Autoblog

Richard Cortez, the Mayor of McAllen, Texas, called a news conference earlier this week to announce that city officials were in talks with an unnamed automaker to build a new manufacturing facility in the Rio Grande Valley. Interestingly enough, he gave few other details as he was worried about upsetting the "customer" as they have asked for silence on the project. Not to surprise anyone, but all signs are pointing at Hyundai Motor Company.

The Mayor has good reason to keep his mouth shut. Just two years ago, the South Korean automaker was in talks with local area officials about a similar project. Those plans fell through when early media leaks identified Hyundai as the potential automaker, and they chose West Point, Georgia, instead. (You are probably asking yourself, as we are, why would the Mayor call a news conference about this in the first place...)

Regardless, analysts say the Rio Grande Valley would be a good fit for Hyundai. The location is close to Mexico, so components could be assembled on the other side of the border and shipped to the United States for final assembly. If Hyundai chooses Texas for their new plant it would be their fourth facility in the United States following plants in Alabama, Georgia, and California. That is, if the Mayor can keep a secret. Thanks for the tip iSpec!

[Source: The Monitor]

Hyundai's on-again, off-again plans to bring a pickup to the U.S. market are... um, off again, and possibly for good this time. The news that neither Kia nor parent company Hyundai will offer a pickup should not come as much of a surprise, considering the sorry state of affairs in the U.S. truck market. Timing, as they say, is everything, though Honda's unibody Ridgeline pickup has actually weathered the storm well. A possible front-wheel-drive unibody truck competitor from Korea could have offered another fuel-saving choice for U.S. consumers who like the utility of a pickup but balk at the poor fuel mileage of the standard-fare full-frame rear-wheel-drive platform. Hyundai's not ready to take that bet, though, according to company CEO Kim Dong-Jin, who says, rather succinctly, "now is not the right time to produce a pickup truck." The Kia plant in West Point, Georgia will likely be used instead for the production of Hyundai passenger cars like the Sonata, which shares a platform with the Kia Optima that's already planned to be built at the plant.

[Source: Automotive News, sub. req'd]

Click above for high-res gallery of the Hyundai i800

What, you thought only Ford and GM did the full-size van thing anymore? Say hello to the eight-passenger Hyundai i800, which goes on sale late June in the UK. The i800 sports captain's chairs up front with two three-passenger benches out back. That makes a grand total of eight seat belts thanks to its totally accommodating third-row. Hyundai's big van is powered by a 2.5L four-cylinder CRDi diesel engine, so we expect acceleration is an afterthought in this cavernous cruiser. The i800 does, however, feature a coil-sprung rear suspension for a more minivan-like ride than some of its commercial transport competition. But aside from its features, the i800 is just a good looking van. Its design is more fluid than Chrysler's new boxy minivans and it doesn't look like it belongs in a FedEx fleet (we're looking at you, Ford Econoline). Screw the Entourage, we want this Hyundai hauler in the U.S.


[Source: Hyundai]

Click above for more shots of the Genesis Coupe at the Busan Auto Show.

Two things revealed at this year's New York Auto Show had our salivary glands working overtime. The first was the Hyundai Genesis Coupe, which proved that at least one automaker (and now, two and possibly three) is getting hip to the idea that a rear-wheel-drive, two-door coupe with a turbocharged four-cylinder is needed in the marketplace. The second was over at the Kia booth, where Hyundai's sub-brand revealed its Koup concept, powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter gasoline direct-injected (GDI) four-cylinder. According to Kia, this new mill makes 290 hp and 289 lb.-ft. of torque and could power several different models in both automaker's lineups.

Fast-forward to yesterday when we received a couple of tips about a green Genesis Coupe shown at the Busan Auto Show in South Korea. The coupe supposedly shared display space with the same THETA turbocharged GDI 2.0-liter on a separate stand, causing some members of GenFans to assume that the 290 ps (285 hp) engine was fitted to the green coupe. However, the "380GT" badge on the back reveals that the coupe is actually powered by the run-of-the-mill 3.8-liter V6.

We called up Hyundai to ask about the engine and the Coupe on display. Their response: "We're not commenting on it at this time." While we understand that certain cards have to be kept close to one's chest, it would have been easier just to tell us that the coupe on display and the engine at its booth have nothing in common. Since they're remaining disconcertingly tight-lipped, can we assume that the turbocharged 2.0-liter GDI will find its way into the Genesis Coupe in the future? We hope so. And with Hyundai's recent announcement that direct-injected engines are going to find their way into several of its models, it adds that much more fuel to the fire.


[Sources: Hyundai, GenFans]

While Ford has enjoyed a year of exclusivity with its SYNC-branded version of Microsoft's in-car connectivity technology, the Redmond-based company has been itching to expand the availability of its in-car gadget integration system to other marques. According to the AP, the first post-Ford carmakers to use the platform in the U.S. will be sister companies Hyundai and Kia.

According to the report, the Korean automakers will have the right to offer the technology on its cars in November, but probably won't do so. The AP report quotes Velle Kolde, senior product manager for Microsoft Auto, saying the two companies are busy developing their own custom applications and don't plan to be ready until after that date.

