Hyundai has recorded over 60,000 vehicle sales in Australia so far this year, an all time record for the brand Down Under. But more significantly, this was achieved in a declining overall market that’s down 9.3% (YTD Nov 2009 vs YTD Nov 2008). Up till November 2009, the Korean marque posted eleven consecutive months of year-on-year growth and an overall increase in sales of 41.6%.
Globally, Hyundai’s sales is up by 9.6% (YTD Nov). The company’s latest model, the YF Sonata, is off to a good start – it sold 17,464 units in South Korea, making it the best selling domestic model last month. Looks like the prejudice against Korean carmakers is fast subsiding, everywhere but in Malaysia!
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maybe malaysia got proton,…so sales slow down coz of local made
It is normal for Malaysian to think prejudicely towards Korean made car. They only care the 2nd hand price from the ahbeng in mechanics shop or grey importer.
Try to understand their manufacturing processess, lean manufacturing, inspector process and the worker's disipline which we can never see in here.
It is just like " katak di bawah tempurung " or worst, "katak di bawah tin milo"
1st!
hey tin milo pun dah mahal sekarang…..
i dont tink its the prejudice or the perception , its jus bad experiences with the car …when thrs a gearbox failure after 2 or 3 yrs or sky high spar parts prices , i dont tink thats perception , its the reality here…u can check few local hyundai forums….mite be cheap to buy the car compare to others when purchasing , bt reliability is not great…
Naza should do more to capitalise on this.
For eg, they should lower their high servicing charges and make sure spare parts are available at low cost. Of course their customer service and manufacturing quality got to improve.
The Korean cars have come of age now!
many times, I always wonder what is blocking Malaysian's mind.
Hyundai is making alot of progress here in US. Genesis is a head-turner here…. damn it's so good looking.
Fantastic example for proton. They should learn a lot from Hyundai and its people behind it. Proton still lacks the Quality and complaints are badly attended to. I guess those working in proton also got no mood to work with the company. Those vendors should be the one to be blamed for low quality parts. My next car will not be a proton anymore…
i dunno about what u guys feel but in my opinion korean cars and china cars only look good for the first 3 or 4 years after that body parts tend to fade and stuff and makes the car look so outdated . japanese cars also share this problem , each time a newer model comes out , it predecesor look terrible and makes ppl not want the earleir generation models unlike the germans and british cars
and their interiors are very plastiky and cheap looking . i mean if they atleast bother putting better quality materials , we as consumers will still be satisfied and even if the price was slightly higher i would still not mind paying it .
Paul, it not fair to blame it all on the consumer. If the importer like Naza keep bringing in crappy and sub-standard car, the effects will ripple to the mechanic, to the 2nd car dealer and to lay man. Then again car are as (if not more) expensive as houses in M'sia screwed up car market condition, can we afford to buy with emotion and not rationale? How many of us can pick up a second car or restore an old one as a hobby? Fact it, most of us can only afford one car, payment with your blood, via 9 years installment plan and drive very sensibly to keep knocks and scratches at bay. Can you really afford not to buy a Toyota or Honda? I love the Forte to bit, but if its my own cash, I will still pick a Vios over it, isn't the reasons obvious by now?
japanese carmaker are malaysian god of motoring. if u buy korean, its the same as u defy god… so whatever god throw at u, u accept it with open heart.
In the case of Hyundai, only the i10 and i30 introduced here. Then again, i10 is sell with the Inokom badge. i30 is an estate/wagon design, traditionally not a volume mover in our market. Sime on the other hand, is not very aggressive either with the Hyundai brand.
Kia comes with Naza badge. Legendary after sales reputation.
I think this strategy of re-badging is hurting the Korean brand here.
From what I can see, our peoples' mind are still praising the Japanese brand more often than not as their products are a common sight here (vehicles in particular) and that they have been in the market for long time and spare parts availability is high. Not to mention the service provided (sales, after sales, maintenance, etc.) are satisfactory (by Malaysian standards). Plus, some of their models are pretty iconic that they have strong followers and fans across the country for many years.
