HYUNDAI WITH ALL THE FRUIT

New Model

HYUNDAI TRUCKS HAVE HAD A LONG AND FALTERING BEGINNING IN AUSTRALIA AFTER A COUPLE OF FALSE STARTS, BUT WITH AUTOMATICS NOW AVAILABLE ON THE SMART LOOKING LIGHT DUTY MIGHTY, IT MAY JUST BE THE SHIFT IN PERCEPTION THAT THE KOREAN TRUCK BRAND NEEDS. IF IT WAS UP TO PROVIDORES AT THE SYDNEY’S PRODUCE MARKETS THEN IT WOULD ALREADY BE A SUCCESS. WE TAKE A LOOK AT ONE OF THE PROVIDORES WHICH HAVE EMBRACED HYUNDAIS.

Given the build quality, reputation, and acceptance of Hyundai cars in this country, including its commercial offering, the iLoad van, Hyundai trucks should today be challenging the likes of Fuso and Hino, but that certainly hasn’t been the case.

Almost a decade since the Korean brand launched its odd-looking light duty Mighty, with the company’s local subsidiary, Hyundai Motor Australia originally handling the distribution, Hyundai trucks have hardly bothered the scorer. Hyundai Australia never really gave trucks a proper go and after a couple of years they gave it away, with Sydney Holden and Hyundai car dealer, Dilip Kumar securing the rights to distribute Hyundai trucks here.

It’s been a long and slow road for the Hyundai name plate, and some may say that the truck side of things is still not going anywhere fast. However there does seem to be some light at the end of the tunnel, with new blood in the sales force for the Kumar’s Hyundai Commercial Vehicle Australia.

Along with a very good heavy duty model, and a new medium duty offering, the light duty Mighty has also had the benefit of an Allison automatic since mid-way through 2020, and ever so slowly the number of trucks Hyundai is recording on the TIC monthly scoreboard is rising.

Recently we visited Sydney’s Flemington produce markets where it seemed like just about every Hyundai Mighty sold in Australia was gathered.

It seems that Sydney’s providores have found the Hyundai as sweet as a summer peach and the perfect fit for produce delivery from the markets to Sydney’s restaurants, hotels, and kitchens.

One of the early adopters of the Hyundai Mighty at Sydney Markets has been Pro Bros Providores, one of Sydney’s leading suppliers of premium fresh produce.

In fact Pro Bros experience with the Hyundai Mightys has led many of its opponents at the markets to also start purchasing Hyundai Mightys.

For Pro Bros boss, Robert Lo, the availability of full Allison Automatic transmission was a major factor in giving the Hyundais a go.

So successful have the Hyundais proved, that Lo reckons Pro Bros is now switching its entire fleet to the Hyundai light duty models, all equipped with Allison automatics.

“The fact that the Hyundai was the only light-duty truck available with a fully automatic Allison transmission was a key factor in buying the Hyundais ahead of other brands,” said Robert Lo.

“The Hyundais have proven to be easy to drive, easy to manoeuvre,

reliable and our drivers say they particularly like the automatics because there is less stress when they are in traffic every day.”

Pro Bros’ operations manager, Mick Dermitas said that the Hyundai Mighty automatics replaced four manualgearbox Japanese light trucks that were troublesome and more difficult to use on crowded city roads.

“We have a fleet of 40 trucks and our experience with the Allison Automatics in the Hyundais has convinced us to switch the entire fleet across to Hyundai Mighty automatics,” Mick Dermitas said. “We are forecasting an additional 20 trucks to be added this year due to the substantial business growth we are experiencing” Mick added.

“In fact our experience with the Hyundai automatics has resulted in about four or five other providores at the Sydney Produce Markets buying Hyundai automatics as well,” he laughed.

The Pro Bros Hyundais cover between 100 and 200 km per day around the Sydney metropolitan area, to distribute produce to high end restaurants, hotels, factories, central kitchens, clubs, hospitals, aged care centres, and even some government institutions. Leaving early in the morning means the trucks are often travelling in the middle of the morning rush hour and according to Mick Dermitas that is where the Allison Automatics come into their own.

“THE DRIVERS TELL ME THE AUTOMATICS MAKE THAT GRIND IN THE STOP-START PEAK HOUR TRAFFIC SO MUCH EASIER TO COPE WITH, WHILE THEY ALSO MAKE IT EASIER IN TIGHT CAR PARKS AND LOADING DOCKS,” HE SAID.“

“Safety is also a key factor for us and the Allison Automatics make it much safer for our drivers because they don’t have to worry about changing gears and can concentrate on steering the truck and staying out of dangerous situations.”

The interesting thing about the Hyundai Mightys, is that while Allison transmissions have taken the medium duty truck sector by storm since UD pioneered them in its medium duty offerings more than a decade ago, the Hyundai is the only light duty truck in Australia to feature the US self-shifters. The dominant Japanese makers have opted for either Aisin autos or AMTs in their trucks, depending on the brand. So a full Allison auto may prove to be a real positive for Hyundai longer term, potentially winning more customers like Pro Bros and their counterparts at the markets.

Of course unlike the AMTs, the Allisons are proper automatics, with full torque

converters and a sophisticated array of technology as well as the benefit of many decades of evolution, as well as a reputation for reliability and longevity. In the case of the Mightys, the Allison 1000xFE is the trans that Hyundai opted for.

Allison says its 1000 xFE offers improved launch performance, increased productivity, smoother shifting, easier operation and enhanced driver comfort, compared to competitive manual and automated manual transmissions. Certainly our experience with them in the past has born those claims out. As we previously mentioned the ‘baby’, Allison uses a torque converter, which is the best way for launching from standstill and also for managing torque, particularly in that busy city traffic the ProBros trucks have to negotiate every day. You get the impression Robert Lo and his drivers are pretty happy that they no longer have to deal with clutches, particularly when they wear out and have to be changed on a regular basis. The cost, not to mention the downtime that replacing clutches brings a major headache for operators.

For Robert Lo and the team at Pro Bros all of those advantages are major benefits, and walking around the bustling markets it is easy to see why. At busy times, the traffic in the markets, let alone the busy streets of Sydney, requires careful manoeuvring and demands a driver’s full attention. The Pro Bros operation is located up a ramp and the trucks have to manoeuvre into place to be loaded each day for the delivery runs.

One of the other aspects of the Hyundais that has won Pro Bros over is the efficiency, particularly with fuel economy and in overall operations. Again the autos make a huge difference and in this case the fact that the autos are equipped with Allison’s proprietary FuelSense 2.0 and DynActive Shifting, both programs that utilise a unique set of software and electronic controls to deliver quantifiable fuel savings of up to six per cent.

Rather than relying on fixed points on a shift table, FuelSense 2.0 uses a learning algorithm to continuously find the ideal balance of fuel economy and performance for the duty-cycle helping the vehicle operate more efficiently.

As the Pro Bros Hyundais head out on another delivery day the drivers are all wearing smiles on their dials and given the step up they are from the old trucks and vans it is little wonder. As we said the Allison automatics may just be the impetus to kick start Hyundai trucks in Australia, heaven knows it has taken an awfully long time so far.