HYUNDAI CONTROVERSIALLY LAUNCHES H1 MULTICAB

If you are black, especially young and black, look away now or click on another story. This one’s not for you. It’s about the launch of the new Hyundai H1 Multicab, a vehicle that is aimed at white, married men over the age of 40 who are looking at an alternative to the usual double cab bakkie (pickup). And I’m not making this up; Hyundai South Africa told us straight in the face that if you don’t fit the above description you are not their primary target market.

During his detailed presentation to some of Mzansi’s most respected motoring media entities, long-time Hyundai Marketing Director Stanley Anderson should have hit the brakes while he was behind. Instead he went on to list the kinds of media he’d choose to market this new versatile car his company was bringing into a country of 50 million where over 90% of people are black.

Internet, newspapers, magazines, television, radio. Of course if you are invited to a car launch you assume the host company places some sort of importance on your medium and the audiences you reach. Otherwise why bother inviting you in the first place? Not so with Hyundai South Africa. Of the four websites they labelled as “most important to Hyundai”, only one was actually represented at the launch. And it was not IN4RIDE I’m afraid. Mysterious that you, most of our readers, aren’t important at all to Hyundai. So-called “black” media were not listed either, like Radio 2000, Destiny Destiny and Destiny Man, Ukhozi fm, Isolezwe and others. I guess once you start selling as many cars as the company currently does, you don’t really need to be nice to everyone. You certainly don’t need to be nice to black people.

But in case you are a married white man aged 40 and over, here’s some info exclusively for you regarding this lovely people/ luggage carrier. Hyundai sold 4 million cars globally last year, up from about 3.7 million in 2010. They aim to sell about 4.2 million in 2012. In Mzansi the figures are quite sketchy because they don’t report to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA). Nevertheless it is suspected that they may be moving between 45 000 and 55 000 cars annually.

The segment in which this H1 Multicab plays is quite miniscule, accounting for just 600 units per year in total. The main players are the Mercedes-Benz Vito and Volkswagen Transporter. Anderson reckons his future winner will pretty much double the market.

Two engines are being offered, one being a first for the segment. Petrol and diesel, as well as two gearbox transmissions with certain combos are on the menu. First is the only petrol kicking against a gush of diesels. It’s a 2.4-litre naturally aspirated Theta worth 126kW at 6000rpm and 227Nm of torque at 4200rpm, with a 0 – 100km/h time of 17.9 seconds in, and a top end of 182km/h. Hyundai claims it uses 10.2 litres per 100km of fuel, emitting 240 g/km of C02 gases in the process. We didn’t get to drive this model during our 155km trip.

The one we did drive was the 2.5-litre VGTi turbo diesel producing 125kW at 3800rpm and a creamy 392Nm of torque at 2000rpm. Coming only in 5-speed automatic, the gearbox is built in-house and is quite smooth, although change-downs can be a little jerky. Nevertheless it combines with the rest of the powertrain to return a claimed average of 9.7 litres per 100km in fuel.

The main points of attraction for the Multicab are that it features three front seats, the third being more suited to people not taller than 1.5m, as well as the 2 500 litre loading space behind the second row of seats. That’s due to the fact that whereas normally a third and even fourth row can be fitted to minibus taxis, Hyundai decided otherwise and turned the empty area into a covered load box instead. Hence the idea that double-cab customers will also be interested.

Interior conveniences that match up to the cloth upholstery include a USB port, air conditioning, central locking, electric front windows and power steering. I couldn’t find any mirror adjusters inside the bus, so I assume they are only adjustable by winding down the windows and manually pushing and pulling until your rears are covered.

So the Multicab sits 6 or 5.5, depending, swallows up to 2 500 litres of luggage (check the pictures), and is built by Hyundai. But the fact that only married white men over the age of 40 should even look at buying one, means it will have very limited appeal. More so because only two exterior colours can be speficied. Rental car companies like Avis, Budget and Hertz, big hotel groups, travel companies and others could also be interested. Especially if they are run by married white men over the age of 40.

Hyundai H1 Multicab Pricing

2.4 Theta (R279 900)

2.5 VGTi (R339 900)