Whether it's from the www, the latest motor show or the back doors of a carmaker near you, Carsales Network Confidential features the good oil other sources either won't publish, don't care about or don't know. Heard an automotive rumour or new model tip? Then let us know - editor@carpoint.com.au
It's a jungle out there
This year's Tokyo motor show might've been low on manufacturer turnout but that allowed Japan's motoring bodies extra space for creativity.
Apart from the room allowed to three decades of COTY winners, several display walls were lined up by the Confederation of Japan Automobile Workers' Unions (JAW) to show off the drawing talent of Japanese children asked to depict their take on the future of motoring.
Our favourite was one child's vision of the planet returned to jungle state, with wheeled elephants for transport...Triple axle, of course. All up, the exhibition featured over 3600 drawings by kinder kids from Chiba City.
Japan's booming toy trade made a big appearance via vendors offering small scale models of the COTY winners and several models from all the local manufacturers. There was even a scaled-down version of the Suzuka Grand Prix race track, while nearby Tokyo Disneyland set up a stand with a replica 'Disney Motors' garage set.
In addition the JAW provided a full-scale van for children showgoers to colour in. The van also came as a free cut-out version for construction and pasting practice. All-in-all, Tokyo this year was one of the most fun shows we've attended!
Aussie suspension too hard?
Contrary to what we had been previously told, 'suspension tuning' for Australia doesn't have to be all that difficult to do after all.
Oliver Mann, Hyundai's General Manager for Marketing, announced during the media introduction to the revised Santa Fe SUV last week that all new Hyundai models released in Australia would come with market-specific suspension.
We've been impressed by what Hyundai achieved with the Sonata after that car's suspension was re-jigged for the local market, but we were told at the time that it was too expensive to do for any model other than one selling in volume.
Things have changed, it seems -- and not least of all through the recruitment of a local suspension consultant. Kevin McCann, the company's Director of Sales and Marketing told the Carsales Network that the consultant worked out what was required to make the car ride, handle and hold the road in a way that suited the tastes of Australian consumers -- and then informed the factory what was required.
Typically, according to McCann, the consultant plays around with different parts available for each model from Hyundai's global inventory, decides what combination provides the optimum settings and then tells the powers that be those are the parts required for that specific model. As an example, the consultant may choose a particularly European-spec damper to match an American-spec spring for an 'Aussie' combination of ride and handling.
The suspension settings decided for Australia only have "to be written into the manufacturing program", explained McCann.
So if Hyundai can do it, why not other importers?
Subaru's symmetrical drive safe
The conspiracy theorists are out in force, telling anyone who'll listen that sooner or later Subaru will have to forego its unique combination of longitudinally-mounted boxer (horizontally-opposed) engines and all-wheel drive.
The argument suggests that the manufacturer's closer relationship with Toyota will force Subaru to adopt some of the larger company's engineering philosophy. Subaru will, according to 'popular wisdom', migrate to in-line and V-configuration engines, presumably in a transverse mounting. It's the only way the company can survive... make the most of the economies of scale Toyota can offer.
Sitting adjacent local Subaru MD, Nick Senior during the launch of the Exiga and Outback diesel, we put that contention to him -- that Subaru's preferred design criteria are at odds with those of every other car company in the world.
"And that's lovely," he responded.
"That's one of the things that Subaru's gotta do. We've gotta zig while everyone else zags. We can't compete with everyone on the amount of money they throw at the market -- on so many things -- so we've got to make a song and a dance and really sell the features and benefits underlying our USPs [Unique Selling Propositions].
"All-wheel drive is one and there's no doubt that over the next decade, it will still be an integral part of Subaru."
But all-wheel drive doesn't have to be 'symmetrical'. Nor does it need to be constant. And you already have companies like Fiat and Alfa (and Alfa, Holden and Saab!) sharing engine blocks.
So does Subaru need to be different for the sake of difference? There's considerable money to be saved on product development and manufacturing if Subaru aligns with Toyota. But it's Subaru's improving global sales in developing markets that would make such cost-cutting measures redundant, says Senior.
"I counter that by saying that in September, the Chinese market sold 3700 Subarus -- and again, a similar number in October. So all of a sudden, a market that has come from nowhere over five years is selling nearly 4000 cars [a month]. Going forward, that's a huge benefit for the factory. You start amortising that over 2010, you're talking potentially 40,000 plus.
"The Russian market is struggling at the moment, but when that recovers... They were on track to do around about 30,000 this year, before the GFC, so there's still a huge amount of potential for Subaru."
Under siege from Great Wall?
At $23,990, the Great Wall X240 represents pretty remarkable value for money. How it stacks up against other compact SUVs in the real world, who knows? But on paper, it's impressive. Name another part-time 4WD SUV of any distinction with leather trim, air conditioning and an MP3-capable CD audio system at that price.
To illustrate the magnitude of the problem faced by competitors in the VFACTS compact SUV segment, consider the Hyundai Tucson. For the money being asked by Great Wall for the X240, you can't even get four-wheel drive in the Hyundai. Most other cars in this segment demand a price around $30,000 before you'll enjoy four-wheel drive and even so much as the slightest offroad capability.
So is Hyundai concerned by the new Chinese competitor?
"We would never ever ignore what's going on," says Ben Hershman, Hyundai's Senior Manager Product Communications and Public Relations. "But I would say that we're comfortable with what we're doing. We have a plan, which is launch ix35, 'YF' and i20...
"We aspire to grow our brand presence and we aspire to grow the number of Australian customers and consumers, who would like to come and test-drive our cars."
The timing of the Chinese brand's launch into the Australian market could be fortuitous for Hyundai. Its local launch delayed for a time and now hindered by poor ANCAP results, Great Wall arguably has some work to do before it's considered a player in the local market. Hyundai, on the other hand, has been building its brand by introducing much improved product and the Korean importer is starting to see dividends for the hard work.
Indeed, Hershman believes that the Hyundai brand is currently experiencing a favourable shift in consumer sentiment, thanks to the i30. The small car is singlehandedly changing the way Australian consumers view the brand. Hopefully for Hyundai, that will flow through to the ix35, which will replace the Tucson in the early months of next year.
"We know this from our own research, i30's broken through for us. We're having people that are coming to test-drive i30 -- many of them have never been in a Hyundai dealership. And i30, through the marketing, the independent reviews and the awards that the car's winning, there are people out there... coming along to have a look...
"Conversion rates for test driving for people fresh to the brand [are] pretty strong."
"Working with HMC, we have a range of exciting products coming, that are part of our holistic picture in Australia to continue development of our brand in this market."
So while the i30's impressive march up the sales charts would seem to be irrelevant to the potential for the X240 to conquest sales, the operative word Hershman used there is 'holistic'. If the ix35 can do for Hyundai's SUV product range image what the i30 has done for Hyundai's small cars, then the importer's brand image can be expected to move upmarket in a hurry and across a broader range of products -- well away from the threat posed by Chinese vehicles.
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