CN's surprises of 2010

Every so often we encounter a bolt from the blue. Here are our picks from 2010

Surprise of the year 2010

Be it a car that beat our expectations or a manufacturer that rocked our world, the list for this year's standout surprise has an electric overtone. Here's a list of Carsales Network staffer's jaw dropping moments of 2010.

Mike Sinclair - Editor in Chief
The disconnect between sister companies Kia and Hyundai in delivering on the tastes of Australian drivers was a surprise to me. It cost Hyundai some kudos but on the flip side earned Kia brownie points with many.

By way of explanation, here are two companies dealing with essentially the same hardware and both purporting to have local (ie: Aussie-focussed development resources) yet they can deliver new products at diametrically opposed ends of the acceptance spectrum.

In launching its i45 medium car, Hyundai claimed it had tuned the car to local tastes and yet delivered a woolly, underwhelming chassis package that, while not as bad as some suggested, was far from the pointy end of its class. It did a similar thing with its ix35 softroader -- though in that case the ride was too harsh.

Contrast Kia. Along comes its version of the ix35, the Sportage. Same hardware (though the Kia gets a newer all-wheel-drive system) but properly fettled suspension and steering. And guess what? It's a ripper -- arguably the best in its class by some measures.

Hyundai has since re-tuned the i45 and it's better, but I'm prepared to bet Kia's Optima (to be launched locally in Jan 2011) will be better again.


Ken Gratton - News Editor
The Mitsubishi i-MiEV was the car that surprised me most during the year, for a couple of reasons. I had expected the little Mitsu to convert a few people to the EV cause after having driven it in Adelaide during 2009, but living with the car (an example of which has been leased from Mitsubishi by the Carsales Network) brings a fuller appreciation of the i-MiEV's virtues. It can keep up with traffic, it will accommodate two full-sized adults in the front and yet it can thread its way easily through tight and heavy traffic.

That's the good news. The bad news (relatively), was the touring range varies drastically depending on whether you're driving the car in rain or at night with lights, wipers and heater/demister working. Such variation can leave you worrying whether the i-MiEV will reach its destination -- something I can't recall for any car since my old Mk II Cortina with its dodgy fuel gauge.

And unlike petrol-engined cars, the i-MiEV probably won't coast the extra hundred metres or so if the battery charge is fully depleted. Even if it does, it has to be an extra hundred metres to the nearest 15-Amp outlet. Running the battery down to zilch is yet to happen (and hopefully won't), but if it does go flat and leave us stranded in 2011 it won't stack up as the 'surprise of the year'.

Kia, living up to its slogan (The Power to Surprise) has turned the tables on parent company Hyundai. Once -- the Sorento -- was perhaps a fluke, but with the Sportage outshining the ix35 and more new models in the works likely to confound i30 (Cerato hatch), i45 (Optima) and possibly i20 (new Rio), Kia has all the advantages Hyundai has to offer, with a more attractive global style and vehicle dynamics that have truly-ruly been developed for the Aussie market.

Hyundai has cut a swath through its competitors as it has fought its way up the sales charts; who would have thought that its strongest competition may yet be its junior partner?


Melissa McCormick - Production Editor
I was surprised -- more precisely amused -- by Lotus' announcement of a whole handful of new models ahead in Paris. Surprise of next year (and the ensuing years) will be if we actually see any of them...


Feann Torr - Staff Journalist
The car: Kia Sportage. Even though it looks a bit odd from some angles, the car has managed to almost single-handedly change Kia's image from one of a Korean joke, to a serious Asian car maker with products that inspire.

More generally, the maelstrom of negativity surrounding allegedly wonky accelerator pedals in Toyotas. Followed by the late arrival of Toyota Australia to the "recall" party, as it issued a statement concerning the Prius's dodgy brake pedal... Then, surprise! Turns out most of it was driver error. Woe betide the next car company that adds fluffy car mats to its vehicles...


Matt Brogan - Staff Journalist
For me the biggest surprise this year was the Jaguar XJ Diesel SWB. And at the risk of sounding like a broken record (the XJ already included in my Top Five list), the styling was among the elements of Jag's latest luxo-barge that had me weak at the knees.

Early renderings and indeed photos of the XJ simply didn't do the car justice, in my eyes at least. But landing the keys to the stylish saloon for just a couple of days was enough time to survey those intriguing lines and curves in their entirety and conclude that, when viewed as a whole, XJ is a stunning sculpture.

Pleasingly, the XJ wasn't just a pretty face. The 3.0-litre turbodiesel we had on test proving remarkably gutsy while also delivering very respectable fuel economy.

As surprises go, Ford's latest generation Fiesta has since its launch been quite a favourite among motoring circles, and consumers too it would seem. And although that revelation is hardly a bolt from the blue, what did surprise me this year was the consistency in quality maintained as Ford shifted production of the trendy little model from Europe to Thailand. A swarm of Aussie and international motoring journos, seemingly determined to pick holes in Ford's decision, fell flat after three days poking and prodding (and tackling some interesting driving experiences) of the newly sourced model range. Inside and out the fit and finish of the Asian built product is comparable in every way to its predecessor.  A promising start to a future where even more models, for Australian consumption at least, will be Thai sourced.


Joshua Dowling - Contributing Writer
The car that surprised me most in 2010 was a surprise because of how disappointing it was. After big gains with every new Hyundai over the previous 18 months, the sleek new i45 sedan was a step backwards for the company. It looked sharp, and quality made another step for the better, but it drove poorly by any standards, let alone acceptable standards. The steering felt remote and the suspension way too floaty.

