Hyundai's first hybrid car gets over 1,000 orders

[zenMachine]

Starting Wednesday, Hyundai will start selling the Avante LPI, a hybrid version of its best-selling compact car Avante, which is sold as the Elantra overseas.

Unlike conventional hybrid models such as the Prius of Toyota Motor Corp. and the Insight of Honda Motor Co., the Avante LPI is powered by liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and lithium polymer batteries.

... By the end of this year, Hyundai plans to sell as many as 8,000 Avante LPIs in South Korea, according to company officials. The new car is priced from 20 million won (US$15,800) to 23 million won, about 40 percent cheaper than Honda's Civic hybrid in South Korea.

The Avante LPI runs 17.8 km per liter. While the fuel economy is inferior than that of hybrid models by Toyota and Honda, Lee claimed that the Avante LPI could gain appeal because the LPG price is cheaper.

YONHAP NEWS

[Rybold]

I'm glad to see another automaker is now offering hybrids, and at $15K, this allows these hybrids to compete directly with non-hybrid mainstream economy cars. Excellent! This may be the beginning o hybrids goin mainstream.

[Rokeby]

Hyundai has been making considerable noise about it's intentions to
establish a significant position in the hybrid market place. Apparently
they are thinking really BIG. Perhaps they looking to get market visibility
before the numerous Chinese efforts arrive. Some other web stories:

Hyundai hybrid may hit roads in 2nd half

Hyundai readies Volt-style hybrid

Hyundai plug-in hybrid coming to U.S. in 2012

[justlurkin]

What I want to know is, how did Hyundai manage to bring the costs of the hybrid drivetrain down so much? Pretty much everybody agrees the Honda Insight was pretty stripped-down already, but the base-model Insight is still $19500. I wonder where did Hyundai manage to squeeze out another $4500 in cost cuts..?

[robbyr2]

What I want to know is, how did Hyundai manage to bring the costs of the hybrid drivetrain down so much? Pretty much everybody agrees the Honda Insight was pretty stripped-down already, but the base-model Insight is still $19500. I wonder where did Hyundai manage to squeeze out another $4500 in cost cuts..?

I think Hyundai's workers aren't paid as much as Toyota's or Honda's.

Not sure about the LPG even though I have 2 stations within 10 miles, I'm not sure everyone does.

[JimN]

Originally Posted by justlurkin

What I want to know is, how did Hyundai manage to bring the costs of the hybrid drivetrain down so much? Pretty much everybody agrees the Honda Insight was pretty stripped-down already, but the base-model Insight is still $19500. I wonder where did Hyundai manage to squeeze out another $4500 in cost cuts..?

Koreans work cheaper than Japanese.

[justlurkin]

I was under the impression that the hybrid components and the battery pack is what makes a hybrid car more expensive, rather than labor costs.. I don't know, I just have a hard time imagining that $4500 cost cut per car can be achieved through labor cost reductions alone.

[The Electric Me]

Originally Posted by Rokeby

Hyundai has been making considerable noise about it's intentions to
establish a significant position in the hybrid market place. Apparently
they are thinking really BIG. Perhaps they looking to get market visibility
before the numerous Chinese efforts arrive. Some other web stories:

Hyundai hybrid may hit roads in 2nd half

Hyundai readies Volt-style hybrid

Hyundai plug-in hybrid coming to U.S. in 2012

I found this "interesting" from the first article: "Hyundai says its engineers did not have to invent the parts required for a hybrid drive system, they only had to improve on them."

Yeh, Great for Hyundai, but given Toyotas careful protection of it's patents isn't this illegal? Not inventing, and just using someone elses patented technology? "improving" is subjective.

[justlurkin]

That's an interesting point on the patents... The Prius first came out in 1997, right? Does that mean the Toyota patents for HSD is going to expire in 2012..?

(I cringe at the thought of all the other carmakers and their dog coming out with HSD clones..) :P

[Rybold]

Originally Posted by justlurkin

I was under the impression that the hybrid components and the battery pack is what makes a hybrid car more expensive, rather than labor costs.. I don't know, I just have a hard time imagining that $4500 cost cut per car can be achieved through labor cost reductions alone.

I agree with you that it is mostly parts and much less labor.
Also, did the rest of you notice this paragraph:
"The move by Hyundai to sell the LPG-electric hybrid, which is only available for the domestic market, is seen as a strategy to better compete with hybrid models of the Japanese rivals at home, some analysts say. In South Korea, where LPG-powered cars are common, LPG is half the price of gasoline."

First, they haven't spent $$$$$ getting the car to meet U.S. crash test standards and have it approved (I checked Yahoo Autos and there is no evidence that the regular version of the Avante is sold in the U.S.) Also, keep in mind that Hyundai sells the Accent in the U.S. for $9,970 ( 2009 Hyundai Accent | New Hyundai Hatchbacks - Yahoo! Autos ). So, we know that Hyundai is capable of producing a vehicle, sold in the U.S. market, for under $10K. This leaves a margin of $5,800 for the additional components to make it a hybrid. Yes, it is certainly possible to produce a hybrid vehicle for $15K.