We can all learn a lesson from Hyundai. They don't sit around and wait for others to define their vehicles: They tell us who the competition is, and thus define their vehicles. Witness the latest new Hyundai: the 2011 Hyundai Equus. Hyundai tells us to compare it to the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, the BMW 7-Series and the Lexus LS. Hmm... we'll see. The 2011 Hyundai Equus will arrive in two different configurations, Equus Signature ($58,900) and Equus Ultimate ($65,400), each with a 5-year/60,000 mile basic warranty, a 10 year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty, and EPA fuel economy estimates of 16 MPG city/24 highway.
First Glance: Haven't we seen you somewhere before?
I have to get this out of the way first. I think that the name "Equus" is a terrible mistake. "Equus" is Latin for "horse," which is how we come to the English words "equestrian," "equine" and others. Fine so far. But "Equus" is also the title of Peter Shaffer's iconic 1973 play about a young man who blinded six horses with a spike after they witnessed his sexual failure in a barn. The play's Broadway production won a Tony Award in 1974. A 1977 film adaptation directed by Sidney Lumet featured Richard Burton. The play has been revived many times over the years, usually as a star turn. In 2007, Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) played the troubled young man to much acclaim on London's West End. My point is that this is not some obscure little play. This is a major work, and it has a perverse, violent, psychosexual context that no car manufacturer would want to attach to their new vehicle. I know that the Equus name is revered in South Korea, as the previous version of this executive sedan was been a big success over there. But bringing a new vehicle to the US and ignoring the literary and cultural context of the name strikes me as insensitive. One big demerit before I even drive your vehicle, Hyundai.
Walking around the outside of the Equus, it's easy to see the designers' inspiration. There's some Mercedes-Benz in the front end (link goes to photo), some Maybach in the haunches, a little 7-series in the trunk lid. 19" wheels fill each fender well. The whole look is elegant, if a little generic. The Hyundai flying "H" logo only appears on the trunk, not on the hood, where a new Equus ornament faces the world.
In the Driver's Seat: Home, James
In South Korea, the Equus has been Hyundai's flagship executive car since its first generation in 1999. True Type A businessmen use drivers, so that their commute time can be work time. As such, the back seat of the Equus Ultimate is set up like an executive jet, with two cushy seats separated by a large center console. The right side seat is the power seat -- it even has a fold-out footrest. The front right side seat powers far forward to allow for maximum comfort and space in the rear. Every luxury option is standard on the Ultimate trim level, including heated and cooled seats, a refrigerator, rear-seat entertainment system and gold bullion storage compartment (or is that a glove box?).
The driver's and front passenger seats are not bad, either. Everywhere you look and touch, you are rewarded with quality materials, assembled with care and skill. I'm not generally a fan of wood trim in cars, but the wood in Equus is nice, even if its buried under a thick layer of clear coat.
The interior is so polished and elegant that complaints are few and minor, and I have only one: I'm not crazy about the font that they use on the controls and dash buttons -- it's not as sophisticated as the rest of the design.
Lexicon provided the audio and video technology aboard the Equus, and it's really great. You get home theater quality sound inside the cabin, with the new Lexicon Discrete LOGIC7 Surround Sound audio system that delivers 600 watts through 13 channels. Particular attention was paid to the sound quality in the rear seat, where the executive might be riding.
On the Road: Floating through life
Hyundai is great at benchmarking other successful brands, and engineering toward duplicating or bettering their results. Lexus has been the industry leader in cabin quietness -- until now. Equus's interior sound levels are the quietest that I've ever perceived. Road noise doesn't sneak in, no matter how pebbled the path. Very impressive.
Under the hood you'll find a great big 4.6 liter V8 engine with up-to-date technology like continuously variable valve timing and variable induction. Recognizing that its buyers might be thriftier than most luxury buyers, Hyundai has tuned the V8 to perform with either premium or regular gas, with only a slight performance penalty for the cheaper stuff. A ZF-sourced six speed automatic transmission sends power to the rear wheels. The Equus weighs in at just under two and a half tons, about what I expect for a big luxury sedan, and acceleration and performance are grunty, but not overwhelming.
The Equus' air suspension provides a smooth ride, especially when paired with the continuous damping control that adjusts shock-absorber performance. A newly developed electro-hydraulic power steering system provides excellent feel when turning. Some electric power steering systems feel numb, but the interaction of electric and hydraulic systems keeps the steering feel live in most driving situations.
Call it a gimmick, but it will probably sell a few Equii: the vehicle's manual will be loaded on an Apple iPad, instead of printed on paper. I love the idea, I've never had to worry about the batteries running low on my Toyota's paper manual when I was trying to figure out how to use the jack. Is this a smart use of technology, or too smart for its own good?
Journey's End: Who's zooming who?