For other brands, even though some have been here for as long as the Japanese, probably their service and marketing strategy is not very promising for the consumer. With the government policy that add high tax to import vehicles, all this may have contributed to negative perception towards Conti and Korean makes plus some who had bad experience with their cars.
Conclusion is, there are many factors that make up what we Malaysian thinks about the motoring industries. Still, the major problem here is perception. It is caused by actual experience by some or many, that it had become a mindset to the later generations due to this. Even if a long time issue had been resolved such as Proton's power window problem is still disregarded by the public that they continue to assume all Protons come with this defects by default.
This mindset issue not only affect us as consumer, but the people in the industry itself.
Just my 2 sen.. Cheers!
I'm one of the owner of korean car under label KIA. Based on my experience..yes i do agreed with some of you said that the korean car is not reliable, high maintenance. Spare part price at KIA service centre is almost killing unless you buy from normal spare part shop which you can get much more cheaper but it is cannot last long and further it is not ori even the shop claim it is ori. Tolong Orang Tipu Orang..TOTO
Ya, even tin milo already mahal. btw, 95% from milo worldwide sales come from bolehland. malaysians addicted to milo ma.
bcs korean cars offered in malaysia are all trimmed down versions, u kno, less airbags, 4 speed auto, funny rim designs.. etc etc while many of their good models are nt available here
oh gosh stop telling people your story about the Outdated/Obsoleted kia sephia /spectra/citra/ria/optima, old hyundai accent/elantra/sonata/matrix/atos.
Ah I forgot, you cheapskate can only drive outdated cars with ancient technology and you worship cheapo vios & myvi.
Actually a lot of things in Malaysia are screw up, especially the price of imported cars & also spare parts! Do you know that a lot of new parts selling in Singapore & Thailand are even cheaper compare to Malaysian market even they are converted!
I have seen hyundai sonata parts selling very cheap in SG, but when it came into Malaysia the price double or triple up, some more after converted the currancy!
If you buy the car at a cheap price, you wont argue too much… As in US korean cars is a big buy as they offer at least 5 years warranty + cheaper compare to our bloody tax…
Just imagine if Kia Forte 1.6 is only RM45K, while 2.0 RM60k. Will you grumble about expensive parts?
my my oh gosh stop telling people your story about the Outdated/Obsoleted kia sephia /spectra/citra/ria/optima, old hyundai accent/elantra/sonata/matrix/atos.
Ah I forgot, you cheapskate can only drive outdated cars with ancient technology and you worship cheapo vios & myvi.
Proton is in a very very tight situation. The same gov protection they are relying on is making their brand a negative target.The quality , specs , price and the brand Hyundai , kia cars in malaysia are just to good to be true for proton. Its time they see the real picture. No longer enough to just sell cars oversea, shove it into the rakyats face by pricing all other better quality cars higher with ridiculous taxes. Pity them. Pity proton, could have been something long time ago.
in the 70's..m'sian used to adore conti cars..they dont trust a jap car like what m'sian mentality rite now towards korean car..heck! even our gov. used alfa romeo for police patrol car..but 20 years on,the japs has the last laugh..i'm confident the koreans will follow too!
Its hard not to be prejudice against Korean Car makers. Their 1st impression to the customers were bad in Malaysia. Costly and Spare parts which are hard to find, unreliable compare to Japanese automaker, Engine which are high in fuel consumption, and Low resale value. If these factors were to overcome i bet Korean car makers might be the best seller.
Recent Hyundai's reliabilty is great.
In 2003, According to Consumer Reports, Hyundai’s reliability rankings tied Hondas.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2003-03-11-cr…
reliability same level with honda 6 years ago.
They improve their quality and reliabilty since 2003.
and, malayisia CKD korea car is not exactly same car with 100% made in korean car.
Bceause, for avoid 330% import tax by malaysia goverment, importer use 40% of its auto parts use from "made in malaysia".
You blame your goverment import tax policy.
