Hyundai Coupé: While Toyota tops the overall sales league here and BMW has toppled Mercedes as king of the premium brands, there's one marque that's quietly shooting up the sales tables, picking off growing niche markets.
While Hyundai's offerings in the mainstream saloon and hatchback markets may not yet be on a par with its Japanese and European rivals, its Santa Fe and Tucson SUVs have the lion's share of that market, the Trajet MPV leads the way in large people carriers, and the well-priced Coupé dominates the sports segment.
Whether that's good enough to help the brand become one of world's top-five car-makers by 2010 - its long-stated goal - remains to be seen. What it does prove is that Hyundai is no also-ran on the market anymore.
The Coupé has long been regarded as Hyundai's best car in fit and finish. The original Coupé, with its flabby rear end, may have looked limp and weak-willed, but the version introduced three years ago was far more impressive, with stronger lines and proper sports car looks.
Now we have a mid-life facelift. The changes are purely cosmetic. If there's an overall effect, it's to make the Coupé look even more aggressive. There's more menace up front with darker headlight casings and more angular air vents. There are new door mirrors (the old ones were set further back) and the rear light clusters are changed, though we couldn't work out how.
Perhaps the most striking change is new side air vents that give it that shark-like look. The fact that Jaguar has added a similar feature to its new XK coupé must have put a smile on Korean faces.
The interior has also been refreshed. Plastics and finish are now on a par with European rivals. The dash looks solid and well put together, dials are easy to read and right for a coupé, and brushed aluminium on the central console breaks the monotony of black.
Leather is now standard on all but basic entry and rear seats remain usable for small children. However, the high opening for the boot still means that taller occupants could get a clout if you close it too hard.
The entire package comes across as a serious rival for cars twice the price. To say that about a Korean car would have been laughable 10 years ago, even five, but Hyundai has really done its homework here.
It may seem strange to focus on something so trivial, but perhaps the change we most welcome is the stereo. Long a bug bear of ours - and many owners we know - the previous versions featured the sort of fiddly buttons that needed toothpick-like fingers to change the channels. With its graphic equaliser lighting effect, it was like something from the 1980s. It was also quite popular with car thieves.
The new version fits perfectly with the dashboard and is easy to use. Let's hope the new system will be added to the rest of the range as soon as possible.
Behind the wheel, you get the feel of a proper coupé. The 2-litre engine, though not a racer, is an acceptable cruiser. The 2-litre is the best of the engines. The 1.6-litre entry-level is far too placid for a sports car, while there's only one second difference in 0-100km/h time between the 2-litre and range-topping 2.7-litre V6. That's not enough for the extra €5,000, never mind higher tax and insurance.
Our test car came with the 4-speed automatic transmission but we would stick with manual if we had the choice. The autobox never quite got into a decent rhythm, lacking the incisive changes required for overtaking and lagging slightly between gears.
We spent most of the time in semi-auto mode, changing up and down ourselves. It really cried out for another gear ratio, particularly when pushed. Even with the manual gearbox, it's a pity the Koreans didn't put the 6-speed gearbox from the V6 into the 2-litre.
The Coupé could also do with a little tweaking of the engine or exhaust note to give it a little more growl. However, the car is more popular with women than men, so perhaps Hyundai feels this is unnecessary for its main market.
On the road, it handles relatively well, even if it tends towards oversteer. The ride remains hard, as with the previous model - given that it's not a real performance car, there's no reason why owners should have to live with such a tough ride, particularly on Irish roads. The engineers may be trying to prove a point with the Coupé - Hyundai's mainstream models have been regarded as too soft by many.
Our main gripe is in the grip of the front tyres, which didn't seem capable of transferring even moderate amounts of output without spinning. Pulling away from traffic lights in the wet, a couple of seconds were spent stationery while the wheels spun as if on ice. The poor turning circle was also a cause for complaint.
However, the Coupé is Hyundai's best-built model, offering true European finish. With Toyota pulling out of the sports coupé market (no more MR2s or Celicas will be built), the way is open for Hyundai to make hay with this model.
The Coupé's female fan base may not fancy the more menacing look on the facelifted version, but it could bring more male buyers.
Certainly on price, the Coupé is hard to beat. Coming in at under €30,000 for the 2-litre, that's on average €10,000 less than similar rivals. The only other options for potential buyers may well be sports hatches. The likes of the Peugeot 206 Gti 180bhp or the Mini Cooper S are within reach of the 2-litre Coupé, while the Opel Astra 2-litre Sri Turbo is also within monetary range. Even the new VW Golf Gti is available for another €5,000. That would be our choice. However, sport hatch owners are a different breed than the coupé clan.
Badge snobbery used to be a major hurdle for the Koreans, but that's no longer the case. Now, with dedicated design centres in both Europe and the US, Hyundai's future looks particularly bright.