Equus is significantly less expensive than comparably-equipped competitors, which Hyundai names as the Lexus LS 460 L ($70,925), Mercedes-Benz S550 ($91,600) and BMW 750Li ($86,400). I don't expect Equus to compete with the S-Class and the 7-series, no matter how much Hyundai believes that it will. A buyer who is considering a $90,000 S-Class is buying something more than an executive sedan -- they're buying into the Mercedes-Benz brand experience.
Hyundai has some great ideas about how to improve the brand experience for Equus, like delivering the vehicle to potential buyers' homes for test drives, specially-trained Hyundai dealers providing sales and service, and valet service for maintenance and repair. Hyundai has been preparing its buyers for a luxury experience for years, with the vast improvement in the Sonata and the introduction and success of the Genesis. But Hyundai is not Mercedes-Benz or BMW. Hyundai isn't even Lexus... yet.
I think the real competition for Equus is price point where you can get more for your money with a Hyundai: The BMW 550 Gran Turismo ($63,900) and the Mercedes-Benz E550 ($57,100) had better look out, because buyers looking for luxury and space might find the sweet spot in Equus long before they approach the $85,000 - 90,000 mark.
Bottom line: Equus represents another major step forward for Hyundai. I can't wait to see what's next.
-- Jason Fogelson
About.com
Monday, November 08, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Hyundai took on Toyota. Now for BMW.
Now the Harmons are a Hyundai family.
They already own two -- a 2008 Santa Fe sport utility vehicle and a 2005 Elantra -- and Mr. Harmon, a Chicago-area electrical contractor who owns several construction companies, has his eye on the Equus, a nearly $60,000 sedan that arrives in November.
"This will go head-to-head with the BMWs and Mercedes," Mr. Harmon said. "If you test-drive all of them with your eyes closed, you're going to pick the Hyundai."
The idea that Hyundai could compete with luxury automakers would have seemed absurd two decades ago, when its low-quality cars made the South Korean company a laughingstock in the United States.
These days, rivals know not to underestimate Hyundai and its affiliate, Kia, which have been posting record sales during one of the auto industry's most difficult periods.
"The challenge for the Korean companies is just to keep this winning streak going," said James Bell, executive market analyst with the automotive information firm Kelley Blue Book. "In a lot of ways, they followed the Japanese model of how to succeed in the marketplace."
But while Toyota and Honda built their empires largely on reliability and fuel economy, Hyundai and Kia have taken that formula a step further with a focus on making their vehicles attractive.
"You didn't really buy a Toyota Tercel because it was a beautiful car," Mr. Bell said. "The factor that the Koreans have added to that mix is styling."
As a result, Hyundai and Kia are becoming a serious threat to the Japanese dominance of most passenger car segments. Hyundai's midsize car, the Sonata, was the most researched vehicle in the country in May, according to Compete, a Boston research firm.
Sales of the Sonata, which accounts for one-third of Hyundai's total volume, are up about 50 percent this year, while demand for the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord is down slightly. Even though the Camry and Accord remain tops in their segment, Hyundai has been closing the gap quickly.
Over all, Hyundai's market share in the United States has increased to nearly 5 percent, from 3 percent in 2008. Kia's share has grown to more than 3 percent, from 2.1 percent in 2008.
Together the two companies, which operate independently from each other in the United States but share some operations, now outsell the Japanese carmaker Nissan. In the second quarter, Hyundai was the fifth-most-considered brand in the country, bumping Nissan to sixth place, according to a Kelley Blue Book study.
Hyundai, Kia and Subaru of Japan were the only three automakers whose sales here increased in 2009.
Hyundai expects its United States sales to top 500,000 for the first time ever this year, as its rivals grapple with sales that are far below the level of several years ago, before the recession.
In fact, the recession has been a big reason behind the success that Hyundai and Kia have enjoyed in recent years. Their models are priced lower than most of the competition, but in better times many shoppers still might not have researched Hyundai or Kia enough to see what the vehicles offered.
"It gave us an opportunity to really reach some people who might not have looked at us before -- people who would have defaulted into an Accord or Camry," John Krafcik, the chief executive of Hyundai Motors America, said. "Times like these that force people to go deeper into the purchase analysis definitely favor us."
David Champion, the director of automotive testing for Consumer Reports, said shoppers who had not checked out Korean cars lately would probably be surprised.
"You're not getting a bargain-basement car," Mr. Champion said. "You're getting a very well-equipped car with good reliability. Every new Kia and Hyundai that we've tried has been so much better than the previous model and really, really competitive."
But for all their strides, the Korean companies still have work to do before they are broadly perceived to be among the industry's elite brands.
"It's still going to take time to get people into the cars and to spread the word of mouth," said Mr. Champion, who described Hyundai's foray into the luxury segments as selling "an Armani suit with a Wal-Mart label."
Hyundai and Kia have been marketing themselves heavily to overcome outdated perceptions -- in some cases filling voids left as the Detroit automakers pulled back on sponsorships and ads during big events like the Super Bowl.
