Hyundai Accent vs Toyota Vios: Small sedans push each other down to under 500 million

Confrontation - price suppression

Hyundai Accent was launched in line with the Korean business philosophy of “pay less but use more”. The car is cheap, but equipped with many modern utilities and technology.

In this new generation, Accent has dimensions of length-width-height respectively: 4,440 mm - 1,729 mm - 1,460 mm. The new Accent version is 70 mm longer and 29 mm wider than the old generation. The wheelbase is 2,600 mm, an increase of 30 mm, it can be said that at present, Accent 2018 is the most spacious car in the segment.

The car space is quite airy with a 7-inch touch screen integrated with a rear camera. The car still has a navigation system developed by Hyundai specifically for the Vietnamese market. In addition to the positioning ability, the map on the car also provides other useful information such as 3S service points, public works such as gas stations, service points, ...

Other amenities on the Accent 2018 include: automatic air conditioning with integrated ionizer, sunroof, charging port for rear seats, integrated cooling compartment, automatic headlights, automatic wipers, smart electric trunk...

Hyundai Accent 2018 is equipped with a 1.4L MPI engine, maximum capacity of 100 horsepower. The selling price for the 1.4MT Base/ 1.4MT / 1.4AT/ 1.4 AT special versions is: 425 - 470 - 499 - 540 million VND, respectively.

However, the 2018 B-segment car market will signal more excitement in the near future, when Toyota Vietnam will assemble the new generation Vios model and Ford Vietnam will assemble the 2018 Fiesta model.

Toyota Vios 2018 has been launched in Thailand and Indonesia, with a completely new exterior design, targeting young and dynamic customers.

Many new amenities have been added to the interior, including a Start/Stop button system, an Eco driving mode feature to help save fuel, a leather-wrapped steering wheel with integrated function buttons, a dashboard with a multi-information color screen, an infotainment system with a 7-inch touch screen, a 6-speaker sound system, a DVD player and automatic air conditioning.

Vios 2018 uses a 1.5 engine with a capacity of 107 horsepower combined with a 5-speed manual transmission or a CVT automatic transmission depending on the version. Currently, some Toyota dealers have announced the expected selling price for 3 versions: 1.5G automatic transmission 643 million VND; 1.5E automatic transmission CVT 598 million VND and 1.5E manual transmission 569 million VND.

The B-segment in 2018 is also waiting for the appearance of the new generation Ford Fiesta. The hatchback version has been launched in the world market and the sedan version is coming soon. Ford Vietnam has planned to assemble this model at the factory in Hai Duong.

The exterior of the Ford Fiesta 2018 has not changed much compared to the previous generation, the design of the new generation has fewer folds with more rounded curves. However, the interior of the Ford Fiesta 2018 has many differences, significantly increasing the equipment.

The new highlight in the cabin is the tablet-style screen, with sizes depending on the version, and good connectivity.

The American automaker has been pushing the safety features of larger cars to smaller cars. Accordingly, the new generation Ford Fiesta will have adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning system with lane keeping assist, parking assist system with 360-degree camera, automatic headlights, camera-based pedestrian detection system and automatic emergency braking. These safety features, although not new, are notable for small cars. The 2018 Ford Fiesta uses two versions of the Ecoboost 1.0L engine with a capacity of 125 horsepower and 1.5L with a capacity of 112 horsepower.

Car prices are still down

The appearance of domestically assembled Hyundai Accent, with a relatively low price, will be an important factor forcing competitors to quickly come up with good policies to compete, if they do not want to lose market share.

Vios 2018 with expected selling price can be seen to be much higher than Hyundai Accent. Although it has the advantage of durability, less damage and good value retention, the high selling price will bring disadvantages. This forces Toyota Vietnam to reconsider its price policy, if it wants to maintain its leading position in the segment.

Other models such as Ford Fiesta may also have to consider building a reasonable price list. Along with that, other competitors such as Honda City, Nissan Sunny, Mazda 2,... also have to consider reasonable sales policies.

Mr. Le Ngoc Duc, General Director of Hyundai Thanh Cong, said, "To have a reasonable selling price for domestically assembled Hyundai models, we have asked partners and foreign component suppliers to share. The goal is to aim for long-term development in the Vietnamese market. Along with that, we have rearranged production, optimized all activities and increased output. Therefore, we have a reasonable selling price."

In the near future, when Hyundai Thanh Cong inaugurates a new car assembly plant, the localization rate will be higher, and the price of Hyundai Accent will have versions reduced to below 400 million VND, Mr. Duc said.

Most of the B-segment cars are currently manufactured and assembled domestically. Enterprises said they will increase the localization rate to enjoy incentives from the Government. At the same time, they also asked the parent company to share to have the most reasonable price. Therefore, the car price will definitely decrease in the future.

Tran Thuy