BY DANIEL DEGASPERI | 8th Oct 2018
IN TAXATION they call it bracket creep, where workers enjoy a pay rise only to just fall into the next band of higher government charity. But in automotive terms, it could be tagged segment creep.
The previous-generation i30 Active was so affordable that sales bled from the light-car segment into the small-car segment, with 90 per cent of Hyundai i30 buyers purchasing that entry-level model grade. Then, when this new-generation launched mid last year, the price moved higher just as segment sales started to bleed into the similarly priced small-SUV segment, slightly higher again.
Volume stalled and so Hyundai introduced this i30 Go, which this year has absorbed 20 per cent of sales (it still leaves the Active to absorb a dominant 55 per cent slice). While more i30 buyers are spending more, as Hyundai predicted, three-quarters still buy a base model.
The question is, should you?