First look: Korea twins attack compact market

THE level of South Korean competition in Australia’s big-selling compact SUV market segment is about to escalate significantly.

Hyundai has just launched its Tucson compact wagon in Australia, at the same time that Kia has issued first photos and tech details internationally of its new generation Sportage.

The trick is that the two cars are non-identical twins, sharing the same platform, drivetrain and Borg-Warner-sourced on-demand four-wheel drive system. They get to be such close relations because Hyundai actually owns Kia.

In Australia the situation takes an added twist because the two brands are distributed by rival operators, who are based close to each other in Sydney’s Homebush Bay Olympic district.

And Hyundai has wasted no time going for the jugular, revealing an all-new 2.7-litre V6 line-up that kicks pricing off at $29,990, complete with four-speed sequential auto.

That significantly undercuts the big four of the category, the Honda CR-V, Nissan X-Trail, Subaru Forester and Toyota RAV4, which are all powered by four-cylinder engines.

There’s no doubt the Sportage will follow down the same pricing path for the V6 if exchange rates pan out, but it will go even lower as Kia is also bringing in a 2.0-litre version that should be priced in the $25,000 bracket as a five-speed manual.

Neither company has elected to bring in the 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine, which is aimed primarily at Europe.

Kia also plans to ape Hyundai in offering a high level of specification for the Sportage.

Standard equipment for Tucson includes ABS with EBD, 16-inch alloy wheels including the spare wheel, cruise control, MP3-capable CD audio, a cargo area cover and elastic net, windscreen wiper de-icer, roof rails, front and rear foglights, pollen filter and an overhead console with sunglasses bin and map lights.

Kia plans the world launch of Sportage at the Paris motor show in September with the local debut scheduled for the newly renamed Australian International motor show in Sydney in October, with sales planned to start before the end of 2004.

Kia claims its V6 engine produces 131kW at 6000rpm and 242Nm at 4000rpm, although the Hyundai version rates at 129kW/241Nm in Australia.

The 2.0-litre petrol engine produces 106kW at 6000rpm and 185Nm at 4500rpm.

Front suspension is via MacPherson struts with a dual link rear-end design and there are disc brakes at both ends.

Underpinning it all is a monocoque chassis, replacing the ladder frame the Sportage previously employed.

Hyundai’s existing compact SUV, the Santa Fe, is half a size bigger than Tucson and also monocoque-based.

Official dimensions issued by Kia are 4350mm overall length, 1800mm overall width, 1695mm overall height and 2630mm wheelbase.

Hyundai is forecasting a supply-constrained 200 sales per month for Tucson initially, while Kia expects to sell 4000 Sportages per year.