"We didn't use to see doctors and lawyers and that type of affluent buyer, because it just wasn't socially acceptable to pull up in a Hyundai," said Brian Malpeli, who has sold Hyundais since the brand's early years and is the general sales manager at World Hyundai in Matteson, Ill. "But the more and more people start noticing us, the more they see the value in it."
Mr. Harmon, who bought his Santa Fe at World Hyundai, says saving thousands of dollars to get what he considers a more enjoyable vehicle trumps any concerns about whether the brand is fashionable.
"I know what kind of quality I'm sitting in," he said. "I don't care if I pull up next to a Porsche in my Santa Fe, because he spent $110,000 for his, and I spent $30,000 for mine, and I like mine more than his."
Article from: NY Times
They already own two -- a 2008 Santa Fe sport utility vehicle and a 2005 Elantra -- and Mr. Harmon, a Chicago-area electrical contractor who owns several construction companies, has his eye on the Equus, a nearly $60,000 sedan that arrives in November.
"This will go head-to-head with the BMWs and Mercedes," Mr. Harmon said. "If you test-drive all of them with your eyes closed, you're going to pick the Hyundai."
The idea that Hyundai could compete with luxury automakers would have seemed absurd two decades ago, when its low-quality cars made the South Korean company a laughingstock in the United States.
These days, rivals know not to underestimate Hyundai and its affiliate, Kia, which have been posting record sales during one of the auto industry's most difficult periods.
"The challenge for the Korean companies is just to keep this winning streak going," said James Bell, executive market analyst with the automotive information firm Kelley Blue Book. "In a lot of ways, they followed the Japanese model of how to succeed in the marketplace."
But while Toyota and Honda built their empires largely on reliability and fuel economy, Hyundai and Kia have taken that formula a step further with a focus on making their vehicles attractive.
"You didn't really buy a Toyota Tercel because it was a beautiful car," Mr. Bell said. "The factor that the Koreans have added to that mix is styling."
As a result, Hyundai and Kia are becoming a serious threat to the Japanese dominance of most passenger car segments. Hyundai's midsize car, the Sonata, was the most researched vehicle in the country in May, according to Compete, a Boston research firm.
Sales of the Sonata, which accounts for one-third of Hyundai's total volume, are up about 50 percent this year, while demand for the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord is down slightly. Even though the Camry and Accord remain tops in their segment, Hyundai has been closing the gap quickly.
Over all, Hyundai's market share in the United States has increased to nearly 5 percent, from 3 percent in 2008. Kia's share has grown to more than 3 percent, from 2.1 percent in 2008.
Together the two companies, which operate independently from each other in the United States but share some operations, now outsell the Japanese carmaker Nissan. In the second quarter, Hyundai was the fifth-most-considered brand in the country, bumping Nissan to sixth place, according to a Kelley Blue Book study.
Hyundai, Kia and Subaru of Japan were the only three automakers whose sales here increased in 2009.
Hyundai expects its United States sales to top 500,000 for the first time ever this year, as its rivals grapple with sales that are far below the level of several years ago, before the recession.
In fact, the recession has been a big reason behind the success that Hyundai and Kia have enjoyed in recent years. Their models are priced lower than most of the competition, but in better times many shoppers still might not have researched Hyundai or Kia enough to see what the vehicles offered.
"It gave us an opportunity to really reach some people who might not have looked at us before -- people who would have defaulted into an Accord or Camry," John Krafcik, the chief executive of Hyundai Motors America, said. "Times like these that force people to go deeper into the purchase analysis definitely favor us."
David Champion, the director of automotive testing for Consumer Reports, said shoppers who had not checked out Korean cars lately would probably be surprised.
"You're not getting a bargain-basement car," Mr. Champion said. "You're getting a very well-equipped car with good reliability. Every new Kia and Hyundai that we've tried has been so much better than the previous model and really, really competitive."
But for all their strides, the Korean companies still have work to do before they are broadly perceived to be among the industry's elite brands.
"It's still going to take time to get people into the cars and to spread the word of mouth," said Mr. Champion, who described Hyundai's foray into the luxury segments as selling "an Armani suit with a Wal-Mart label."
Hyundai and Kia have been marketing themselves heavily to overcome outdated perceptions -- in some cases filling voids left as the Detroit automakers pulled back on sponsorships and ads during big events like the Super Bowl.
"We didn't use to see doctors and lawyers and that type of affluent buyer, because it just wasn't socially acceptable to pull up in a Hyundai," said Brian Malpeli, who has sold Hyundais since the brand's early years and is the general sales manager at World Hyundai in Matteson, Ill. "But the more and more people start noticing us, the more they see the value in it."
Mr. Harmon, who bought his Santa Fe at World Hyundai, says saving thousands of dollars to get what he considers a more enjoyable vehicle trumps any concerns about whether the brand is fashionable.
"I know what kind of quality I'm sitting in," he said. "I don't care if I pull up next to a Porsche in my Santa Fe, because he spent $110,000 for his, and I spent $30,000 for mine, and I like mine more than his."