All those who laugh at Korean cars now… their children will be driving them. Like how people used to look down on Jap cars and products. :-)
My family have Hyundai/Kia/Toyota and we have ability to buy Merc(but we didn't). I would say my next car will be a Sonata/Tucson/Genesis(better still, if officially available in Malaysia) if Hyundai/Kia is consistently value-for-money; just worried that they don't price it right like the i30. I have 2 big Korean TVs in my house, some relatives wonder why not I bought big Sonys as they roughly know our financial status. I only use a mobile phone of RM200 BTW. We buy things within our easy reach and even they spoil in short time, we will not be too sedih as this give us a chance to own a new one. If you are like that, you won't complain of FC or spare parts.
Actually, if you check Hyundai'a quality and relaibilty ranking in outside of malaysia.
they almost tie with Japanese honda.
Their long term relaibilty already surpass Japanese nissan.
Check
Jd power IQS & VDS study (US)
consumer report (US)
Autobild (german)
… and so on.
this month Autobild magazine (2009.12), Kia cee'd rated as TOP ranking in Long-term realibilty test. They report it has 'Zero' Problem for 3 years test.
3 years durability + more than 100000 Km test.
first time b4 i got my car, i ask around, frens, relatives, colleagues, which sedan to buy…..and all they said…Toyota lah…..got power la, pickup superb…
when i ask them what they think about hyundai and kia…..face expression…one kind one…..not good impression
proton in already here for a fact, something which we cannot change as much as we complain or criticize , all along maybe it has been a bad & biased business decision from the very beginning. Feasibility studies ? vs. Patriotism ? U go figure out …. Times have changed & fast too.. Time will tell & maybe very soon the future of Proton & how it will affect the very livelihood of Malaysians will become so obvious & painful something will need to be done. Or maybe again policies will be made around it to nurture & safeguard not the company but the reason for making the initial decision behind it in the first place. The creation of Proton.
It's all about the branding, aftersales, warranty, parts, resale value, and the distributor's commitment.
Hopefully Kia/Hyundai will permanently setup shop here and bring all models, and no more through Naza
wat ever the news or achievement..korean car still korean car…..2003/04 model for kia optima/sonata….market value 20k……so in 5-6yrs..depreciate abt 84%….so the idea of buying car is to have the car at the top of the value till end of the tenor….
so if u buy korean car then after 7 yrs wanna tradein for another….u can wonder the value…
this is malaysia just face it man……
I have an accent.. it is 5 years old… no plastic parts fell off and it drives like it came out of the showroom yesterday, milage is now 100K. The secret: Maintain service every 5000KM at SC. So far so good, FC is equal and sometime better than Vios/City. Resell value… who cares.. this car never let me down.
On the other hand, I also have and Audi A4, resell value is worse than the Hyundai, FC is better due to turbo but the point I want to make it if you say Korean cars have high spare parts price and bad resell value… try owning and Audi…
Then you will know Korean cars are better than even a German brand.
WAKE UP BROTHER!
Oh~ wake up brother~~ wake up brother~~
Buy Korean, Eat Kimchi, Date Korean~!!
Korean car is as hot as korean girl now!!! :)
hey Paul, what image of Hyundai are you using for this article? It looks like new Sonata but it's not. What model of Hyundai is that?
Theo,
That should be the Hyundai Equus flagship model.
To all those who say Korean cars have plasticky interiors and fall apart easily – thank you! Guys like you make Korean cars more affordable for people like me (in Malaysia at least) :)
Paul,
Perhaps, you don't have any relative having Kia/Hyundai, Ssangyong, Daewoo/Korean GMs,Rocsta or Samsung cars? My Korean cars friends always give very negative perception /comments on their Korean rides but one.
One day he was KANTOI when he trade his "reliable" Spectra for "relatively lower class lnnova". Asked why? He replied: gearbox problems. Most of his friends also bought Korean makes.
MORAL: KOREAN MADE LESS RELIABLE THAN JAPANESE even though Korean cars undeniably come with better value THAN JAPANESE's.
