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2002 SEMA: Best New Products
Get it all: 2002 SEMA Show Coverage (11/6/2002) So after reading TCC’s coverage for the past... Read More
2002 SEMA: Best New Products
Get it all: 2002 SEMA Show Coverage (11/6/2002) So after reading TCC’s coverage for the past... Read More
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subscribeLAS VEGAS —You can bet that this city that lives on the
promise of good luck wishes it could match Hyundai’s winning streak. While Vegas
continues its post-9/11 hangover, Hyundai basks in the glow of a 42-percent
sales increase (over 2000’s fabulous results) to a record 346,235 units sold.
Among its honors, the Santa Fe SUV was ranked “Best in Class” by the Insurance
Institute for Highway Safety; Good
Housekeeping ranked the mid-size Sonata sedan first in dependability,
quality and safety; and as a brand, Hyundai was second only to Lexus in Strategic Vision 2001’s Total Value
Index.
forumBut despite that success, “Hyundai’s still a brand in
transition and gaining credibility,” according to Finbarr O’Neill, the President
and CEO of Hyundai Motor America (HMA). “The only sure bet for me in Las Vegas
is the new Tiburon.”
His confidence is well placed, for the restyled 2003 Tiburon is longer, wider and better equipped than the car it replaces. There is no 2002 Tiburon; and the big story on the ‘03 is the availability of the 2.7-liter V-6 (as found on the Sonata and Santa Fe) and a six-speed manual transmission. (A five-speed is standard on both four- and six-cylinder Tiburons, with a four-speed, Shiftronic automatic available as a $900 option.)
Considering that the GT V-6’s starting price of $17,999 includes sport-tuned suspension, 17-inch alloy wheels with Michelin Pilots, a 360-watt Infinity sound system and leather seating surfaces, you’d have to agree that Tiburon meets O’Neill’s mandate that every Hyundai must offer the best value in its class. And it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that HMA expects 70 percent of Tiburon’s 28,000 projected buyers to opt for the GT V-6, which is the model name. A four-cylinder car is just a “Tiburon,” starting price $15,999. It gets 16-inch alloys with Michelin MXV4 rubber and no six-speed option.
