Diesel War
Hyundai’s Grandeur, GM Korea’s Malibu, and Renault Samsung’s SM5 have presented new diesel lineups. As these domestic vehicles compete in the diesel sedan market, the industry anticipates a hindrance in demands of import diesels.
On June 23, Hyundai Motors revealed the release of a large-size sedan, 2015’s Grandeur, which has adopted the Santa Fe model that has R2.2 E-VGT clean diesel engine. This is compatible with the “Euro 6,” Europe’s diesel engine emission legislation, while possessing fuel efficiency of 14 km per liter. The diesel Grandeur is attracting high hopes as it is the first big-sized diesel-engine vehicle released in Korea. Grandeur diesel engine costs were fixed as 32.54 million won (US$31,879) to 34.94 million won (US$34,225), which is in between the 2.4 gasoline (30.24 million won, US$29,621) and 3.0 gasoline (33.61 million won to 38.75 million won, US$32,929 to $37,957) engines.
On the same day, Renault Samsung Motors announced the availability of reservations for its new “SM5 D,” the new diesel model for the mid-sized SM5. Expected to be released next month, “SM5 D” achieves efficiency of 16.5 km per liter by supporting both a 1.5 dCi diesel engine of the French Renault and the dual clutch transmission (DCT) of Germany’s Getrag. The engine cost is expected to be fixed from 25 million won (US$24,492) to 27 million won (US$26,447).
If Hyundai’s Sonata and Kia’s K7 succeed in releasing their own diesel-engine cars, most of Korea’s mid to large size sedans will adopt diesel engines. Among these models, the K5 diesel is already exported to Europe, and the K7 shares a platform and powertrain with the Grandeur, enabling the possibility of forthcoming releases of their diesels. The brand new Sonata is also known to have completed production of a diesel model and planning its release.
The cause for this continuous diesel releases are due to domestic consumers’ preference toward diesel engines. GM Korea’s “Malibu Diesel” released in March has sold 738 in one single month, reaching up to 3,000 reservation contracts causing consumers to wait quite a while to receive them. An authority of the industry predicts, “We will see domestic diesels rise in the future unlike the history of popular diesels heavy in imports.”