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Hyundai Sime-Darby Motor has launched the new Hyundai i10 5-door hatchback in Malaysia. The i10 replaces the Atos in the Hyundai global line-up but in certain countries like India, both the Atos (Santro) and the i10 is offered, with the latter being the more premium product. In fact, the i10 we get here comes from India where both the Atos and i10 are very very popular products, instead of Korea.

All the basics that will make the new Hyundai a popular runabout are there: a small luggage space extendable via the foldable rear seats and a 4-speed automatic. It chugs along via a 1.1 liter Epsilon family engine (sadly not the new Kappa 1.2 liter) putting out 65.8 horsepower at 5,500rpm and 99.1Nm of torque at a lower than usual 2,800rpm which should allow it to feel pretty zippy around town.

Safety features include a 4-star Euro NCAP body, dual SRS airbags and anti-lock brakes. In-car entertainment is an integrated 2-DIN audio CD player with MP3 and aux input support. The interior is rather monotonous and basic with endless fields of grey but there is a slight touch of “high-end” thanks to the dash-mounted shift lever instead of it being in the conventional position between the two front seats.

So you have decent safety specs, an acceptable level of in-car entertainment, an automatic gearbox, an engine that puts out peak torque at a low-mid RPM, and a price under RM50k. This should theoretically be very popular with city dwellers, especially since its claimed to have a 17.2km per liter combined fuel economy. It’s also got nice styling, being the first Hyundai car in Malaysia with the new naming scheme and design language that debuted with the i30. But Malaysians are just too brand conscious.

The 4-speed auto model retails for RM48,888 OTR with insurance and comes with a 5-year (300,000km) warranty. It is available in five colours: alpine blue, blushing red, stone black, sleek silver and champagne gold. A 5-speed manual version (that is claimed to get 20km per liter) is also available but strangely Hyundai’s press kit does not mention its price. This story will be updated later when the price is available.

The badging on the car is a little confusing but somehow expected. It has a combination of both Inokom and Hyundai logos and badges around the car.

More images after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Hyundai i10 compact hatch launched in Malaysia

Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors Sdn Bhd plans to start CKD assembly of Hyundai SUVs by mid-2007, in efforts to capture a bigger share of the non-national car market. Hyundai’s Malaysian SUV offerings currently consist of the Tucson crossover SUV and the Santa Fe SUV. The Tucson is a small SUV going on head to head with likes of the Ford Escape, and the Hyundai Santa Fe competes with the bigger boys like the Honda CR-V.

Local assembly of the Hyundai Getz 1.4 with an Inokom badge has managed to drop the price by about RM10,000 - so I guess we can expect a CKD Santa Fe soon, with the Tucson coming later, similiar to the route Naza took with local assembly of the Kia Sorento first, and possible assembly of the Sportage in the future.

Inokom will be launching it’s locally assembled version of the new facelift Hyundai Getz - to be called the Inokom Getz later this month, which will come in 1 variant - the Getz 1.4 liter DOHC. They had a media preview recently but I was not invited, so I don’t really have precise details on the car - the best I can do is talk about the features of the new facelifted Getz overseas and hope they’re also echoed in the local version. Anyway, details and more photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Inokom Getz 1.4 later this month

Sime Darby Bhd unit Inokom Corp Sdn Bhd will be investing a total sum of RM 10 million on a new assembly line for the Hyundai Mighty, Hyundai’s best selling commercial vehicle. The 5 tonne truck will be produced at Inokom’s plant in Kulim, Kedah in early 2007. A technical license agreement was signed between Inokom and Hyundai on August 29 2006. The Hyundai Mighty is a mid-sized 5 tonne truck with a 3.9 liter intercooled turbodiesel engine. Inokom’s current Lorimas model is a one and a half tonne truck.

The addition of the Hyundai Mighty will bring Inokom’s vehicle count up to 4, with current models being assembled include the Inokom Lorimas pick-up, the Inokom Atos Prima based on the Hyundai Atoz and the Inokom Matrix based on the Hyundai Matrix. There is also an Inokom Getz expected to join the line-up soon, a rebadged version of the popular supermini which even got into Jeremy Clarkson’s good books, somewhat.

UPDATE: The new cars launched are the LMG Tourer 7-seater SUV and the LMG Trekker double cab pick-up truck, both of which include Hydroxene water-petrol hybrid technology.

The Star carried a newspaper report on Friday outlining our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s two day visit to Johor, and the itenary included the launch of a new national car on Tuesday. Since it’s too soon for anything up Proton, Perodua or Naza’s sleeves - we can assume this might be the new CKD Inokom Getz.

Reader Khairil has reported sightings of a Hyundai Getz going around on road tests in Kulim with a sign that says “Kenderaan sedang diuji” hanging on the rear. However, what was different with this particular Getz is it had an Inokom badge on it.

Sime Darby has previously expressed interest in assembling the Hyundai Getz locally within the next 12 months in October last year when it unveiled it’s NAP plans. It is already assembling the Hyundai Matrix and the Hyundai Atos locally with Inokom badges.

Just a recap from Sime Darby’s NAP plans outlined last year, next up in the pipelines after the CKD Getz would be other Hyundai models like the Accent, Elantra and Sonata. There are also export plans. Click for more details on Sime Darby’s NAP plan.

Even if the car launch on Tuesday isn’t the CKD Inokom Getz, you can expect the car to be launched soon as uncamouflaged road tests are already underway. In fact, there’s something wrong with the theory that it might be the Inokom Getz. I don’t see why an Inokom car should be launched in Johor as the car is likely to be made in the Kulim plant, since road tests have been going on in Kulim. Kulim, Kedah is practically on the other end of the peninsular. So who has an assembly plant in Johor?

Oriental Assembler Sdn Bhd comes to mind. And Oriental Assembler has been generally associated with China makes of late, with reports of talks with Chery and Geely to assemble vehicles there. Could this be a locally badged China make? Information Gateway Corporation Sdn Bhd (IGC Corp) announced a CKD deal for Geely cars March this year, and said a local version of the Geely CK1 called the IGC CKX would be assembled at Oriental Assemblers Sdn Bhd.

There’s also the SUV and pick-up truck manufacturer Dadi. I’m sure many of you have seen Dadi showrooms around the city. LM Star Autoworld Sdn Bhd has assembly rights to Dadi SUVs and pick-up trucks, and a Bernama report says it plans to have an assembly plant in Kota Tinggi, Johor. LM Star Autoworld’s assembly plant will have the capacity for 60,000 vehicles a year but will start with an output of 28,480 in the first year. 10,000 will be for the Malaysian market and the rest for export. Could the new vehicle being launched be an LM Star-built Dadi SUV or pick-up?

LM Star also has an agreement with BYD Auto of China to develop right hand drive versions of BYD cars and have them assembled here both for the local market and export. Remember the BYD F3?

So many possibilities. I am as clueless as most of you are. Wait until Tuesday to find out. Thanks to Khairil and Stephen for the pointers.

Sime Darby is determined to take full advantage of the incentives the government has given in the new National Automotive Policy. The National Automotive Policy’s new incentives encourages foreign automakers to assemble their vehicles here in Malaysias, thus turning Malaysia into an automotive assembly and distribution hub for the ASEAN region.

Click here to read the rest of Sime Darby’s NAP plans