i30 Owners Club
GENERAL STUFF => i30 NEWS & OFFICIAL REVIEWS => Topic started by: marijan765 on February 29, 2012, 16:50:23
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I found this interesting video about VW AG's chairman M.Winterkorn studying the new i30 on a Frankfurt Motorshow 2011.VW began to learn from Hyundai? :goodjob2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpPNVSQmR5c#ws (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpPNVSQmR5c#ws)
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Thanks marijan... we seem to have spied that before :D
https://www.i30ownersclub.com/forum/index.php?topic=10339.msg122383#msg122383 (https://www.i30ownersclub.com/forum/index.php?topic=10339.msg122383#msg122383)
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Nearly 1.7 Million hits now :lol: (good advertising for Hyundai..not so good for VW)
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and I'm sure the new model/shape i30 will outsell the vw golf,and not to mention a few other rivals. :winker: :mrgreen:
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and I'm sure the new model/shape i30 will outsell the vw golf,and not to mention a few other rivals. :winker: :mrgreen:
I doubt that you will be proved right. VW have a formidable marketing machine and the motoring press almost universally put the Golf on the top of the podium.
Every time I see a group test of small hatchbacks in a popular car magazine - the Golf is declared top dog and reasons are found to supress any whippersnappers - no matter how good they are. It makes one wonder why this is!!!!
I went in to my local VW dealership a few days ago to organise road tests of two versions of the Golf - the petrol and diesel equivalents of the new i30 I am interested in. I was scrupulously honest and told the salesman that I had already virtually decided on the i30 after my Silverstone experience and the VW would have to be brilliant and a lot cheaper to win me over. I also mentioned that the new Ford Focus with the remarkable 1.0 litre 3 cylinder petrol engine was of interest.
He then spent the next 45 minutes arguing the case for the Golf and was able to talk through comparisons with the new i30 and Focus feature by feature. He impressed me with his candour and level of knowledge about the competition - even pointing out features where the Golf needed a little updating to remain the best.
The Ford dealership was different. The salesman knew little about the competition - just that Ford was supreme and they could sell all the cars they could get. He said the new 3 cylinder engines are so good that sales will rocket because they were as frugal as diesels, had better performance and were more refined. He spent his time comparing Ford cars with each other rather than with the competition. He was happy to go through the brochure and emphasise the great features - but in reality added nothing to my knowledge about the car.
I am not claiming that either of the salesmen were necessarily typical - but I would bet my boots that VW put more effort into their salesmen knowing the competition in detail, than do Ford.
In the UK both Ford and VW have superficially better and more informative brochures than Hyundai, better web sites and larger dealerships that are more plush. The average Joe could easily be pursuaded to go with either of the big boys because of their swish marketing and cosseting dealerships. However - these are areas that Hyundai seem to be working on.
I am confident that Hyundai, if they are able to keep up with their year by year progress, are going to be a major force in the car market. However - I believe it is going to take a few years of sustained effort. The other big boys are not going to give up their market share without a fight.
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Having had both i30's and a Golf its pretty easy to see why the journo's pick the latter, its kinda the difference between an appliance and Das Auto. Bang for buck the i30 delivers no doubt, The Aus spec ones handle, look pretty good but the 2.0l petrol engine's performance is not in the same class as a TSI 1.4 engine for drive-ability and the DSG leaves the 4 speed auto in the i30 for dead.
The Journo's only drive near new press cars for most brands. Ownership is something they don't experience on the job.