There is no word yet on what the new system will be named, its cost or what vehicles it will be offered on. Currently the only automaker offering Microsoft's system in the U.S. is Ford. Fiat has rights to sell it internationally and calls its version Blue&Me.

UPDATE: Ford reminded us that only its version of Microsoft Auto's technology is called SYNC, so other brands will have to come up with and market their own names for it.

[Source: Associated Press]

Like every other automaker that intends to do business in the U.S., Hyundai is planning for the future and the proposed fuel economy standards that are expected to hit in 2015. Currently, Hyundai's passenger cars average 32.4 mpg, while its trucks average 25.5 mpg. When the new regulations are in place, those numbers will have to increase to 37.5 mpg and 31.0 mpg, respectively. Hyundai's approach involves two separate strategies that will work together to achieve those figures.

The first step is to increase electrical efficiency by utilizing more LED technology that puts less strain on the powertrain, along with the use of electric power steering systems (in place of hydraulic units), direct-injection engines and six-speed transmissions. Those changes will be accompanied by the use of lightweight materials, aerodynamic enhancements and low-rolling resistance tires. While the electric power steering system only adds around one mpg overall, the combination of DI engines and six-speed 'boxes should increase fuel economy by between three and six percent.

Within the next two years, Hyundai plans to equip all of its V6-powered vehicles with six-speed gearboxes, while smaller models, with four-cylinder mills, will be upgraded to five-speed transmissions. All of this should help Hyundai achieve its goals, but more needs to be done, and Hyundai's senior manager of the powertrain department, Timothy White, says, "There is really no home run out there." Incremental are what it's about for the time being, and Hyundai seems to be making the first of many steps to accomplish that goal.

[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]

Click to view more of the Hyundai i10 ice cream van

We can come up with all manner of criteria for evaluating a car at any level: design, performance, spec sheet, ride, features, technology, value... but the one factor that trumps all others, what it all really comes down to, is how it appeals to our inner child. At the heart of it, that's why we love Lamborghinis and HUMMERs and Mustangs... and this particular Hyundai i10. It's just a treat.

The ice-cream van conversion wasn't made for Good Humor, although it certainly put us in that state of mind. It was created as a promotional tool for the British launch of the i10 by auto innovator Andy Saunders, the same guy who gave us the neo-Picasso Citroen 2CV and the ground-hugging Fiat 126, among others. While the Poole, England-based customizer has come up with many creative designs before, we doubt any of them would get children running after it down the street like the Pied Piper. Have a look at the images in the gallery below and pick out something delicious on us.

[Source: theCarfanatic.com and AutoTrader.co.uk]

Click for a high res gallery of the new Sonata

In recent months, Hyundai has made a big splash with the introductions of the Genesis sedan and coupe. While those two models will likely do wonders for Hyundai's street cred, they will definitely be niche players when it comes to volume. Among passenger cars in the US market, the midsize segment has been the highest volume category for nearly two decades. Since the mid-nineties, the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord have been the primary players with everyone else having been an also-ran. In recent years, however, Hyundai's entrant in the segment, the Sonata, has put up an increasingly aggressive challenge to the big dogs. The current generation Hyundai Sonata debuted for the 2006 model year and the company unwrapped its mid-cycle refresh back in February at the Chicago Auto Show.

The 2009 Sonatas have been in production since before the Chicago debut and they should be in stock at Hyundai stores around the country now. We went out to the Hyundai-Kia America Technical Center (HATCI) outside of Ann Arbor, MI for a tour of the facility where the new Sonata was created and then set out for a couple of hours to see how it behaves in the real world. Find out if the new Sonata is for you after the jump.


Photos Copyright ©2008 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

Click above to view high-res gallery of the 2008 Hyundai Elantra in China

As we learned last week, Hyundai used the occasion of Auto China in Beijing to debut its slightly refreshened Elantra. Its face now features a wider grille flanked by larger headlights, and a new lower air intake has also been reshaped. The overall effect is that the Elantra's friendly face has been been given a healthy dose of attitude. Likewise, the Elantra's rear also gets reshaped and loses its bulbous butt complex. We do expect these design updates to eventually reach the U.S.-market Elantra, as well as some new interior niceties like improved connectivity for digital music devices. As for when that will happen, your guess is as good as ours.



[Source: Autoblog Chinese]

Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2008 Hyundai Tiburon.

The news came courtesy of John Krafcik, Hyundai's product development veep, who told Automotive News that the 2008 model year of the Tiburon would be its last. However, that doesn't mean the Tiburon is down for the count. Krafcik is insistent that the Genesis Coupe, which will be coming out about the same time the Tibby is euthanized, isn't a Tiburon replacement. "We are seriously looking at a small front-wheel-drive coupe to replace the Tiburon," Krafcik told AN, but he wouldn't give a time frame for its replacement. He did say that the Veloster coupe concept that debuted at the Seoul motor show last April would be the inspiration for Hyundai's new FWD, two-door offering. Hopefully, when the production version of the Veloster is unveiled, it'll carry the same turbocharged 2.0-liter four-pot found in its RWD sibling.




[Source: Automotive News via Autoweek]