Archive for Hyundai

Following the footsteps of carmakers who have ultra-low budget models for emerging markets - the best example so far is Renault with the Renault/Dacia Logan - Hyundai wants to develop a new ultra-cheap car that will cost less than US$10,000.

On the other end of the pricerange, it is rumoured that Hyundai is developing a premium brand for it to sell it’s more high-end rear-wheel-drive V8 cars that are still under development. Hyundai will use a common rear wheel drive platform (presented as the Hyundai Genesis) for these luxury vehicles, and most will likely carry one of Hyundai’s Tau V8 engines.

It will be interesting to see how cheap Hyundai can go for it’s budget car, considering one of Hyundai’s main sales pitches are is it’s lower price already. It would also be equally interesting to see how the market will accept a premium Korean, as even now despite Lexus proving itself worthy of being an equal to BMW and Mercedes Benz, there are still many critics of Lexus.

Even in our local market, many are surprised that the Hyundai Azera is offered here, because it is sold at a price that no one would dream of paying for a Korean car.

I still remember something a friend of mine said, “I will never buy an LS460, because I know somewhere underneath all of that glam and gadgets is Camry DNA.”

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The Hyundai Coupe may finally receive a replacement worthy of being called a sports car. The spyshot above shows the new Hyundai Coupe on tests, however what’s interesting is the new Hyundai Coupe will be based on Hyundai’s new BH platform, which will also underpine the Hyundai Genesis. And like the Genesis, it will be rear wheel drive! Yes, the Hyundai Coupe will finally be able to do doughnuts and swing around the corner in the typical RWD style, shoved along by a Tau-family 300 horsepower 4.6 liter V8 engine.

As a sidenote, have you seen this twin-engined all-wheel-drive Hyundai Coupe? Check out more spyshots including one of a pretty sweet-looking interior that somehow reminds me of the Subaru B9 Tribeca’s interior after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Hyundai’s new rear wheel drive V8-powered coupe

The Hyundai i30 Wagon will be arriving on US shores soon as the Hyundai Elantra wagon, and will be equipped with a sportier suspension setup. The Hyundai i30 Wagon / Hyundai Elantra Wagon will come with a 138 horsepower 2.0 liter inline-4 engine, mated with a 5-speed manual as standard but with the option of a 4-speed auto.

“We want people who are looking for something sporty with good space but don’t want a small SUV. They still want the car look. This car is important in the entry-level segment,” said Wayne Killen, director of product planning for Hyundai Motor America.

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Hyundai i30 CW Station Wagon

As you’ve known, Hyundai has changed it’s naming scheme. Rather than using pretentious un-Korean names like Velacruz and Santa Fe, it has decided to adopt an alphanumeric naming scheme, ala BMW and Mercedes. All Hyundai cars will have an i prefix, a numeric segment identifier, and an alphabetical suffix to denote it’s body type. Hyundai chose i because of it’s association with technology products, as well as the association with the word inspire. As for the numbers:

i10 = A segment
i20 = B segment
i30 = C segment
i40 = D segment
i50 = E segment

If the car is a station wagon, it will receive suffixes like CW, which Hyundai says stands for Cross-Wagon. A Cross-Wagon is of course nothing more than a fancy name for a stationwagon. An example would be the Hyundai i30 CW stationwagon. A Hyundai i40 or i50 is also coming up soon, to be based on the Hyundai Concept Genesis V8 rear wheel driven sedan.

This is Hyundai’s new generation European car, the Hyundai i30. It is also the first in a new model naming scheme which will name models using a numeric series, with the i30 being the C-segment model. It was styled in the Hyundai’s Russelsheim Design and Technical Center in Europe.

Although it looks like it was inspired by a few other designs, like a Honda grille, a Mazda 3 side profile, 1-series rear, and etc the overall combination seems to look pleasing to the eye. On the interior, there is generous use of blue and white as these colours are easy on the eyes. Hyundai has also taken great care to ensure the ergonomics are good, with everything like gear shifters and steering column stalks within natural reach.

