Autoblog

Click image for a gallery of the facelifted Elantra

If the visual updates to the Hyundai Elantra you see here are carried over to all markets, which we imagine they will be, the sedan is going to make potential Civic and Lancer shoppers take a long, hard look. Not unattractive in its current form by any means, the Elantra's facelift being unveiled at Auto China next week incorporates a more upscale look in front than the current car. In a sidebar conversation, one of the other editors noted that it's somewhat reminiscent of the beak on early-'00s Acura CL/TL models. Those cars still look good, so this is not a bad thing for the Elantra. The rear fascia gets tweaked as well, with new taillamps being the most obvious change. Inside, the layout appears to carry over, and as you can see, the Chinese model has available woodgrain trim for The People's Luxury. Think of the changes as going from regular vanilla ice cream to that tastier version with the little flecks of real vanilla inside. They're basically the same thing, but you gravitate towards the fancier one. This is how we feel about the new Elantra.


[Source: CarScoop]

Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2009 Hyundai Elantra Touring

Our friends abroad know it as the Hyundai i30, but here in the States it shall be known as the Elantra Touring. It originally debuted in Geneva wearing i30 badges and last month it got its unceremonious North American unveiling at the Montreal International Auto Show.

The Elantra Touring marks Hyundai's return to the compact five-door segment after it nixed the Elantra GT a few years back, and it comes equipped with all the kit you'd expect in a budget runabout. Power is provided by a 2.0-liter four equipped with either a four-speed automatic with SHIFTRONIC or a five-speed manual with a B&M Racing sport shifter. A sports suspension and quicker steering rack supposedly make it an entertaining steer, and Electronic Stability Control, ABS and Electronic Brake-Force Distribution ensure things don't get out of hand. Inside, you can option things up with heated front seats and a power sunroof, but the Elantra Touring already comes packing powered windows, remote keyless entry, eight-way adjustable driver's seat and a stereo equipped with an auxiliary jack and standard XM radio. All the details about the 2009 Hyundai Elantra Touring are available after the jump.

Hyundai's initial foray into the consumer hybrid marketplace won't take place here in the US, nor will it use the gasoline/electric config that's become synonymous with the term, from a consumer's standpoint. Hyundai will introduce the car, a version of the Avante (Elantra here) in Korea sometime in 2009.

Instead of gasoline/electric, the Avante Hybrid will feature an LPG/electric setup in order to take advantage of the low price of Liquid Petroleum Gas in Korea (it's half the cost of the dino juice), and the fact that there's a working LPG infrastructure there already. They'll need government help to loosen up some regulations, because right now, LPG is reserved for rental cars and handicapped transport. The fact that Hyundai's moving forward with the plan is a pretty clear indicator that it expects the rules will be modified to allow regular citizens to purchase LPG-powered cars.

When combined with the hybrid system, the Avante is expected to pull down fuel economy in the neighborhood of 47 mpg. A gasoline/electric hybrid is also reportedly planned for 2010. Maybe we'll get that one.

[Source: AutoblogGreen]

Click image for 2 additional photos of the i30 Wagon

Hyundai's new i30 wagon is headed to US dealerships sometime in early 2008, and it will be badged as an Elantra. Wayne Killen, director of product planning at Hyundai Motor America says that, dynamically, the Elantra wagon will be positioned as a sporty handling vehicle. Unlike the European i30 wagon, which is powered by 1.6L engines (gasoline or diesel), the US-spec car will receive the same 138-horse 2.0L four-cylinder found in the current Elantra sedan. A 5-speed manual will come standard, with a 4-speed auto available as an option.

[Source: Automotive News (Sub Req'd)]

One thing's for sure at SEMA: there is no correlation between the cars that look like they'll steal your lunch money and the ones that actually do. Case in point: one Hyundai Elantra done up by David Brensend that, in addition to a healthy slathering of gouge-your-eyes-yellow and beautifully rendered flames, gets a diabolical joker airbrushed onto its hood.

