Not a Mercedes Vito competitor, HSDM says no plans for 11-seater Hyundai Staria
Jerrica · Nov 10, 2021 04:13 PM
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Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors (HSDM) has confirmed that they have no plans to launch an 11-seater version of the fully-imported from Korea 2021 Hyundai Staria MPV. The MPV will remain solely as a 7-seater in Malaysia even though 11-seater variants are available in other countries.
Contrary to popular belief, the Staria will not be replacing the Hyundai Grand Starex. HSDM clarified that the Staria will be sold alongside the Grand Starex and that the 11-seater MPV will continue to remain on sale. The latter will be HSDM’s only 11-seater MPV for the Malaysian market.
It is not hard to see why rumours started circulating about the Starex’s impending exit. Hyundai has already stopped selling the MPV in Korea and the Staria has taken its place.
Hyundai Staria sold as the Staria Lounge, Staria, and Staria Kinder
In Korea, specifically, the Staria is also sold with a more affordable variant that offers up to 11 seats. This variant is also powered by the same 2.2-litre turbodiesel engine as the Staria in Malaysia.
This will mean that the recently launched 10-seater Mercedes-Benz Vito Tourer (priced from RM 342,046) will remain as the sole player in its segment seeing as the Staria offers three seats less.
To recap, the Staria was officially launched in Malaysia in late October 2021. Available in only one Premium 7-seater variant, the MPV is fully imported from Korea and priced at RM 358,888 (OTR without insurance with 50 percent SST discount, valid until 30 June 2022).
Power comes from a 2.2-litre 4-cylinder turbodiesel paired to an 8-speed automatic transmission packing 177 PS and 431 Nm. Hyundai claims a 12.4 second century sprint time and a top speed of 185 km/h.
On-board features available in the Staria Premium include front and rear heated and ventilated Nappa leather seats, 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster, 8-inch touchscreen infotainment with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, 12-speaker Bose sound system, powered tailgate, and sunroof just to name a few.
In comparison, the Grand Starex (priced from RM 165k) is powered by a 2.5-litre 4-cylinder turbodiesel paired to a 5-speed automatic transmission.
Hyundai Grand Starex
Standard equipment on the Starex includes halogen projector headlamps, touchscreen infotainment, reverse camera, and cruise control.
Perhaps Hyundai will phase out the Grand Starex in Malaysia completely one day, but it is not anytime soon. Meanwhile, watch this space for more updates on the Hyundai Staria.
There isn’t a time in memory that doesn’t involve staring at cars. After discovering the excitement of watching Schumacher vs Hakkinen, Formula 1 became a major part of life. The love for cars and F1 ultimately led to a job with CAR Magazine. The untimely death of the magazine meant a hiatus from cars at lifestyle women’s magazine Marie Claire before another opportunity came knocking again.
