Hyundai Wheels in the Awards

SYDNEY – November 4, 2009: Hyundai is the only manufacturer to have secured three category wins in Wheels Magazine’s annual Gold Star Car awards.

The Wheels 2009 Gold Star Car awards relate to the best ownership proposition - it’s a recognition of real world factors like service intervals, retained value, fuel economy, purchase price, safety, insurance costs, and of course, how well the car drives.

The Hyundai Santa Fe SX CRDi took out the ‘Best Medium SUV’ award, ahead of the Holden Captiva and BMW X5. Here, it earned close to maximum points. It was the most affordable, offered good resale, had excellent fuel economy (saving the owner between $250 to more than $1000 a year compared with rivals), best service intervals, warranty and insurance. Wheels described the Santa Fe as ‘a hard act to follow’.

First place in the ‘Small Car under $26,000’ category went to the Hyundai i30 SX CRDi, judges describing it as ‘the most affordable diesel in Oz’. Other reasons it scooped both the VW Golf and Holden Cruze were terrific fuel economy, again, an unbeatable warranty, long 15,000km service periods, the best insurance price and a suite of standard safety features including twin front airbags, ABS, ESP Stability Control, Emergency Brakeforce Distribution and Emergency Brake Assist.

In the ‘Light Car under $21,000 category’, the Hyundai Getz SX topped the Suzuki Swift and Honda Jazz to take the accolade, the judges citing its keen purchase price, leading five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, safety features, good resale value and great fuel economy as the reasons why it took out the category.

“Hyundai is a leader when it comes to offering value for money," said Kevin McCann, Hyundai's Director of Sales and Marketing. "We offer a range of fun to drive award winning cars, backed by the peace of mind of a comprehensive five year warranty programme.