05 November 2002: The new Hyundai Getz supermini, which goes on sale in Ireland at the end of this week, is targeted at the established heavyweights in the field like Ford’s Fiesta, Toyota’s Yaris and Opel’s Corsa. And the strategy of Hyundai Ireland is to give ‘more than you bargained for’ in the segment.

The Getz is priced at launch at E12,995 for the 3-door version powered by a 1.1-litre engine, with the 5-door version coming on the market at E505 extra.

The Irish distributors are expecting to sell 2,000 units of the Getz in 2003. While the vast bulk of sales are going to be of the 1.1-litre car, there will also be options of 1.3- and 1.6-litre petrol and a 1.5-litre 3-cylinder diesel car from next February.

The Getz is designed for Europe, and its arrival marks the end of sales of the Atoz Amica in the Irish market, where its tall and narrow ‘city car’ physique has not been very successful - its best year saw around 1,000 sold and last year only 300 units were moved.

But that performance is against the trend for Hyundai as a whole in this country - in 1995 there were three models on sale and just 300 cars were sold, while this year the Irish company will move around 5,000 units.

The Getz is the first of Hyundai’s new models aimed at the critical B segment which is 23 per cent of the total Irish car market.

The distributors are suggesting a value advantage of 10 per cent over the VW Polo and Toyota Yaris, and 9 per cent over the Corsa, when standard equipment is taken into account.

In that standard specification are included ABS with electronic brake force distribution, only echoed by the Renault Clio in the segment. There’s also dual airbags, power steering, electric windows front and rear, and central locking.

According to Hyundai Ireland’s Sam Synnott, the Getz is planned as the brand’s best-seller in Europe, and is part of the Hyundai strategy to become one of the Top Five manufacturers globally by 2010. It is currently in seventh place.

In Ireland, the marque’s Santa Fe SUV, Trajet MPV, and Coupe are top of their segments.

The currently available Getz cars come in two specifications and are priced up to E14,250.