To add more salt to the wound, Lower Resale Value also obvious.
Malaysians pray to Honda / Toyota Gods wor …
Mitsubishi made those old korean cars gearbox and engines. So japanese?
Lier. 03 sonata/optima still fetches rm30k+++
check on motor trader. bullshiter.
until naza improve on its after sales service and spare parts cost and availability, then Malaysian will continue to shy away from the koreans. Then this will affect the 2nd hand value of the car…which makes more people shy away from the koreans……it's a vicious cycle.
This might also later be true to Peugeot. Naza has to put more effort to make it affordable to Malaysians…..
Why worry if buying those new hyundai from hyundai-sime…..all those new models (i10/130/starex..etc) comes with 5 years/300,000 km warranty…peace of mind
compared to my current honda city, 3 years warranty just recently expired and now its EPS is kaput…damn! looking at RM1-3k bills….no wonder warranty just 3 years,…damn again!
I think if Kia Forte 2.0 is put side-by-side with Honda Civic 2.0 you would still choose the Japanese car right? Admit it.
RM300K for a solid flat or RM280K for a REASONABLY reliable semi-detached house(newer generation Hyundai/Kia like Kia Forte 2.0), both in town areas, you choose yourself. No extra money, cannot buy Hyundai/Kia in Malaysia, true; those buying Vios/City with 9-year loan are those indeed only can afford proton saga senang-senang. I think American/Australian people are more stupid than us, haha. Nothing wrong if you still choose T & H, but if you say Hyundai/Kia are lousy, then you must be the most intelligent guy in the world.
Kia brand in bolehland killed by Naza. No question about it. No matter how good the rating of the car outside bolehland its still crap here. Kia was saved by Hyundai and so far the more reliable brand is still Hyundai. Look at the 3-4 yrs old accent. Still running strong. Now it all depends on Sime for Hyundai whether they screw it up like Naza(and still screwing) or do something about it.
It terms of quality at the moment, the koreans are not that far from the japs. But when it comes to bolehland the locals will screw you, not the koreans/japs/conti etc. I own a vios and the build quality is highly suspect as I have power window problems, suspension issues etc. Its a jap branded car but malaysian quality.
When you compare the previous generation of Hyundai & Kia to the current gen, they've indeed improved tremendously. They may not be on par with the Japanese yet but they're moving in that direction. And they're not even benchmarking themselves to Japs but to Europeans. They don't see us as competitors, like they did 30 years ago.
Latest news is Hyundai-Kia will move forward with hybrids instead of electric.
The reason M'sians are still not into buying Korean makes is because of its past issues.
You see,first impressions always come first for M'sians.
So once the car has problems,they sort of blacklist the car make in thier mind.
But to be fair,Korean cars always look good brand new and they always have more features on offer at a MUCH MUCH cheaper price.But the thing is they dont stand the test of time.
After a while,small niggling issues pop up.And this does not happen in a few units,it happens in many units.And after sending it for repair,the problem comes back again & again..
Some ppl ask why others are so negative towards korean makes,well,maybe you should purchase a Korean car and experience the issues yourself.
@Karl
Your friend prejudice is better than these trusted quality survey?
jdpower.com/corporate/news/releases/pdf/2009108.pdf
It is quality report.
Check it, and read page 3.
Hyundai ranked no. 4. better result than Honda and Toyota.
I think
Korean car = poor reliability
is false myth by malaysian patriotism
Why? They need protect proton.
Actually, Their car is good.
But, They need protect their market.
Japanese car well known as quality, so they can't beat Japanese.
right?
Perhaps proton employees are feel 'nervous' korean car rising in malaysia market.
Maybe They will do same thing when Chinese car vastly improve
The proton employee afraid not only Japanese but also korean eat their market share.
hmmm..
squawk said,
"When you compare the previous generation of Hyundai & Kia to the current gen, they’ve indeed improved tremendously."
>>Well said.
"They may not be on par with the Japanese yet "
>> Their quality already surpass Nissan and other minor japanese makers. Check recent vehicles (at least 2006 or newer) par on with toyota and honda level.
