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Is Hyundai making a play for the commercial van market in North America? Automotive News seems to think so.
These spyshots (from AutoGuide.com) show Hyundai testing a new large commercial van somewhere in Europe, whereas AN caught it testing in California. Either way, it’s clear that Hyundai wants in on the action that the Sprinter, Ram ProMaster and Ford Transit are eagerly targeting.
17 Comments on “Lord, I Was Born A Ramblin Van...”
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So this is a new Bongo with a van box on top of it, as we can see from the last photo. It’s not a bad idea as they’ve sold FITEEN BILLION MILLION Bongos across Korea. They’re owned by every single small business, or anybody transporting things anywhere who isn’t using a big semi.
Seems like they:
1) Run forever
2) Take lots of abuse
3) Don’t require much maintenance
4) Don’t really rust bad enough to matter
5) Are cheap and attainable.
I think Hyundai could have a future winner here, as long as they don’t get too mighty on their pricing.
Seems to me that this is more of a replacement to the H-1 and not anything related to the H100.
There’s already a new H-1 around. The H-1 seems much more civilian transport based than this.
I refuse to buy a vehicle named the Bongo.
I think the Transit will do well, as a lot of the E-Series love will still apply, because it says Ford on the front.
If it’s cheaper than a Transit, more reliable than a Sprinter and less fugly than a Promaster, they have a potential hit in the US. I’d seriously consider a mid-size crew van as my family trip vehicle since it makes more sense than a crew cab pickup.
Well it would be pretty hard not to be more reliable than a Sprinter and better looking than a Promaster, so those targets are easy to hit. Cheaper than the Transit shouldn’t be that hard either but I think some of the Econoline’s goodwill will carry over to the Transit, at least for the first year or two.
I can’t speak for the current gen Sprinter but we have a 2004 T1N(first gen) Dodge Sprinter 2500 High Roof 158″ at work and it has been very reliable even with it’s 88k miles. The only things we have done is regularly scheduled maintenance.
Well 88K in 10 years means that it hasn’t been used like a real commercial vehicle. You aren’t too far out from needing a $1500+ drive shaft, or maybe $5-$6K for a trans. If you’ve done the regular maintenance and replacements you should be nearing in on having spent $1000 on fuel filters if you pay someone to do it and be about ready for the 5th set of brake pads or so depending on the parts used.
Is that a manual transmission I see sticking out of the center stack?
Not in a North American version.
We haven’t had a stick-shift van since 1987. At least, that’s what I presume, since much of the powertrain was shared between trucks and vans. 1987 was the last of the square-body Chevy pickups with three-on-the-tree, so (presumably) the last of the vans with 3- or 4-speed manuals. 1987 was also the last year of the Slant-6 and 3-speed in Dodge trucks and vans, and the last year of 3-on-the-tree on Ford trucks and vans (the first year of the “aero brick” bodystyle trucks had an available 3-on-the-tree on fleet-model 300-I6 F-150s, then it was probably dropped when they ran out of stock, much like the last steel Flareside beds).
It’s utterly charming that they decided this box needed camo.
I say just throw “Allstate Computer Repair” on the side and drive it like that. Nobody would notice. The camo actually draws attention.
If you stare at the camo long enough, you can see a space shuttle… or is it a trombone?
It’s a two-headed gila monster. One head is playing a clarinet rendition of “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” the other is engaging in a spirited match of chess boxing with its own shadow.
This is what I’ve just read about this new Hyundai:
-Developed in cooperation with German partners.
-GVW 7,700 to 11,000 lbs.
-Introduction at the IAA Hannover in Germany.
-Production in Turkey.
Given its size and GVW I guess it will have a circa 3.0 liter diesel, just like its competitors. It’s much bigger than a Ram ProMaster~Fiat Ducato by the way, it’s more an Iveco Daily, the Ram’s~Fiat’s bigger brother.
In other words, about the same size as a Sprinter.