That perfectly healthy drivetrain and gearbox would possibly be my car. Still in perfect running condition. A real shame to let go when the time comes.

There is no comparison. The Fiesta Sedan looks crap and downright ugly. Just see how many Sedan units were sold compared to the hatchback and ull have your answer. The Hyundai Elantra (Malaysian version is not Avante), is a much better car, classier exterior design, great interior, good rear seat legroom, etc. Please dont ever buy the Fiesta Sedan. This model and also the Mazda 2 Sedan and Peugeot 207 should be banned from the roads cuz they're too ugly. Thats why sales are so poor as well.

And your point is?

To date, Forte only sold 4783 units in comparision to the Vios which sold 25,485 units. Even the Altis sold 5178, HOnda City sold 10,470 and Honda Civic sold 6175 units.

I still remember all the hype when the Forte was launched. Many claimed that it would thrash the Vios, City, Altis & Civic but clearly all that has gone up in smoke. EVen the Altis with its weird rear end & inferior specs, performed better.

But still the Forte was a good effort from Kia in terms of pricing, specs and looks. Sadly the after sales service is still a doubt. Hope the Optima is priced just as well & does better.

This post has been edited by cybermaster98: Dec 13 2011, 07:38 PM

Same as the Sonata 2.0?

How many of you actually owned Toyota's in the 1st place? Ive been with Toyota for the past 8.5 years.

Does Hyundai SC open till 11pm for you to collect your vehicle just to enable you to attend an urgent meeting the next day?

Does Hyundai replace a faulty fuel pump after 7 yrs just by saying 'this part was never supposed to break down hence we'll give you a new one despite the warranty period being long over"?

Does Hyundai offer you free wiper blades, filters, etc just cuz they delayed your service a few hours?

Does Hyundai offer you car washes, engine washes & windscreen chemical washes FOC?

If your answers to these questions are NO then its pretty obvious that the Koreans have a long way to go before catching up with the Japs. Yes i admit there will always be horror stories bout poor service and build quality but look at things generally. What ive mentioned above was not experienced at just 1 service centre.

So before you generalise and say that Hyundai SC standards are way better than T&H, check yer facts. My wife has a Korean make and so im well aware bout their servicing standards.

The Koreans are surely improving and i hope that one day they will be on par with the Japs but that isnt the case now and wont be for the next couple of years. They may have better designs, specs and maybe even build quality but their servicing standards in Malaysia are still way off.

This post has been edited by cybermaster98: Dec 24 2011, 12:00 PM

Depends what u define as a better car. The Japs dont have good specs but they win with their build quality, excellent after sales service and good resale value. These 3 factors are very important to many ppl. Its pointless having a super high tech car which breaks down often and local mechanics cant fix and u gotta wait months for spares. Not saying all Koreans are such but buying a car is about balancing everything vs the price ure paying. No such thing as a perfect car.

FluidicSculpture, fuel consumption should NEVER be measured in cents per L. Prices always fluctuate. It should either be in km/L or L/100km.

Isnt re-education the key word in your Korean car world? Why follow a customer's whims when its clearly the wrong way? Re-education doesnt happen overnight the same way you cant expect people to suddenly jump over to Korean makes despite its better looks and specs. This will take time. But if you give up after the first few tries then whats the point? Those customers of yours are used to the WRONG system of measuring FC as many ppl are. The same with the full tank issue. But slowly you can educate them and they in turn will educate others and within a few years you'll get many ppl on the same page. But going back on your efforts and stating sen/KM will only take that re-education process back another 5 years. Stop doing it.

Besides, are those FC rates for combined driving or 100% highway drives? It looks like 100% highway drives. If its for combined i would find that very hard to believe. Just for comparison, the 2003 model Vios (which is known for its good FC) only gets 6.5L/100km for 100% highway drives.

This post has been edited by cybermaster98: Dec 28 2011, 10:38 AM

Any indicative pricing yet?

Demand can be high but this demand cannot sustain. Not many ppl will opt to wait 4-6 months for a new car. If Hyundai/Kia does not improve on their production, these bookings will transfer to other makes. So even if you have high demand now but if it cant translate into actual physical sales, then its back to square one. Remember that if sales are slow and production cannot meet demand, then its a worse case for spare part availability as well. This is where the Japanese excel.

Look at the Kia Optima. Great looking car with good specs but launched in Malaysia more than 1.5 years after the global launch. This means that a facelift is already in the works and could be launched by early 2013 and this facelift will reach Malaysia much faster than the original car since America has already started its own production lines.

Now what is that gonna do to those who opt to buy the Optima now? The same predicament the owners of the 1st gen Forte & Peugeot 308 are experiencing. The facelifts for each arrived quite fast. Despite its higher price, the change in auto transmission to 6 speed was a big difference and this will be felt in the resale value. Not sure what kind of changes the facelifted Optima will have but if its anything major, then current owners will feel the pinch.

Read my earlier response again. All im saying is that its pointless saying 'demand outstrips supply' over n over again and using that to justify lower sales. That was the excuse in 2010 when the Sonata was launched and its still the same excuse in 2012. Global economic uncertanity wont disappear overnight. Im quite sure its gonna be here even in 2013. So does that mean Hyundai is gonna sit back with limited processing plants as you said just cuz they fear an economic downturn?

Yes i dont expect the Koreans to improve immediately and ive clearly mentioned this in earlier posts. So if Hyundai cannot supply cars fast enough or expand fast enough then their current sales are as what it is. Dont bother justifying it by that demand supply scenario.

Wat do you define as an 'uncommon' spare part? Dont forget that i have a Korean make in my house as well and despite having a warehouse stocked full of spares in Glenmarie, it took them 1 day to get simple brake pads. Took even longer to get the brake disk. Are these not common spares as well? Dont tell me they had to order brake pads /disks from Korea only when i asked for them? Whats the point having a huge warehouse when your procurement & supply system is in shambles and spares cant reach the individual service centres in time?

Dont get me wrong in all of this. I am in support of the Koreans as i think the Japns need a strong competitor. Although the Koreans are improving but that improvement needs to be in all areas not just in design and specs alone. To compete with the Japs you need to focus on areas which consumers in Asia find important. Specs, build quality, after sales service, spare part availability, resale value, etc are all important areas to an Asian consumer especially. Focusing on just 2-3 areas while negletting the others will not ensure much swing in new buyers.

The Koreans have now got their design and specs right so isnt this the time to focus on production and availability of spares?