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Korean group may introduce new heavy-duty truck to SA market

22nd September 2017

By: Irma Venter

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

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Hyundai Automotive South Africa (HASA) is testing the Xcient heavy-duty truck for possible introduction onto the South African new- vehicle market.

HASA CEO Niall Lynch says the truck, with a gross vehicle mass of 36.6 t, is undergoing road tests within Imperial Logistics.

These tests are expected to continue for another three months.

HASA and Imperial Logistics are members of the JSE-listed Imperial group. HASA imports the Hyundai brand into South Africa. The Korean carmaker has no shareholding in the local group.

HASA already has a range of commercial vehicles on offer in South Africa, but nothing in the heavy-duty segment.

HASA assembles its local range of workhorse pick-ups (the H100) and its medium-duty trucks in a plant on the East Rand.

The medium-duty segment is set for a complete overhaul next month, when Hyundai will introduce its new EX8 range.

The possible expansion of Hyundai’s commercial product offering comes in a year in which the brand will probably see sales remain stable, compared with 2016, says Lynch, at around 36 000 units.

Sales reached roughly 37 500 units in 2015.

HASA, in July, for the first time since its establishment in South Africa, provided detailed reporting on vehicle sales by model and segment, revealing that Hyundai is the fifth-largest new-vehicle brand in the country.

Introduced this year, the Creta medium sports utility vehicle (SUV) has proved to be one of the brand’s biggest sellers, along with the Grand i10 small car.

“The Elantra is doing well, but the large sedan segment is under pressure in South Africa,” explains Lynch.

Sedans make up around 15% of the new-car market in South Africa, compared with around 30% five years ago, notes HASA sales and operations director Stanley Anderson.

“SUVs have grown tremendously, which is why the Creta is so popular.”

HASA is mulling the possible introduction of another SUV to South Africa, the new Kona, set to be unveiled at this year’s Frankfurt motor show.

“We need to get the pricing and placement right,” says Lynch.

Should it come to South Africa, the Kona will slot in between the Creta and Tucson SUVs.

The Kona would, however, not yet complete the Hyundai SUV range.

The Korean brand plans to launch a small SUV – an EcoSport rival – in 2019, and this model will also find its way to South Africa, says Anderson.

That SUV will be built on the new Accent platform.

The new Accent sedan is set to make its debut in South Africa next year, along with a new i30 hatchback and i30N – “a proper Golf GTI rival”, says Anderson.

There is, however, nothing fresh to report on Hyundai’s long- awaited, first 1 t bakkie, he adds.

The pick-up’s global introduction remains set for 2020.

“Right now, our wish list is for a small SUV and a 1 t bakkie,” says Anderson.

HASA remains interested in possibly assembling a Hyundai bakkie in South Africa, but it would be difficult to convince the Koreans, says Lynch, considering global overcapacity within the group, and the fact that South Africa is “a small market far away from everyone else”.

HASA also does not yet offer any Hyundai electric vehicle or hybrid, such as the Ioniq, to local buyers.

“We would need government to provide some kind of incentive to green drivetrains to launch these models in South Africa,” says Lynch.

He believes hybrid sales volumes remain negligible in South Africa, with these numbers not justifying the introduction of such alternative and more costly power trains to the local market.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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