Tucson feeling same fire heat as Sportage

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Tucson feeling same fire heat as Sportage

THE Hyundai equivalent of a popular Kia sports utility, now pulling mainstream media interest as result of its recall, is also at risk of catching fire due to an electronic fault in the engine bay.

A remedial action for the current generation Hyundai Tucson sold here posted nationally in early April, so almost five weeks ago, though the brand was taking questions about it much earlier – MotoringNZ.com first publicised the matter in a story on February 11.

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Kia scores big during troubled October

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Kia took control of passenger car sales last month, its Sportage and Seltos respectively accomplishing first and second places for registration count.

KIA SELTOS ENJOYED A STRONG MONTH. The larger Sportage did even better.

KIA SELTOS ENJOYED A STRONG MONTH. The larger Sportage did even better.

KIA scored a notable triple win during October, its compact and medium sports utilities achieving as the biggest-selling vehicles, and the brand coming out on top in total passenger registrations.

October market statistics supplied by the Motor Industry Association today show the Kia Sportage was the most popular passenger vehicle in October, with 488 sales, followed by its smaller brother the Seltos, with 471.

That was sufficient to allow the Korean brand to achieve a total of 1276 passenger vehicle registrations for the month, knocking long-time leader Toyota, which achieved 1117 sales, into second place.

It all represents a big turnaround in a 2020 new passenger vehicle scene that up until now has been dominated by the Toyota RAV4.

In September, for example, the Toyota achieved 464 sales – whereas the Sportage and the Seltos each accrued about half that. In October, however, RAV4’s sales dropped to 291 units.

There was better news for Toyota in the commercial market, where the new Hilux moved into first place with 731 sales, knocking the previously dominant Ford Ranger into second. It achieved 686 sales.

the updated toyota Hilux appeared to score well in its first month of availability, bumping out Ford’s Ranger as the country’s favourite utility.

the updated toyota Hilux appeared to score well in its first month of availability, bumping out Ford’s Ranger as the country’s favourite utility.

Both utes finished the month comfortably ahead of anything else – third place was taken by the Mitsubishi Triton with 282 registrations.

Toyota also remained the overall new vehicle market leader with a 17 percent share in October via 2070 registrations, followed by Ford with 11 percent and Kia with nine percent. And it remains dominant for the entire year to date thanks to a 17 percent share – well ahead of Ford on 10 percent.

October’s total new vehicles registrations continued their downward trend for 2020, coming in at 20.6 per cent below October last year. A total of 11,876 vehicles were registered, down 3089 units on the same month last year.

“Year to date the market is down 23.5 per cent, which is consistent recent months’ data confirming our expectations that 2020 will finish about 25 per cent down on 2019 volumes, said MIA chief executive David Crawford.

The top 10 most popular vehicles in October were: Toyota Hilux, 731 sales; Ford Ranger, 686; Kia Sportage, 488; Kia Seltos, 471; Toyota Corolla, 315; Mitsubishi ASX, 292; Toyota RAV4, 291; Mitsubishi Triton, 282; Mazda CX-5, 279; Suzuki Swift, 232.