New Hyundai full size cargo van

[markopolo]

Photo from: http://www.just-cruisin.info/spy-shots- ... h-new-van/



Check the link above for more photos.

I can't find much info about the van. All the sites say it's a Hyundai cargo van that is meant to compete against the Mercedes Sprinter, Ram ProMaster and Ford Transit vans.

Other sites have similar photos:

http://www.caradvice.com.au/265919/hyun ... rcial-van/

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/01/06/hyun ... spy-shots/

http://www.autoevolution.com/news-g-ima ... 76046.html

http://www.carscoops.com/2014/01/spy-sh ... cedes.html

http://blog.naver.com/ubin1024

Midway down this page - http://www.bobaedream.co.kr/view?code=n ... 45492&bm=1 - Is that a new Nissan?

[Mike]

That paint job is pretty funky. It would make a great ice cream truck.

[Davydd]

I don't think it is paint. I believe it is covered over with camo paper.

[Mike]

I've already sent that info to the Duck Dynasty guys.
They love camo. And RVs.
Actually, so do I.

[mlts22]

The camo "jacket" is to hide the vehicle's styling until release.

As for a Hyundai van, I don't know if they have a niche, since their main market are college students or low-income families. Van-wise, Dodge/Fiat will have the low end nailed down with their offering. Ford will be the mainstay for fleets and general use. Mercedes will have the upper-end "B" market nailed down with their excellent MPG and body length that no other van offers. GM is offering the fact that their platform isn't going to change much for the near future.

The only thing I see that can put Hyundai on the map would be offering 4WD/AWD.

[booster]

Originally Posted by mlts22

The camo "jacket" is to hide the vehicle's styling until release.

As for a Hyundai van, I don't know if they have a niche, since their main market are college students or low-income families. Van-wise, Dodge/Fiat will have the low end nailed down with their offering. Ford will be the mainstay for fleets and general use. Mercedes will have the upper-end "B" market nailed down with their excellent MPG and body length that no other van offers. GM is offering the fact that their platform isn't going to change much for the near future.

The only thing I see that can put Hyundai on the map would be offering 4WD/AWD.

Regardless of what GM says, you never know what will happen, and the Hyundai could become the new Express. They already are listing what is a rebadged Nissan NV200 as the smaller City Express. It does make for an interesting idea--going Asian instead of European.

[Mike]

The only way Hyundai will compete with anyone else in the cargo van niche is by making a van that does almost as much as the rest of the Sprinter/Ducato clones, at half the price or less. That's theirs or anyone's challenge. Make a decent product that comes close to the pack leader, and it will sell.

There's a youtube vid about 30 seconds long here.....it looks small, but that could be the "camo paint" effect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV5trP3dn8w

(btw, I was joking about the "paint" on it. )

[booster]

Originally Posted by Mike

The only way Hyundai will compete with anyone else in the cargo van niche is by making a van that does almost as much as the rest of the Sprinter/Ducato clones, at half the price or less. That's theirs or anyone's challenge. Make a decent product that comes close to the pack leader, and it will sell.

There's a youtube vid about 30 seconds long here.....it looks small, but that could be the "camo paint" effect.

(btw, I was joking about the "paint" on it. )

Actually, I don't think any of the new vans, with the possible exception of the Transit, are planning on going head to head with the Sprinter. It could easily turn out similarly to what it has been with the Ford and Chevy vans in the past, with relatively different markets for them and Sprinters. I think the Sprinters may be getting too amenity and feature loaded for a lot of the commercial market. We will see.

Hyundai did a good job of getting into the car market in a relatively short time (the second try though), and their pricing was lower than the established leaders, but more like 85-95% than 1/2 the price. They now are very close to the same price since their reputation and vehicles have both gotten very good.

I could see Hyundai and Promaster in the low price end, Transit in the middle, and Sprinter in the high end markets.

I wish Isuzu would make a commercial van of this size class--they make some really good trucks sold elsewhere and the bigger ones here.

[Mike]

Originally Posted by booster

I don't think any of them will produce anything which will compete directly either, but that's what I meant. However, if they build something that looks like a Sprinter, no matter what their intent might be, it will be judged against the Sprinter by the commercial cargo van consumer on face value. Call it human nature, but I'm pretty sure that if you get it mostly right for a lot less money, no one will care whether it's as good as a Sprinter. Any shortcomings will be forgiven based on the lower price. At least that's the way I see it.

