SOMETIMES a car maker has particular models in its range that absolutely hit the buyer sweet spot. And with Hyundai, one of those is clearly the ix35.
The Hyundai iX35 is a five-door compact SUV and, according to Jeff Peyton-Bruhl – who looks after company car, business and fleet sales at Hyundai – demand is riding high.
“August can quite often be a quiet month for used cars as dealers don’t want to take on too much stock ahead of the plate change in September,” Jeff explained. “So we were really pleased to see all the 39 models in a recent auction bought by our dealers, because demand is so strong.
“But the highpoint was the big demand for iX35 – it sold for an average 15% over its predicted value,” Jeff added, which will be good news for used values.
There’s little wonder the Hyundai ix35 is in demand by businesses. It’s a similar price to a Ford Focus, looks distinctive, and comes with a huge peace of mind five year/unlimited mileage warranty.
There are four-wheel drive petrol and diesel models, but the key business car if you want to keep company car tax low but have all the high-riding comfort of an SUV is the two-wheel drive 2.0 CRDi Style. This has a p11d value of £17,815 for company car tax purposes and even at 40% your BIK (benefit in kind) will only be £1496 – hardly painful.
Compare that to a Ford Focus 2.0 TDCi Zetec 5dr – it’s exactly the same money, marginally less company car tax (by £71) and the warranty is only for three years/60,000 miles.
Now, like the Focus as I may, it’s rather more common on the roads than the ix35. So with the Hyundai there’s the additional appeal of something rather different and nicely designed.
But if you don’t see many ix35s on the road at the moment, Jeff tells me that this should change shortly. Before the end of the year there will be new 1.7 diesels with CO2 emissions below 140g/km as well as a highly efficient 1.6 GDI petrol engine.
”We know there’s pent-up business demand for the ix35, but with these new models coming though there will be greater choice and availability,” said Jeff.
“Companies and user-choosers clearly see it as a desirable car, which it is of course, but it will be good to be in a position to really fulfill that demand.”
If you want to know more about the Hyundai ix35, then see what we have to say in our business car reviews section by clicking the link here: Hyundai puts the x-factor into its SUV.