Article from: NY Times
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Gary Rome Hyundai Joined Hyundai Motor America to Help Fight Childhood Cancer with the 2010 Hope on Wheels Tour
September 2010 – Now in it's twelfth year, Hope on Wheels continues to embody Gary Rome Hyundai's commitment to helping kids fight cancer. Hope on Wheels has donated millions of dollars to children's hospitals across the country. This year the Tour will award grants to doctors doing important childhood cancer research. September is National Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month so Gary Rome Hyundai wants to do everything possible to help the cause.
On Tuesday September 14th at 11:30am Hyundai Hope On Wheels will be awarding a $100,000 grant at the D'amour Cancer Center, 3350 Main Street, Springfield, Massachusetts. Gary Rome Hyundai is proud to be a part of this incredible Grant Presentation and hopes area media will attend and help spread the word of how Hope On Wheels is benefiting the Baystate Health Foundation.
Every time a car is sold this September at Gary Rome Hyundai, Gary will donate $100 to Hope on Wheels. Gary Rome Hyundai is part of the 780 nationwide dealerships working diligently to raise as many dollars as possible.
The 2010 Hope of Wheels Tour is just one of the ways Gary Rome Hyundai gives back to the community. Several fund raising efforts as well as participation in local humanitarian promotions are very important ways Gary Rome Hyundai says thank you.
For more information and the complete list of 2010 Hyundai Hope on Tour stops visit www.hyundaihopeonwheels.org.
On Tuesday September 14th at 11:30am Hyundai Hope On Wheels will be awarding a $100,000 grant at the D'amour Cancer Center, 3350 Main Street, Springfield, Massachusetts. Gary Rome Hyundai is proud to be a part of this incredible Grant Presentation and hopes area media will attend and help spread the word of how Hope On Wheels is benefiting the Baystate Health Foundation.
Every time a car is sold this September at Gary Rome Hyundai, Gary will donate $100 to Hope on Wheels. Gary Rome Hyundai is part of the 780 nationwide dealerships working diligently to raise as many dollars as possible.
The 2010 Hope of Wheels Tour is just one of the ways Gary Rome Hyundai gives back to the community. Several fund raising efforts as well as participation in local humanitarian promotions are very important ways Gary Rome Hyundai says thank you.
For more information and the complete list of 2010 Hyundai Hope on Tour stops visit www.hyundaihopeonwheels.org.
Friday, April 02, 2010
Hyundai Donates $2.1 Million to Childhood Cancer Research with 2010 Hope on Wheels Tour
Ceremonies at the New York International Auto Show and Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama Mark Launch of 2010 Hyundai Hope on Wheels Tour
Hyundai Motor America and its dealers will launch the 2010 Hyundai Hope on Wheels tour today during Hyundai's press conference at the New York International Auto Show. With newly-named Hope on Wheels National Youth Ambassador Brianna Commerford, 12, standing by, Hyundai CEO John Krafcik will announce the 2010 tour, which will visit more than 40 children's hospitals across the country. This year's tour will donate $2.1 million to support childhood cancer research.
Hope on Wheels National Youth Ambassador Brianna battled Stage IV Hodgkin's Lymphoma when she was just ten years old. Now healthy and in remission, Brianna wants to share her story to spread awareness and help bring hope to other children facing cancer. Brianna will serve a two-year term as the Hope on Wheels National Youth Ambassador.
"At Hyundai, we believe in doing what others might think is impossible," said John Krafcik, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor America. "With the dramatic increase in survival rates that we've seen over the past several decades, we believe that a cure for pediatric cancer is now within reach. Hyundai is focusing the bulk of our philanthropic efforts on funding childhood cancer research through Hope on Wheels so that one day no child will ever have to face cancer."
The first official hospital donation event of the year will take place later today as Hope on Wheels donates $125,000 to the Hope & Heroes program at NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. This year, Dr. Jennifer Levine and Dr. Julia Glade Bender have been selected to receive the donation, which will support their research. Children receiving treatment at the hospital and their families will join Brianna and New York area Hyundai dealers for a special Handprint Ceremony at the Hyundai booth. The children will place their handprints in colorful paint on the 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe, the official vehicle of the Hope on Wheels Tour, to commemorate their brave battles with childhood cancer.
"Since 2004, Hyundai has been a dedicated donor to the children's cancer research program at the Herbert Irving Child and Adolescent Oncology Center," said Dr. Michael Weiner, director, Herbert Irving Child and Adolescent Oncology Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center. "We are proud to be a recipient of Hyundai's generosity and ongoing support for children with cancer."
Later this month, U.S. Hyundai dealers will gather at the company's manufacturing plant in Montgomery, Alabama for their annual national dealer meeting. The company and dealers together will present a ceremonial check for this year's $2.1 million donation to Brianna on behalf of all the children helped by childhood cancer research. The second hospital donation of the 2010 tour will be made to the Children's Hospital of Alabama in the amount of $40,000.