[markopolo]

Originally Posted by booster

Regardless of what GM says, you never know what will happen, and the Hyundai could become the new Express. They already are listing what is a rebadged Nissan NV200 as the smaller City Express. It does make for an interesting idea--going Asian instead of European.

Maybe GM will go with the Nissan NV400 in addition to the NV200.

The Nissan NV400 comes in a variety of sizes:



Front wheel drive



or rear wheel drive



I think it is also available as a Renault Master

http://www.renault.co.uk/vans/model/...n/product.aspx

[mlts22]

For size, the RWD nv400 with the 6848mm length and the high roof is probably the only contender even close to the Sprinter for length... and that 22 feet may not seem that much over 20 feet, but it makes for a more comfortable vehicle (take a RT SS Agile, compare it to a RS Adventurous, for example.) More space underneath for bigger tanks as well. Plus the 9.2 feet in height makes for some interesting abilities, such as a drop-down bed, or just more usable overhead storage.

GM is definitely the utter wildcard in the fan world. There were rumors of them going with a Peugeot Boxer rebadge because they own a chunk of Fiat. There are the Nissan vans (which GM will rebadge the little one.) There are rumors of keeping the Express line as a known, stable platform for upfitters who lose big bucks every time they have to retool for a new chassis. Since so much is up in the air, who knows how the dust will settle by 2015-2016 when the Transit and ProMaster are well established.

[booster]

Could be. Biggest one at about 20 feet long, 9 feet high. Top pic looks like a dually. It certainly could fill the requirements. I doubt GM would announce anything that would hurt current model sales, until they were all set to switch, with low inventory levels. Until then, they would be very misdirective in their statements.

[Davydd]

Hyundai L4 works out to be close to 22'-5" which is just a shade shorter than the Sprinter RB at 22'-9". The wheelbase is close to the same at about 170 inches.

[markopolo]

Looks like Hyundai has plans to offer a full size cargo van in North America but no timeline indicated.

On RV Business: Hyundai is Eyeing Van Market in U.S. http://www.rvbusiness.com/2015/02/repor ... et-in-u-s/

and the article they link to: http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/story/ ... o-u-s.aspx

[mlts22]

I don't see how this is going to gain a foothold:

FCA has the low-end market for no-frills work vans.

Ford has the fleet market, and pretty much a swath from entry to upper-middle end, for features.

Mercedes has the top end luxury market.

It is going to be hard for them to compete, just since they have zero niches. The only thing they can do is try to go lower than the ProMaster... but going into a market just on lowballing on price isn't a wise thing.

If they came to the US market with 4WD, things might be different, but I really don't see them making a dent against Ford or Mercedes.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by mlts22

I don't see how this is going to gain a foothold

People said that when they entered the US automobile market. Then Koreans are relentless. They are determined to overtake the Japanese in everything.

[mlts22]

I do wish them luck, but they are going to have to throw a lot of resources at this market.

With cars, it was easy... they got into the US market because their vehicles were cheap. I remember the $5000 Excel that sold itself, just by price. However, it is going to be hard for them to undercut the ProMaster, beat Ford with the dealer network, out-do Mercedes with MPG and drivability... and the van market is relatively small.

[avanti]

My point was that they WILL throw a lot of resources at this market, just as they did for cars. I don't know why you think the car market was "easy" for them. If anything it was harder, since I assume that cars are lower margin than trucks.

I do agree that the market is small and it is hard to see how all these players are going to survive. But, I wouldn't bet against the Koreans being one of the survivors. At any rate, all this is good for the consumer.

[wincrasher]

Well, I've owned a couple of their cars. They were adequate, but the cost cutting was obvious. In some regards, there was a veneer of premium, but underneath you could see the shortcuts in engineering. I gave up on them and went back to buying Hondas.

Their engineering philosophy is serviceable for cars and minivans. It's a different animal with trucks and vans. Especially for commercial or RV duty.

I wouldn't put it past them to offer them cheap to get market share - they did that with cars. But I'll not be a buyer. It would have to be REALLY CHEAP compared to Promaster or Transit to consider taking the risk worth it.

[Davydd]

ProMaster is a Fiat, traditionally the worst European manufacturer combined with Chrysler number 3 in US quality. If there is an oddball in the group it would be the front wheel drive Promaster. Will cheap be its only selling point? There is nothing in its DNA pointing to quality.

It will eventually come down to payload and capacities as converters search for the sweet spot to offer in that area. ProMaster could become a niche market and not mainstream. Will the Hyundai fare any better? Doubtful to me unless they can differentiate from the Ford Transit in cost, payload and capacities.