Capital Equipment News March 2018

MEDIUM COMMERCIAL VEHICLES

ger (167 m) and wider (8,4 m) beam pattern, making night driving much safer. “One of the distinct exterior features is the main rear-view mirror that is 10 mm taller, and a newly added sub-mirror below which is convex-shaped to ensure a much wider field of vision, thus eliminating the blind spot in traffic,” explains Griffin. Looking ahead Despite a 6,37% year-on-year decline of the medium commercial vehicle market in South Africa to 7 785 total unit sales in 2017, Griffin says there is evidence of a lift in confidence and activity within the sector. “We have launched the EX8 at a time when we at Hyundai are very optimistic that a strong increase in sales of commercial vehicles is bound to happen over the next five years due to renewed hope in the change of political leadership, and the prospects for a return to a healthy GDP growth,” says Griffin. To make the most of the positive outlook, Griffin states that Hyundai Automotive SA is investigating the possibility of introducing various other commercial vehicle models, such as the H350 bus and panel van, as well as automatic transmissions for the new medium commercial vehicle. While the EX8 is currently available in manual transmission only, Hyundai is looking at the AMT and full automatic options, and introduction of these versions is targeted for the end of this year or early 2019. Griffin says the building blocks for further market share growth are already in place. A healthy commercial vehicle network, comprising 40 dealers and 37 service dealers across South Africa, as well as the neighbouring countries of Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Namibia, is said to cover all the major routes travelled by Hyundai customers. Meanwhile, Hyundai’s assembly plant in Benoni, Gauteng, which commenced operations in 2004, ensures shorter lead times for local customers. With a land area of 32 000 m², of which 19 000 m² is under roof, the assembly plant is now fully operational and currently produces 400 units of the H100 and the EX8 trucks per month. For a one-stop shop experience, Hyundai Automotive SA’s Commercial Vehicle Division has its own truck body builder at the Benoni facility, producing several standard and customised options. “This includes van bodies, dropsides, tippers, tautliners, trailers and H100 tipper conversions. The truck body builder also does all kinds of repair work for customers,” concludes Griffin. b

The EX8 SWB Tipper retails at about R451 500, excluding VAT.

Hyundai HD72. It is also said to be 300 kg more than the closest competitor in this size class, translating into more payload. An industry-leading 4-year factory war- ranty, with no limit to the mileage, means less headaches for EX8 owners. This is complemented by a 3-year/200 000 km roadside assistance plan as part of the standard package. “Even if the first owner sells the EX8 before four years, the factory warranty is transferrable to the next owner,” states Griffin. “Hyundai Automotive SA is notified daily via a road- side breakdown report of any commercial vehicle towed in, which allows us to act swiftly to ensure that the dealer is giving the customer utmost attention with the necessary urgency to get the vehicle back on the road.” The EX8 is powered by a Euro 3 D4DD 3 907 cc engine which has a common rail injection system delivering maximum power of 103 kW @ 2 800 rpm. Peak torque is 373 Nm, which is produced at a relatively low 1 600 rpm. Power is delivered to the rear wheels via a 5-speed manual synchromesh gearbox. In terms fuel consumption, Griffin reiterates that not much local testing has been done yet, but the vehicle is projected to achieve 6-7 km per litre of fuel. Meanwhile, Hyundai has increased the service intervals from 10 000 km on its previous offering to 20 000 km on the Mighty EX8, which results in reduced service costs and less downtime for the truck owner. Hyundai Automotive SA also

recently did a price study for a basket of 32 service, maintenance and crash parts, and according to Griffin, Hyundai’s parts basket proved to be 20% better priced than that of its nearest competitor. More features With Hyundai’s understanding that a comfortable driver is a productive and safe one, the EX8 comes with a range of features aimed at increasing operator comfort. Compared with its predecessor, the EX8 Mighty’s interior space has been increased from 2,9 m² to 3,5 m², and there has also been an increase in storage space for driver and passengers to 11,8 litres. Visibility from inside the cabin has been greatly improved by increasing the windshield size – an important feature, because better visibility ensures saf- er driving. The windshield height has increased by 20 mm, and width by 70 mm. Furthermore, the dash has been lowered by 80 mm, allowing an increased visibility angle of 2,2 degrees. Interior space has been enhanced by increasing the interior cabin height to 1 490 mm. The steering column now has forward-backward adjustment of 60 mm, as well as height adjustment of 76 mm – a completely new feature that enables the driver to set the most comfortable and safest driving position. The seat also slides back by a further 55 mm, with increased reclining setting for maximised comfort while driving. The new, tall style headlamps cast a significantly lon-

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