"On behalf of Hyundai dealers across the country, Hope on Wheels is honored to continue its support for childhood cancer research in 2010 and recognize the brave children who are battling this disease" said Oscar Leeser, President of the Hyundai Hope on Wheels Foundation and dealer owner of Hyundai of El Paso in El Paso, Texas. We are proud to be able to award research grants to the Hyundai Scholars – they are the pediatric oncologists whose unwavering dedication to research helps to care for children facing cancer and gives them hope for a healthy future."
This year Hyundai Hope on Wheels marks its 12th year of commitment to supporting childhood cancer research efforts. Hyundai and its dealers have donated more than $14 million to children's hospitals nationwide and collected hundreds of handprints from children fighting childhood cancer. Every time a new Hyundai vehicle is sold in the U.S., $5 is donated to Hope on Wheels. More information and the complete list of 2010 Hyundai Hope on Wheels tour stops is available at www.hyundaihopeonwheels.org.
HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA
Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through more than 780 dealerships nationwide.
HYUNDAI HOPE ON WHEELS
Hyundai Hope on Wheels™ is the united effort of all 780 Hyundai dealers across the U.S. to raise awareness about childhood cancer and celebrate the lives of children battling the disease. Hyundai Hope on Wheels has donated more than $14 million to childhood cancer research since 1998 and is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Hyundai Motor America and its dealers will launch the 2010 Hyundai Hope on Wheels tour today during Hyundai's press conference at the New York International Auto Show. With newly-named Hope on Wheels National Youth Ambassador Brianna Commerford, 12, standing by, Hyundai CEO John Krafcik will announce the 2010 tour, which will visit more than 40 children's hospitals across the country. This year's tour will donate $2.1 million to support childhood cancer research.
Hope on Wheels National Youth Ambassador Brianna battled Stage IV Hodgkin's Lymphoma when she was just ten years old. Now healthy and in remission, Brianna wants to share her story to spread awareness and help bring hope to other children facing cancer. Brianna will serve a two-year term as the Hope on Wheels National Youth Ambassador.
"At Hyundai, we believe in doing what others might think is impossible," said John Krafcik, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor America. "With the dramatic increase in survival rates that we've seen over the past several decades, we believe that a cure for pediatric cancer is now within reach. Hyundai is focusing the bulk of our philanthropic efforts on funding childhood cancer research through Hope on Wheels so that one day no child will ever have to face cancer."
The first official hospital donation event of the year will take place later today as Hope on Wheels donates $125,000 to the Hope & Heroes program at NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. This year, Dr. Jennifer Levine and Dr. Julia Glade Bender have been selected to receive the donation, which will support their research. Children receiving treatment at the hospital and their families will join Brianna and New York area Hyundai dealers for a special Handprint Ceremony at the Hyundai booth. The children will place their handprints in colorful paint on the 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe, the official vehicle of the Hope on Wheels Tour, to commemorate their brave battles with childhood cancer.
"Since 2004, Hyundai has been a dedicated donor to the children's cancer research program at the Herbert Irving Child and Adolescent Oncology Center," said Dr. Michael Weiner, director, Herbert Irving Child and Adolescent Oncology Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center. "We are proud to be a recipient of Hyundai's generosity and ongoing support for children with cancer."
Later this month, U.S. Hyundai dealers will gather at the company's manufacturing plant in Montgomery, Alabama for their annual national dealer meeting. The company and dealers together will present a ceremonial check for this year's $2.1 million donation to Brianna on behalf of all the children helped by childhood cancer research. The second hospital donation of the 2010 tour will be made to the Children's Hospital of Alabama in the amount of $40,000.
"On behalf of Hyundai dealers across the country, Hope on Wheels is honored to continue its support for childhood cancer research in 2010 and recognize the brave children who are battling this disease" said Oscar Leeser, President of the Hyundai Hope on Wheels Foundation and dealer owner of Hyundai of El Paso in El Paso, Texas. We are proud to be able to award research grants to the Hyundai Scholars – they are the pediatric oncologists whose unwavering dedication to research helps to care for children facing cancer and gives them hope for a healthy future."
This year Hyundai Hope on Wheels marks its 12th year of commitment to supporting childhood cancer research efforts. Hyundai and its dealers have donated more than $14 million to children's hospitals nationwide and collected hundreds of handprints from children fighting childhood cancer. Every time a new Hyundai vehicle is sold in the U.S., $5 is donated to Hope on Wheels. More information and the complete list of 2010 Hyundai Hope on Wheels tour stops is available at www.hyundaihopeonwheels.org.
HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA
Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through more than 780 dealerships nationwide.
