Hyundai adds FWD ix35 Elite variant
BY HAITHAM RAZAGUI | 24th Aug 2012
As well, in return for equipment upgrades across the board, the South Korean company has applied price hikes of between $1500 and $2500 to all but entry-level Active variants.
The new FWD Elite is priced $100 higher than the all-wheel-drive 2.4-litre petrol automatic that previously opened the Elite specification level, which is now priced $2500 higher at $34,990.
The price of a 2.0-litre AWD diesel automatic Elite has bumped up by $2100 to $37,590, with the same hike applied to the top-spec 2.4 petrol Highlander, which now costs $37,590 while the diesel Highlander is up $1500 to $39,990.
Luxury upgrades to sweeten the higher prices on Elite variants include dual-zone climate-control, a reversing camera and a self-dimming interior mirror with integrated compass.
Both the Elite and Highlander get a new satellite-navigation system with SUNA traffic updates and 6.5-inch touch-screen.
Entry-level, front-drive Active variants – which share their 122kW/197Nm engine with the new FWD Elite – remain priced at $26,990 for the manual and $28,990 for the automatic.
Despite static pricing, Active variants receive an audio system upgrade with better-integrated five-inch touch-screen, Bluetooth streaming, MP3 compatibility with album art display, iPod and auxiliary inputs and the ability to store audio CDs on USB memory devices.
Hyundai’s iCare capped-price servicing scheme, introduced late last month, is available on the ix35 and costs $259 per year for FWD petrol variants, $289 per year for AWD petrol variants and $399 per year for AWD diesel variants.
The capped-price scheme runs for three years, with service intervals of 12 months or 15,000 kilometres and includes three years of map updates for variants fitted with satellite-navigation.
Sales of the ix35 are down one per cent to the end of July, with 6739 units sold, but new competitors and a compact SUV segment up 65.7 per cent have eroded its market share from 35.3 per cent this time in 2011 to 20.5 per cent year-to-date.
In other Hyundai news, the company has just announced it will produce a new compact hatchback in Brazil, exclusively for that market, and provided a teaser image.
Called HB20, it will be powered by 1.0-litre and 1.6-litre flex-fuel engines able to run on petrol, bio-ethanol or a combination of the two.
The vehicle is set to enter production next month at Hyundai’s Piracicaba facility 150km northwest of Brazil’s – and the southern hemisphere’s – largest city, Sao Paolo.
Signalling a new nomenclature direction for the South Korean company, HB stands for Hyundai Brazil and 20 signifies the size, which GoAuto understands is on a par with the i20.
Further HB models, including a sedan and SUV, are planned for launch next year and Hyundai says all were developed in collaboration with Brazilian engineers.
Hyundai has already taken on 1000 employees in Brazil, a number it expects to double next year, while the new factory is expected to support a further 20,000 indirect jobs in the supply chain.
| 2012 Hyundai ix35 pricing (plus on-roads): | |
| Active 2WD petrol | $26,990 (no change) |
| Active 2WD petrol (a) | $28,990 (no change) |
| Elite 2WD petrol (a) | $32,590 (new) |
| Elite AWD petrol (a) | $34,990 (+$2500) |
| Elite AWD diesel (a) | $37,590 (+$2100) |
| Highlander AWD petrol (a) | $37,590 (+$2100) |
| Highlander AWD diesel (a) | $39,990 (+$1500) |