"And they’re not even benchmarking themselves to Japs but to Europeans. "
>> Right. See their new sonata. They benchmarked Mecedes CLS.
See their Hyundai Genesis. it benchmarked Mercedes E-class.
"They don’t see us as competitors, like they did 30 years ago."
>> Sadly, Not only Korean, but also Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese think so.
jdpower.com/corporate/news/releases/pdf/2009108.pdf
It is quality report.
Check it, and read page no. 3.
2009 quality report by US JD power
No.1 Lexus
No.2 Porsche
No.3 Cadilac
No.4 Hyundai <- here
No.5 Honda
No.6 Mercedes benz
but the price for hyundai in malaysia is not as attractive as other country. if they can sell the elantra cheaper than city/vios, i already get 1 now…but luckily…so tat i can get a forte now.
expensive maa…., if cheaper , then can maa….
tax maa…..
malaysian mentality…what else can be said…H n T forevaaa!!
p/s do i sound too harsh?haha
malaysian mentality…..what else can be said…H n T forevaaa!
p/s…do i sound too harsh?haha
#
forte supporter said,
December 9, 2009 @ 8:23 pm
but the price for hyundai in malaysia is not as attractive as other country. if they can sell the elantra cheaper than city/vios, i already get 1 now…but luckily…so tat i can get a forte now.
===================================
obviously not a fair comparison……
It's like comparing the city to the altis …
Do not confuse the Hyundai and Kia .. different distributors … which have impact on their resale value …
Kia Carnival CBU 160 – 180k
Naza Ria CKD 130 k
Naza Ria when clear stock CKD 90k
Obviously the dealer aint going to take back your CBU 1 year car for anything more than 60k….
Hyundai-Sime
i10 CBU 48k
i10 CKD 48k ..
Need we say more ?
Note … Mitsubishi EVO engines are now being bought from Hyundai…..
see article from Paul ..
http://paultan.org/2008/11/21/new-hyundai-20l-the…
I am really glad to hear that many people dont like korean car, because this is the only chance for it to be priced more affordable and offering better value for money. Example, Mitsubishi Lancer 2.0 was actually started to sold at RM99k, many dont aware on this, but when the car sales picked up, the price also escalating….do you think it is the cost increasing or the increase of profit by distributor…you make your choice
it is not Japanese car in general, but only Toyota, Honda and Nissan are getting better market reputation. Madza has a pretty good car in Madza 3 and also Madza 6, but the sales and second hand value is not as great. Bravo to Toyota, Honda and Nissan. I think their positioning of the product is excellent. Like it or not, Most people buy car really based on perception and not based on technical reason. That;s why honda city, vios selling like hot cake. We all know that these models are practically low cost version which doesn;t even sell in many countries. Despite being low cost, but they enjoy pretty good margin on those. Imaging that a camry, sonata and accord (with much bigger engine, more airbags, better transmission, more features, extended warranty) are only selling in US and Australia for about (from) RM65000…..a RM80000-RM90000 vios or city is really a cash cow for these car vendor in malaysia, they would never expected to get more absolute and relative margin with these models.
Actually, Toyota and Honda CEO already made it very clear to their investor that they are focusing more on service business. So, it will be the same eventually.
COnti and korean parts are expensive mainly because of profit greediness of appointed distributor. Check ebay for part and compare them, then you will know. Of course, the leveraging factor of same car platform to produce several car helps to drive up the quantity for the economic of scale for japanese car.
Lastly, second hand value is expected to drop for japanese car when the market is more open up and people have more choices. This already happens in many countries. In addition, I dont believe in 2 things: Paying more money for second value. Take an example of Elantra 2.0 vs HOnda Civic 2.0. Specificatin wise very close but price difference is about 25k. That is a lot of premium in order to preserve the second value. Unless you like honda civic, then it another thing. But if you like elantra but just to buy Civic for better second value, then you can reference to the second hand value in the newspaper, you will know what I meant. By no mean that buying a car is an investment (maybe only classic car), so why not just follow your instint.