HYUNDAI HOPE ON WHEELS
Hyundai Hope on Wheels™ is the united effort of all 780 Hyundai dealers across the U.S. to raise awareness about childhood cancer and celebrate the lives of children battling the disease. Hyundai Hope on Wheels has donated more than $14 million to childhood cancer research since 1998 and is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Hyundai Brand Loyalty Replaces Toyota for the Number One Spot, According to Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com
All-new Sonata Emerges on the Top 10 Most Researched New Vehicle List
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., 03/15/2010 Brand loyalty for Hyundai recently surpassed that of Honda and replaced Toyota, allowing Hyundai to take the No. 1 spot among car shoppers, according to the latest Kelley Blue Book's www.kbb.com Market Intelligence data. Up from third place in Q4 2009, Hyundai saw the greatest increase in loyalty in February 2010, with Hyundai owners looking at new models within the brand increasing by 10.4 percentage points to 56.3 percent.
Furthermore, according to Kelley Blue Book Values data, throughout the month of February 2010 Hyundai outperformed the overall car segment average by a healthy margin. Hyundai values increased 2 percent month-over-month, relative to a 0.3 percent increase for the entire car segment.
"A large part of Hyundai's momentum is a result of introducing passionate new products like the 2011 Sonata and 2010 Tucson," said James Bell, executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com. "To sustain this momentum, Hyundai should continue to promote its attractive new-vehicle lineup, solid warranty offer and strong price-points to new-car shoppers."
In addition to topping brand loyalty, the all-new 2011 Sonata was named to kbb.com's Top 10 Most-Researched New Vehicles list for the first time. In February, the Sonata was the fifth most-researched new car on kbb.com alongside 'Top 10 Most-Researched' mainstays such as Accord, Civic, Camry and CR-V.
"2009 marked an unprecedented year for the Hyundai brand and we are well poised to keep the momentum going in 2010," said John Krafcik, president and CEO, Hyundai Motor America. "With impressive new vehicles like the all-new Sonata and our dedication to deliver stylish, fuel efficient and affordable vehicles, more customers are adding Hyundai models to their shopping lists."
This Kelley Blue Book Market Intelligence data analysis examined site traffic to used-car trade-in pages and new-car pricing report pages on Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com, and compared loyalty data from Q4 2009 to February 1 – 28, 2010. The Kelley Blue Book Values data within this release represents month-over-month used-vehicle depreciation percentages.
Kelley Blue Book (www.kbb.com) Since 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource®, has provided vehicle buyers and sellers with the new and used vehicle information they need to accomplish their goals with confidence. The company's top-rated Web site, www.kbb.com, provides the most up-to-date pricing and values, including the New Car Blue Book® Value, which reveals what people actually are paying for new cars. The company also reports vehicle pricing and values via products and services, including software products and the famous Blue Book® Official Guide. According to the C.A. Walker Research Solutions, Inc. - 2009 Spring Automotive Web Site Usefulness Study, kbb.com is the most useful automotive information Web site among new and used vehicle shoppers, and half of online vehicle shoppers visit kbb.com. Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com also is a W3 Gold Award winner, sanctioned by the International Academy of Visual Arts. Kbb.com is a leading provider of new car prices, used car Blue Book Values, car reviews, new cars for sale, used cars for sale, and car dealer locations.
HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through almost 800 dealerships nationwide. All Hyundai vehicles sold in the U.S. are covered by the Hyundai Assurance program which now includes the 5-year/60,000-mile fully transferable bumper-to-bumper warranty, Hyundai's 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty and 5-year complimentary Roadside Assistance in addition to the highly acclaimed vehicle return policy introduced in early 2009. For more details on Hyundai Assurance, please visit www.HyundaiAssurance.com.
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., 03/15/2010 Brand loyalty for Hyundai recently surpassed that of Honda and replaced Toyota, allowing Hyundai to take the No. 1 spot among car shoppers, according to the latest Kelley Blue Book's www.kbb.com Market Intelligence data. Up from third place in Q4 2009, Hyundai saw the greatest increase in loyalty in February 2010, with Hyundai owners looking at new models within the brand increasing by 10.4 percentage points to 56.3 percent.
Furthermore, according to Kelley Blue Book Values data, throughout the month of February 2010 Hyundai outperformed the overall car segment average by a healthy margin. Hyundai values increased 2 percent month-over-month, relative to a 0.3 percent increase for the entire car segment.
"A large part of Hyundai's momentum is a result of introducing passionate new products like the 2011 Sonata and 2010 Tucson," said James Bell, executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com. "To sustain this momentum, Hyundai should continue to promote its attractive new-vehicle lineup, solid warranty offer and strong price-points to new-car shoppers."
In addition to topping brand loyalty, the all-new 2011 Sonata was named to kbb.com's Top 10 Most-Researched New Vehicles list for the first time. In February, the Sonata was the fifth most-researched new car on kbb.com alongside 'Top 10 Most-Researched' mainstays such as Accord, Civic, Camry and CR-V.
"2009 marked an unprecedented year for the Hyundai brand and we are well poised to keep the momentum going in 2010," said John Krafcik, president and CEO, Hyundai Motor America. "With impressive new vehicles like the all-new Sonata and our dedication to deliver stylish, fuel efficient and affordable vehicles, more customers are adding Hyundai models to their shopping lists."