In an engineering marvel, the suspension crashed over bumps despite apparently being designed for comfort. The winding roads in the Brisbane hinterland used for the media launch highlighted the car's flaws brilliantly, but I started to feel something was wrong within the first 10 minutes of getting behind the wheel -- while still in city traffic. The Toyota Camry I drove to the launch drove waaaay better than the i45, and the Camry is not exactly the high water mark of the medium-car class.

The second surprise of the year was how quickly Hyundai reacted to the criticisms by expediting a fix for the suspension within six months. The rectified cars were due to arrive by Christmas. This should be commended, except...

The third surprise of the year was that local Hyundai representatives then tried to deny there was anything wrong with the i45's suspension -- the fix was a precautionary measure only as customers had not complained. Perhaps they didn't want to own up to it in case customers who bought early-build cars wanted an exchange or their money back.

Come on, Hyundai, the truth doesn't hurt that much does it? If you're going to become a mature automaker then be mature about your mistakes -- and own up to them!


Michael Taylor - International Correspondent
Last year, the Skoda Yeti and the Audi A3 Cabrio stood out as surprise packets. This year, nothing really. Maybe the Cayenne S...
More generally, Lotus firing six years worth of bullets at once at the Paris show. A zillion show cars, two IndyCars, two F1 teams, but no product good enough to decapitate the opposition right now and no cash flow for two years. I hope I'm wrong, but I really worry for Lotus's medium-term future...


Gautam Sharma - International Correspondent
Most surprising car: I've already waxed lyrical about Merc's SLS AMG and it's fair to say it's the car that surprised me the most in 2010. With AMG offerings in the past one knew to expect cracking straight-line performance and decent (for a sedan or touring coupe) dynamic capabilities, but the only one I would have even remotely contemplated owning was a C63.

No qualms at all with the SLS. It's a car I'd love to have in my garage. It demolishes the Merc mould of stodginess and is hopefully a precursor to other genuinely tasty products from the Stuttgart mob.

General surprise: Things looked pretty dire for America's 'Big Three' (GM, Ford, Chrysler) until as recently as 12 months ago, but the fact that all three have been restored to profitability so soon comes as one heck of an eye-opener. At the time of writing, GM was expecting to finish 2010 in the black for the first time in six years, having earned a $US2 billion profit in the third quarter alone. Ford was also well placed following a third-quarter profit of $1.7 billion. Chrysler posted a $US239 operating profit for the third quarter, and company boss Sergio Marchionne was forecasting a $700 million profit for the year.


Jeremy Bass - Green Motoring Writer
The car: Mitsubishi's i-MiEV. Like the Evo, a $60K-plus car with a sub-$25K interior. Unlike the Evo, that price is artificially high for the early adoption phase, in the same way the first PCs cost $25K and a television cost 500 quid in 1956. But -- like the Evo again -- there's a bit of a meaty surprise in the drivetrain. First-gen battery leaves a bit to be desired, but they'll only get better. It left me feeling quite confident that viable -- even pleasurable -- EVs aren't that far away.
General: BMW's petrol/diesel sales mix. In a market where diesel sales sit round 10 percent, It's taken surprisingly little time for the maker of some of the world's best petrol engines to see them overtaken by its oilers. That's much to do with the skew to SUV sales, of course. But it helps that BMW also makes a fair swag of the world's finest passenger car diesel engines, from the entry level 118d up.


Mike McCarthy - Contributing Writer
The cynic in me was beginning to think that it's not in the nature of battery cars to be more than four-wheeled electric appliances. Too typically, they somehow lack identity and imperative. Sure the Tesla radiates and demonstrates high-calibre sportiness, but can't shake its connotations as an electric Elise.
The much touted Nissan LEAF? I doubt I'm alone in regarding its electric-ness as secondary to its aesthetically-challenged appearance. Where, oh where is a presentable electricar that radiates originality?
Surprise! Behold, the singular shape of the i-MiEV Sport, looking remarkably fresh as it clears a haze of déjà vu. Funnily enough, the Sport got lost in the crowd (publicity-wise) when first aired in 2007. However, because electric cars' prospects have since grown hugely, the shown-again Sport now shines as a role-model solution to that lingering identity vacuum.
The Sport's eye-catching body shape is a triumph of contemporary retro-cool. Those sweepingly slick lines are straight out of 1930s art deco poster world and owe nothing to any existing model. And, far from being just a pretty face, the evocative little coupe sports many points of technical interest.
Like, the Sport's drivetrain is more highly developed than the iMiEV hatchback's thanks to E-4WD with two in-wheel motors up front and a third midship-mounted unit to propel the rear wheels.
In its own small way the i-MiEV Sport is a keynote marker for tomorrow's brave new electricar age. That's assuming beholders can see the future through the show car's woefully inappropriate appliance-white paintwork.
Meantime in the prevailing economic circumstance, it's an almighty surprise that indolently expensive and impossibly speedy supercars continue to flourish, or thrive indeed.  Of course it'd be a deplorably sorry day if/when cars that excite the senses, stretch credibility and trample the boundaries of logic must undergo snip-snip vasectomy in the names of safety and sensibility.
And yet these unbridled lunges toward the horizon by ever more numerous, ever more extreme super-supercars drive home an anti-social message about egocentric big boys' little-weenie toys and humankind's collective inability to acknowledge reality, let alone grasp it.

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