Good luck and I am actually very happy to see the car market in Malaysia started to diverfied and more option are now available.
bought my father a 2007 Accent ( the previous model)..
a very2 nice car to drive, (i owned 2 local cars, 1 each of P1 n P2 n 1 jap recon car n 1 brand new conti)
i just bought it just to experience a Korean car, first hand. my father lives down south, in Batu Pahat, travells to us, his childrens every month… i only hv praises for the car. currently it has done 50k++ in Km, and the services r of normal RM. my only grouse is tht one of the alarm beepers keeps on being misaligned in a few months time. hv to go to Hyundai Maluri to get it configured for free and of course the resale value…
The fc is good, ride comfort is good (for a sub RM60k car) every thing is perfect…. and my father is very2 happy too.. his rides b4 includes local, japs n conti cars too…
looks like my father will be using this Accent for a longer period..
btw my Hyundai dealer sez tht the YF will be coming to our shores around march 2010… till then regards…….
been driving a hyundai for years, so far so good, parts are easy to find & well priced, easy & cheap to service.. no major issues so far.
definitely buying another hyundai in the coming years.
cars like vios & city are overrated & overpriced.. siao ar paying $80k+ for a 1.5 car with crappy specs.
vios J spec = JUNK spec, only suckers will buy into such cars.
come and build the solid record in msia..so we are not paying for over price car..like T & H badge here..
ppl in malaysia only know how to buy expensive outdated pieces of crap like viva, meevai and alza
TheophilusChin said,
December 9, 2009 @ 5:05 pm
hey Paul, what image of Hyundai are you using for this article? It looks like new Sonata but it’s not. What model of Hyundai is that?
Theophilus,
It's not the Equus. It's actually the 2011 YF Sonata, in US-specifications.
Well said,
December 9, 2009 @ 3:42 pm
Its hard not to be prejudice against Korean Car makers. Their 1st impression to the customers were bad in Malaysia. Costly and Spare parts which are hard to find, unreliable compare to Japanese automaker, Engine which are high in fuel consumption, and Low resale value. If these factors were to overcome i bet Korean car makers might be the best seller.
—————————————————-
Another 'katak bawah tempurung'……look around…Korean cars are now ranked even higher than most Jap cars in term of realiability, better fuel consumption…You rather pay much higher car price and save a bit on spare parts? A Forte 2.0 cost 93K while a Civic 2.0 129K..You need 36K worth of spare parts? and I have not mention a far better specs from Forte yet…..
ARX said,
December 9, 2009 @ 6:24 pm
I think if Kia Forte 2.0 is put side-by-side with Honda Civic 2.0 you would still choose the Japanese car right? Admit it.
——————————————————————-
Definitely will take the Civic if its your money
…..but if my own money …RM93K vs RM130K…loads of different there plus more bits for the cheaper car…
Lol 36K worth of spare parts… that's priceless! Nah davv, the H snobs will tell you that they're blowing 36K for a lower spec car is just because… THEY CAN. Unlike mere mortals like us, haha.
Korean spareparts used to be expensive because they don't have the market volume to bring down the price.
Hyundai-Kia shares most of their spare parts across models, with the volume increase, the price are cheaper now.
I'll still buy kimchi cars no matter what, for me it is still better than tomyan, nasi lemak & sushi car.
I even CAN afford RM330K for a 2.0, but I don't want; I want value-for money. For 130K, I will go for Sonata YF 2.4. For me, Kia Forte CBU at 93K is relatively cheap in Bolehland, but donno about Naza's one yet. Don't want to buy Forte is because C-segment car is unlikely to be my next car. One day if Sonata 2.0 is RM150K without convincing specs like Toyota, it is the time I leave Hyundai.
David said
It’s not the Equus. It’s actually the 2011 YF Sonata, in US-specifications.
——————
When the post first went up, the picture used was a black Hyundai Equus. It has since been changed to the silver Sonata YF.