Engine options include a 1.4 liter DOHC CVVT engine making 108PS, a very commendable figure for a 1.4 liter engine indeed. The 1.6 liter engine makes 121PS, while the largest petrol engine is a 2.0 liter making 140PS. Turbodiesel options include a 1.6 CRDi with two outputs - a 90PS version and a 115PS version, and the top of the line oil burner is a 2.0 CRDi with a Variable Geometry Turbocharger, putting out 140PS, equal to the petrol version of similiar displacement.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Hyundai i30 5-Door Hatch

The second variant of Hyundai’s new i30 series of cars for the European market has been revealed. This is the Hyundai i30 Wagon. It doesn’t look bad at all, though the side profile reminds me a little of the Mazda3 - but what’s wrong with copying a nice design element right, as long as the results are nice!

Hyundai’s i30 series is the twin brother of Kia’s new cee’d series of cars, and the model range will end up mirroring each other with 5-door hatch, 3-door hatch, and stationwagon variants.

While Kia have been making some amazing progress with their vehicle design thanks to it’s new European-based design team, not much can be said about big brother Hyundai’s new designs. This Hyundai HND-3 Veloster Concept seems to be inspired from design cues with many of the cars already out there on the market, with the most obvious being Honda’s REMIX Concept.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Hyundai HND-3 Veloster Concept

Hyundai has released details on it’s Hyundai Concept Genesis, due to be revealed at the New York International Auto Show on April 4th 2007. Hyundai’s newly developed Tau DOHC 32-valve V8 powers this sedan. Front-rear weight distribution is respectable at 53:47. The 4.6 liter Tau V8 is mated to a 6-speed ZF automatic transmission with manual shifting, delivering over 300 horsepower to the rear wheels, launching the Concept Genesis from 0 to 100km/h in under 6 seconds.

Other than a good front-rear weight distribution, handling is further enhanced with a front five-link suspension featuring upper and lower arms linking the front wheels to the chassis. This arrangement creates a virtual king pin axis which reduces unwanted steering wheel kickback, improving feel and responsiveness. The rear also uses a five-link independent setup.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Hyundai Concept Genesis details unveiled

How many of you go to motorshows not for the cars, but for the scantically clad ladies standing around the cars? I know that sometimes the intention can be split 50:50 between the two. If so, and you happen to be a Korean, or someone heading for the 2007 Seoul Motor Show in South Korea, you’re going to be in for a disappointment.

Hyundai and Kia wants to cut down on the number of models at the show, as well as switch to more modest dressing, hoping the attention will be focused more on the cars on display instead. “We would rather have the spectators’ attention on our cars than the attractive ladies,” said Jake Jang, a spokesperson for Hyundai Motor Company.

Renault Samsung Motors has already made a similiar move at last year’s motor show, where it’s usual skimpy models were given business suits and handheld computers to help them answer questions.

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Oriental-Hyundai Sdn Bhd and Hyundai Motor Company signed a Technical License Assistance Agreement last Monday for the local assembly of the new generation Hyundai Accent MC. The Hyundai Accent MC will be assembled at Oriental Assembler’s plant. The new Hyundai Accent MC will succeed the current Hyundai Accent LC available in sedan and hatch form that has been so popular with the Malaysian car buyers since it’s introduction, thanks to it’s Proton-rivalling price.

The new Hyundai Accent MC is expected to be a popular choice with the Malaysian buyers if it maintains a similiar price bracket to the Accent LC. It doesn’t look too bad at all, and has a pretty nice interior very similiar to the Kia Rio’s. It was first introduced at the 2005 New York International Auto Show, and is the first Accent available with a CVVT variable valve timing engine.

It is also marketed in Mexico as a Dodge, with two engine options - a 1.4 liter (96hp at 6,000rpm, 124Nm torque at 4,700rpm) and a 1.6 liter (110hp @ 6,000rpm, 143Nm torque at 4,500rpm). The US market Accent has a 1.6 liter CVVT with 112ps at 6,000rpm and 146Nm of torque at 4,500rpm.

Looking at the product planning choices of most B-segment cars in Malaysia, we will likely get the 1.4 liter model (Kia Rio 1.4, Naza Bestari 1.4, Inokom Getz 1.4), but then again nothing wrong with crossing our fingers for the 1.6 liter or the 1.6 liter CVVT.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Locally assembled new generation Hyundai Accent MC coming soon!