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Hyundai i10 won the Golden Safe Car award.
Buenos Aires, November 25, 2010. The Hyundai i10 received the "Golden Safe Car" award. This is the maximum safety prize awarded by CESVI to the vehicle with the best price/safety ratio in the Argentine market. In addition, the i10 was awarded the prize to the safest car in its category (imported small size car), with a 45.9 safety index.
The remarkable safety equipment of the Hyundai i10 was conclusive at the time of assessing the 150 plus items covered by the four categories on which the award is based: active safety, passive safety, structural behavior, and driving assistance. The quotient between the price of the i10 and its safety index was the best ratio in the entire Argentine market (competing with vehicles manufactured in Argentina, in Mercosur and outside Mercosur).
Unlike other prizes awarded by specialized journalists or the public, CESVI awards are based on the analysis of the safety features of products launched in the market (taking the cheapest version of each model into account) and their consumer price.
It is worth mentioning that all Hyundai i10 versions sold in Argentina are equipped as follows:
Disk brakes in all wheels, ABS, driver airbag, three-point seat belts in all seats (height-adjustable front seat belts with pretensioner), 5 adjustable head restrainers, front and rear fog lamps, height-adjustable front headlamps, Isofix baby chair anchors, engine immobilizer and high strength body steel reinforcements. The i10 was awarded 4 stars in the Euro NCAP crash tests (4 out of 5 in adult safety score, 4 out of 5 in children safety score, and 3 out of 4 in pedestrian safety score).
http://www.euroncap.com/results/hyundai/i10.aspx?class=a18a311b-f3c5-47a8-92a7-15e294350858
Ernesto Cavicchioli, Commercial Director of Hyundai Motor Argentina, stated: "This award confirms the validity of our commercial proposal, which is based on respecting Argentine consumers and providing them with top quality and safety at the most convenient price. The market supports this proposal, as shown by the fact that, in less than a year, we have sold over 1200 i10 units, thus leading the segment of imported small size vehicles manufactured outside Mercosur. Hyundai was the first in the market to offer an electronic stability control (ESP) system and 6 airbags in the SUV segment (with the Tucson in 2005) and the non-premium mid size vehicle segment (with the i30 in 2007). At present, considering all our passenger vehicles (that is, i10, i30, Genesis Coupe, Tucson, Santa Fe, Veracruz, and H1), 96% of them feature ABS and airbag systems and 84% of them feature an electronic stability control (ESP) system, all as standard equipment. As regards safety, we believe Hyundai is leading the way and, in Argentina, is a premium-like brand among general standard brands."
In a market where all low-price cars are poorly equipped in terms of safety, this award has led Hyundai to prove that it is possible to offer safety in the small size vehicle segment at competitive prices (despite the 35.5% tariff on extra Mercosur imported cars).
Hyundai Argentina had already been awarded the Safest Car prize for the i30 (imported mid size vehicle category) in 2008.
CESVI (CENTRO DE EXPERIMENTACION Y SEGURIDAD VIAL) (Road safety and experimentation center).
The CRASH TEST awards to the Safest Cars of the year, which began to be given by CESVI ARGENTINA in 2007, are intended to award prices to vehicle models with higher safety standards in the Argentine automotive sector.
In this regard, only basic versions are assessed for each model, considering that efforts to increase vehicle safety levels should be applied to entry-level versions. That is, CESVI ARGENTINA desires all passenger seats to have head restraints or inertial seatbelts to be a standard instead of an option, in order to include such safety features as standard equipment in all cars.
The assessment process
In order to select an award winner for each category, we rely on our Safety Index and its relation to the price of the model’s basic version. This Index is calculated by assessing the different systems and features. CESVI experts’ accumulated expertise in crash test analysis, deformation areas, study of structures and behavior of each system in the event of a traffic accident allows us to assess and weight over 150 items and factors according to the safety level they provide to vehicle occupants.
The Safety Index is a value ranging between 1 and 100 and indicates each vehicle’s safety level. It is made up by four sub-indexes: active safety (26 points out of 100), passive safety (34 points out of 100), structural behavior (30 points out of 100) and driving assistance (10 points out of 100).
Segmentation
It is always difficult to group vehicles from different categories and that is why, for selection purposes, we grouped models into the segments traditionally identified by people: small, mid and large size vehicles, plus a 4WD category.
The most important is the Golden Safe Car which awards the car with the best price-safety ratio, selected among the winners of each of the above categories.
2010 Safest Cars are:
