicing on the series II AU.

[FPV+fteT3]

Sort of related I drove past a hyundai dealer and was suprised to see a 5 year factory warranty standard issue. If you loan the cash for the car over a 5 year period this warranty would give you a bit of piece of mind while you were paying it off that any problems due to manufacturing or faulty parts would or should be FOC. Puts another plus in their corner for the small car market.

[Buntz]

Free or capped price servicing? They found a cheaper brand of duct tape did they?

[robjh80]

Originally Posted by csv8

Hyundai sales have grown from about 45,000 units in 2008 to more than 80,000 last year, making it the fastest-growing major brand in the country.

That's something like a 78% increase in sales in 2 years! .. that is absolutely unbelievable growth! ..

Hyundai can only be destined for very big things over the next 5 to 10 years if those figures are anything to go by.

[tex]

Been offering that for several years in America.

Many car manufacturers offer that in America, even cover the consumeable items as well like brake pads, clutches etc etc....

[csv8]

Be good if Hyundai had the Genesis V8 here!!!!!!

[XR8AU2121]

Mitsubishi offer a five year 130,000k full transferable warranty on all there vehicles, PLUS if you are the original owner you get a 10 year 160,000k powertrain warranty covering engine , transmission etc. which is also available on the EVO LANCER which obviously has more powertrain components.
They like Toyota have capped price servicing.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by XR8AU2121

Mitsubishi offer a five year 130,000k full transferable warranty on all there vehicles, PLUS if you are the original owner you get a 10 year 160,000k powertrain warranty covering engine , transmission etc. which is also available on the EVO LANCER which obviously has more powertrain components.

As long as you service at the dealer. If you go to your own mechanic warranty is gone.

....

Ford should look at this for the Falcon. Instead of lowering the price give free servicing for 3 years (only includes the basic). Will at least be better then continually devaluing the model.

[naddis01]

Originally Posted by Riksta

I just went to their website and can't see any of those cars listed on there.

They aren't sold here.



It is interesting to note that 2008 was a lowish point for Hyundai in terms of market share. they actually had a higher market share in 2000. However they have really kicked on in the past 2 years and I beleive it is only a sign of things to come.

I also find it interesting that Toyota seem to have lost a similar amount of market share since 2008 as to what Hyundai have gained? Could it be that they are chasing the same type of buyer?

[Yellow_Festiva]

It makes me laugh... those poooooor Koreans, when will they learn! 'They are still be making crap cars', 'they are ugly', 'they have no build quality' etc etc etc.... after all, no one is buying them right??

FORD Australia only WISH they had the sales increases Hyundai have had. Is there a reason why they offer a better warranty??

I think the current line up looks superb and are outstanding value for money.

The I30 got best small car (3 years running - Focus Diesel 8th) in "Australia's Best Cars 2011", and the I20 got best light car (Fiesta 3rd).

I45 got 2nd in 'Best medium car' behind VW Jetta (Mondeo got 9th)

Large cars??? Had the Genesis been sold here it would have seriously given the Falcon / Commodore something to worry about, after all, it got NA COTY on 2009.....

http://finance.ninemsn.com.au/newsbu...bility-ranking

South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. said Thursday its vehicles were rated one of the most dependable cars in an annual test by a U.S. marketing firm.

Hyundai was ranked as third among non-luxury brands in the Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS) by J.D. Power and Associates.

The study measures problems experienced by original owners of three-year-old vehicles.

Dependability of an automaker is determined by the level of problems experienced per 100 vehicles, with a lower score reflecting higher quality. Hyundai scored 132 points, compared with 155 last year when it was ranked the sixth among non-luxury brands and 11th in the overall nameplate ranking.
Australia's most expensive suburbsSlideshow: Most expensive suburbs

"There is a study that shows 63 percent of new customers consider dependability as the most important factor when buying a car," a Hyundai executive said.

"The result of this year's VDS will help improve customer confidence in Hyundai cars and also lead to an increase of sales."

Japan's Toyota ranked No. 1 in the VDS nameplate ranking with 122 points, followed by Buick with 125 points.

That article is 2 days old....... Where is Ford??? Where will Hyundai be in another 2-3 years?

Must be all that crap they are building?

My next car WILL be a Hyundai / Kia after the abysmal 'service' I got from a Ford dealer. With these current sales trends, I'm certainly not alone. Not by a long shot.

This will just sweeten the deal... Good on Hyundai for bringing high quality, dependable, safe, reliable and economical cars to the masses at an outstanding price.

They deserve much better recognition and I hope they get it.

[v8falconsrule]

Ford are looking at capped price servicing, Nissan have had it in place since the new year. Nissan are also looking at how to incorporate it into the initial purchase, transferable if vehicle sold later- a good boost for resale values.

And for the record, Hyundai now build some fine cars. Not the cheap rubbish they're known for.

[jandj]

Are they offering so called free servicing to get customers in because times are tuff? I remember mitsubishi years ago for winning awards for this and that for the cars they build, and look where they are now.And iam not bashing their brand,or saying one brand is better then the other.They make some nice cars,i just dont have confidence in the brand.

[EDManual]

the I30 and current Elantra are exactly the same car at the moment. The Elantra was the new Generation in late 2006, i30 (Elantra hatch) came out just after with a new name.

Cant believe just a name change from a word to a number can achieve such a following!!

[chevypower]

Originally Posted by EDManual

the I30 and current Elantra are exactly the same car at the moment. The Elantra was the new Generation in late 2006, i30 (Elantra hatch) came out just after with a new name.

Cant believe just a name change from a word to a number can achieve such a following!!

I am not a fan of the alpha-numeric names. I know it's supposed to sound more modern, but it makes it hard to remember what is what. They kept the names Elantra and Sonata in the US.

[csv8]

Veloster is replacing the Tiburon.