Hyundai lifts new Elantra price

HYUNDAI has announced a $20,590 starting price for its next-generation Elantra, first examples of which are now filtering into showrooms ahead of the model’s official launch just prior to the Australian International Motor Show in Melbourne on July 1.

That makes the entry-level version of Hyundai’s stylish new small sedan $600 more expensive than the Elantra it replaces ($19,990) and $1000 more expensive than the i30 hatchback’s $19,590 starting price.

However, the latter only applies to the 1.6-litre version of the i30, Australia’s fourth-best-selling small car so far this year. The 2.0-litre version of the i30 hatch opens at the same $20,590 price point as the new Elantra.

The new Elantra’s base price will continue to undercut those of Australia’s most popular small cars, including the top-selling Mazda3 sedan and hatch range, which currently opens at $21,330, and Toyota’s Corolla hatch/sedan line-up, which starts at $20,990 – the same as the cheapest Holden Cruze sedan.

Hyundai Australia will join Toyota and Holden in offering entry-level versions of its small sedan with a 1.8-litre petrol engine, rather than the 1.6-litre GGDI (Gamma Gasoline Direct Injection) engine that gives the Elantra class-leading fuel efficiency and environmental credentials in other markets.

The new Elantra’s 1.8-litre MPI engine will deliver 110kW – 5kW more than the 2.0-litre engine that powers the i30 and the outgoing Elantra.

It will be available here with manual and automatic transmissions that both offer a class-leading number of six gear ratios.

The auto will command a $2000 price premium at $22,590 in entry-level Active guise, while the auto-only Elite costs $3000 more at $25,590 and the flagship Premium costs another $3400 more at $28,990.

All manufacturers’ list prices exclude dealer delivery and on-road charges, while metallic paint adds $375 across the range.

The new MD-series Elantra – known as the Avante in Korea and originally expected to be called the i35 here – is dressed in the latest interpretation of Hyundai’s ‘fluidic sculpture’ exterior design language and was designed at the Korean car-maker’s North American Design Centre in Irvine, California.

Inside its heavily sculpted bodyshell, which wears a hexagonal grille and back-swept headlights, the new Elantra interior presents a futuristic ‘wind craft’ interior design featuring a bold metal-effect garnish that flows into the ‘airstream-like’ centre console, plus high-quality piano-black and chrome highlights, and a twin-cylinder VFD (Vacuum Florescent Display) instrument cluster with Hyundai’s trademark blue illumination.

It is unclear whether Australian versions will offer the cutting-edge technologies available in Korea, such as an automatic parallel parking system, HID headlights, LED tail-lights, puddle lamps, heated rear seats and a central TFT colour screen with a large rotary controller.

2011 Hyundai Elantrapricing:&nbsp
Active	$20,590
Active (a) &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp	$22,590
Elite (a)	$25,590
Premium (a)	$28,990