Hyundai Automotive SA has decided to take the pain out of Azera ownership by stretching the factory warranty and maintenance plan on its executive saloon to five years/100 000 km.
“Customer satisfaction is a key driver at Hyundai and we aim to demonstrate this in everything we do”, the company’s marketing and after-sales director, Stanley Anderson, said. “This is our way of showing that we stand behind the quality of our products”.
CAR first sampled Hyundai’s new flagship in South Korea in late 2005 and, following its local launch, road tested it for the May 2006 issue. CAR’s editors remarked that the Azera “deserved to do well”, offered “lots of legroom, well-weighted steering, taut handling” and “reasonable, but not outstanding” value for money.
The Azera is powered by a 3,3-litre all-aluminium 171 kW V6 that produces 304 N.m of torque and is mated with an electronically- controlled H-matic automatic transmission. During the road test, the “smooth shifting” Azera sprinted from zero to 100 km/h in 8,25 seconds and achieved a top speed of 234 km/h.
The Azera was rated top three in its segment in the J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Survey in the USA. The car retails for R334 900 and undercuts similarly-powered and specced executive offerings by as much as R100 000, therefore, the extension of the warranty and maintenance plan makes the Azera an even more appealing alternative to pricier mainstream offerings from Europe.
Click here for the gallery of the Azera (March 2006).