Hyundai`s first hybrid car gets over 1,000 orders

By Kim Deok-hyun
SEOUL, July 2 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest automaker,
said Thursday it has received more than 1,000 pre-sale orders at home for the
company's first commercial version of hybrid car.
Starting Wednesday, Hyundai will start selling the Avante LPI, a hybrid version
of its best-selling compact car Avante, which is sold as the Elantra overseas.
Unlike conventional hybrid models such as the Prius of Toyota Motor Corp. and the
Insight of Honda Motor Co., the Avante LPI is powered by liquid petroleum gas
(LPG) and lithium polymer batteries.
"A race is heating up for green cars. Hybrid cars in the green-car race will be
vital for Hyundai," said Noh Jin-seok, a company spokesman, explaining the new
model.
The move by Hyundai to sell the LPG-electric hybrid, which is only available for
the domestic market, is seen as a strategy to better compete with hybrid models
of the Japanese rivals at home, some analysts say. In South Korea, where
LPG-powered cars are common, LPG is half the price of gasoline.
"While our hybrid technology matched that of Honda Motor, as a latecomer in the
hybrid market, we decided to launch the LPG-electric hybrid to appeal more to
customers," said Lee Ki-sang, a chief executive of hybrid research and
development division at Hyundai.
Lee said Hyundai should be aggressive with its pricing for its hybrid models to
catch up with Toyota and Honda.
By the end of this year, Hyundai plans to sell as many as 8,000 Avante LPIs in
South Korea, according to company officials. The new car is priced from 20
million won (US$15,800) to 23 million won, about 40 percent cheaper than Honda's
Civic hybrid in South Korea.
The Avante LPI runs 17.8 km per liter. While the fuel economy is inferior than
that of hybrid models by Toyota and Honda, Lee claimed that the Avante LPI could
gain appeal because the LPG price is cheaper.
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