Aside from the... umm, striking paint job, the Elantra benefits (kinda) from an aggressive four-piece body kit that, in addition to the custom suspension, looks like it'll scrape every speed bump between Circus Circus and the Luxor. The 18-inch Enkei NT03+M wheels, shod in Dunlop Direzza tires, lend a scarce amount of street-cred to the Accent, along with a custom dual exhaust. The only thing that's changed from the base model inside is the addition of a set of Cobra Sidewinder seats, a harness bar, the Infinity Audio setup and Ichibahn pedals.

It's shock and awe as only an Elantra can provide, which is a drawn out way of simply yawning.

As always, more pics are available (if you really want them) after the jump.

Everyone experiences growing pains at some point in their life. Some are more debilitating than others. As it enter its 21st year in the US, Hyundai is feeling a few of its own. In a market dominated by overproduction and a seemingly insurmountable glut of models, Hyundai has a good problem to resolve... maybe. A labor strike in Korea coupled with strong worldwide demand means U.S. dealers can't get enough of the popular Korean-built cars like the three-door Accent -- an issue that may also extend to the new Elantra and the forthcoming reskinned Tiburon.

Before you can build cars, you have to have engines, right? The first issue to work on is improving the currently limited capacity to build four-cylinder engines. The inventory of these engines, which power both the Elantra and Accent, is now and will continue to be a huge problem until something changes. As a result, Hyundai has informed dealers that the automaker is likely to miss its '06 sales target here in the US. Even at full capacity, the plants may fall short of meeting global demand next year as well, prompting concerns that the '07 sales target could be jeopardized, as well.

Undercapacity and overwhelming demand for your products is an enviable position to be in for a short time. Once the issue begins to affect long-term profitability, however, somebody had better deal with it quickly.

[Source: Kathy Jackson, Automotive News via AutoWeek]

The new 2007 Hyundai Elantra is the seventh new product from Hyundai in the last two years. The all-new midsize (that’s a new EPA classification thanks to 112.1 cubic feet of interior volume) gets Hyundai’s now traditional battery of safety equipment including six airbags, ABS brakes and front-seat active head restraints. The new lines echo the company’s recent design philosophy of restrained expression. While some might call that boring, others will see the new Elantra as more mature in appearance than its predecessors. The bigger dimensions allow for an interior that’s larger than the inner sanctums of the Civic, Corolla and even the Acura TL. It's clear that Hyundai is aiming the Elantra directly at both Japanese small sedans and will likely undercut them in price by a large margin.

We’ll have to wait until later in the day to bring you more specifics on the Elantra’s hardware, so in the meantime you can feast on more pics and Hyundai's pre-show press release after the jump.

[Source: Hyundai]

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has given the new 2006 Hyundai Azera a frontal offset impact rating of “Good”, the organization’s best rating for crashworthiness. Like many a Hyundai, the Azera’s virtually a padded room on wheels with Electronic Stability Control, Traction Control, ABS and eight airbags all standard.

The Azera’s “Good” rating gives Hyundai a full-boat of highly rated vehicles. All current model Hyundai vehicles tested by the IIHS, which includes the Elantra, Santa Fe, Sonata and XG300/XG350, have earned a “Good” frontal offset impact rating.

[Source: Hyundai and IIHS]

Edmunds.com's Inside Line is offering up some spy shots of the 2007 Hyundai Elantra, albeit masked under heavy camo. With a projected price point of around $14,000 paired with an updated design, the Elantra looks poised to put Hyundai within reach of its projected 1 million U.S. sales.

On the mechanical side, Edmunds says that the twin-cam, 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine and five-speed manual gearbox will likely be shared with Kia's recently redesigned Spectra, a move that would follow the company's M.O. as of late.

Expect the redesigned Elantra to hit U.S. showrooms in autumn, while home-market customers can expect to see it as early as this spring.