This Kelley Blue Book Market Intelligence data analysis examined site traffic to used-car trade-in pages and new-car pricing report pages on Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com, and compared loyalty data from Q4 2009 to February 1 – 28, 2010. The Kelley Blue Book Values data within this release represents month-over-month used-vehicle depreciation percentages.
Kelley Blue Book (www.kbb.com) Since 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource®, has provided vehicle buyers and sellers with the new and used vehicle information they need to accomplish their goals with confidence. The company's top-rated Web site, www.kbb.com, provides the most up-to-date pricing and values, including the New Car Blue Book® Value, which reveals what people actually are paying for new cars. The company also reports vehicle pricing and values via products and services, including software products and the famous Blue Book® Official Guide. According to the C.A. Walker Research Solutions, Inc. - 2009 Spring Automotive Web Site Usefulness Study, kbb.com is the most useful automotive information Web site among new and used vehicle shoppers, and half of online vehicle shoppers visit kbb.com. Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com also is a W3 Gold Award winner, sanctioned by the International Academy of Visual Arts. Kbb.com is a leading provider of new car prices, used car Blue Book Values, car reviews, new cars for sale, used cars for sale, and car dealer locations.
HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through almost 800 dealerships nationwide. All Hyundai vehicles sold in the U.S. are covered by the Hyundai Assurance program which now includes the 5-year/60,000-mile fully transferable bumper-to-bumper warranty, Hyundai's 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty and 5-year complimentary Roadside Assistance in addition to the highly acclaimed vehicle return policy introduced in early 2009. For more details on Hyundai Assurance, please visit www.HyundaiAssurance.com.
Monday, March 08, 2010
Elantra Touring Named a 'Top 10 Family Car' by KBB.com
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., 03/03/2010 The 2010 Elantra Touring was named a "Top 10 Family Car" by Kelley Blue Book's www.kbb.com, the leading provider of new car and used car information. Elantra Touring was one of 10 cars that made the list of what kbb.com editors consider the very best of the best vehicles for families this year. Some other makes and models on the "Top 10 Family Car" list include, Ford Taurus, Honda Accord Crosstour, Chevrolet Equinox and Subaru Outback.
"While the product landscape in the new-car world seems ever-changing, the vehicle needs of the typical American family remain fairly constant; capable versatility, value, safety and economical factors usually remain top-of-mind," said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for kbb.com. "Sporting a roomy and flexible cargo area, a slew of safety features, an outstanding warranty and a low starting price, one could make a case for the 2010 Hyundai Elantra Touring as the most family-friendly small car out there. It's also easy on gas and not afraid to have a little fun."
Every year Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com assembles a list of the "Top 10 New Family Cars," evaluating an ever-lengthening list of eligible vehicles on such factors as resale value, fuel efficiency, capability and kid-friendliness.
The functional five-door Elantra Touring provides buyers with a unique offering in the compact segment, with its modern, sleek styling and fun-to-drive qualities. Elantra Touring offers standard Electronic Stability Control (ESC), in addition to a host of other class-leading safety technologies. It also offers loads of standard equipment making it ideal for the financially savvy car buyer. Standard features include air conditioning, AM/FM/XM/CD/MP3 audio system with six speakers and iPod®/USB and MP3 auxiliary input jacks, power windows, heated mirrors, power door locks, remote keyless entry with alarm and plenty of storage compartments including a cooled glove compartment.
"The Elantra Touring is a fun-to-drive, functional five-door that raises the bar in value, safety and quality," said Brandon Ramirez, Elantra Touring product manager, Hyundai Motor America. "The array of standard safety and convenience features, coupled with an outstanding warranty and unbeatable price point make this car the perfect model for any family."
For more information on the Top 10 Family Cars for 2010 from Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com, visit www.kbb.com/Top10FamilyCars.
KELLEY BLUE BOOK
Since 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource®, has provided vehicle buyers and sellers with the new and used vehicle information they need to accomplish their goals with confidence. The company's top-rated Web site, www.kbb.com, provides the most up-to-date pricing and values, including the New Car Blue Book® Value, which reveals what people actually are paying for new cars. The company also reports vehicle pricing and values via products and services, including software products and the famous Blue Book® Official Guide. According to the C.A. Walker Research Solutions, Inc. - 2009 Spring Automotive Web Site Usefulness Study, kbb.com is the most useful automotive information Web site among new and used vehicle shoppers, and half of online vehicle shoppers visit kbb.com. Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com also is a W3 Gold Award winner, sanctioned by the International Academy of Visual Arts. Kbb.com is a leading provider of new car prices, used car Blue Book Values, car reviews, new cars for sale, used cars for sale, and car dealer locations.
HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA
Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through almost 800 dealerships nationwide. All Hyundai vehicles sold in the U.S. are covered by the Hyundai Assurance program which now includes the 5-year/60,000 mile fully transferable bumper-to-bumper warranty, Hyundai's 10-year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty and 5-year complimentary Roadside Assistance in addition to the highly acclaimed vehicle return policy introduced in early 2009. For more details on Hyundai Assurance, please visit www.HyundaiAssurance.com.
"While the product landscape in the new-car world seems ever-changing, the vehicle needs of the typical American family remain fairly constant; capable versatility, value, safety and economical factors usually remain top-of-mind," said Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for kbb.com. "Sporting a roomy and flexible cargo area, a slew of safety features, an outstanding warranty and a low starting price, one could make a case for the 2010 Hyundai Elantra Touring as the most family-friendly small car out there. It's also easy on gas and not afraid to have a little fun."
Every year Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com assembles a list of the "Top 10 New Family Cars," evaluating an ever-lengthening list of eligible vehicles on such factors as resale value, fuel efficiency, capability and kid-friendliness.
The functional five-door Elantra Touring provides buyers with a unique offering in the compact segment, with its modern, sleek styling and fun-to-drive qualities. Elantra Touring offers standard Electronic Stability Control (ESC), in addition to a host of other class-leading safety technologies. It also offers loads of standard equipment making it ideal for the financially savvy car buyer. Standard features include air conditioning, AM/FM/XM/CD/MP3 audio system with six speakers and iPod®/USB and MP3 auxiliary input jacks, power windows, heated mirrors, power door locks, remote keyless entry with alarm and plenty of storage compartments including a cooled glove compartment.
"The Elantra Touring is a fun-to-drive, functional five-door that raises the bar in value, safety and quality," said Brandon Ramirez, Elantra Touring product manager, Hyundai Motor America. "The array of standard safety and convenience features, coupled with an outstanding warranty and unbeatable price point make this car the perfect model for any family."
For more information on the Top 10 Family Cars for 2010 from Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com, visit www.kbb.com/Top10FamilyCars.
KELLEY BLUE BOOK
Since 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource®, has provided vehicle buyers and sellers with the new and used vehicle information they need to accomplish their goals with confidence. The company's top-rated Web site, www.kbb.com, provides the most up-to-date pricing and values, including the New Car Blue Book® Value, which reveals what people actually are paying for new cars. The company also reports vehicle pricing and values via products and services, including software products and the famous Blue Book® Official Guide. According to the C.A. Walker Research Solutions, Inc. - 2009 Spring Automotive Web Site Usefulness Study, kbb.com is the most useful automotive information Web site among new and used vehicle shoppers, and half of online vehicle shoppers visit kbb.com. Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com also is a W3 Gold Award winner, sanctioned by the International Academy of Visual Arts. Kbb.com is a leading provider of new car prices, used car Blue Book Values, car reviews, new cars for sale, used cars for sale, and car dealer locations.
HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA
Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through almost 800 dealerships nationwide. All Hyundai vehicles sold in the U.S. are covered by the Hyundai Assurance program which now includes the 5-year/60,000 mile fully transferable bumper-to-bumper warranty, Hyundai's 10-year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty and 5-year complimentary Roadside Assistance in addition to the highly acclaimed vehicle return policy introduced in early 2009. For more details on Hyundai Assurance, please visit www.HyundaiAssurance.com.
Monday, March 01, 2010
2011 Hyundai Sonata Named Top Safety Pick by IIHS
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif, 02/18/2010 Today, the all-new 2011 Hyundai Sonata joins an elite group of motor vehicles as a "Top Safety Pick" of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). This award is only given to those vehicles that do a superior job protecting people in front, side, rear and rollover crashes. A car's ability to handle itself in these crashes is determined by how many "GOOD" ratings it receives in each of the IIHS tests. Additionally, the vehicle must have electronic stability control readily available as an option.
Sonata is built from the ground up with safety in mind, with a hot stamped ultra-high-strength steel body structure, advanced airbag technology and Electronic Stability Control (ESC), delivering on Hyundai's commitment to both active and passive safety technology leadership. In 2005, the Sonata was the first popular midsize sedan to standardize ESC-- once again every 2011 Sonata has lifesaving ESC as standard equipment. This is important because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has reported that ESC results in 35 percent fewer single-vehicle crashes and 30 percent fewer single-vehicle fatalities in passenger cars.
The Sonata also features a state-of-the-art Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) including Brake Assist and Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD). Sonata features six airbags--including dual front, front seat-mounted side-impact, and front and rear side curtain airbags--along with active front-seat head restraints.
While past Hyundai models, such as the Genesis, have been named IIHS "Top Safety Picks," the standards are higher than ever for 2010, with a roof strength test added to the qualifications. According to the new guidelines, roofs must be more than double the strength of current federal requirements in order to better maintain vehicle integrity in the event of a rollover accident.
Because this roof strength test is so demanding, many of the vehicles that had previously been named "Top Safety Picks" were dropped from the list in 2010. From the 2011 Sonata's inception, Hyundai engineers carefully considered the importance of roof strength and designed the newest edition to pass this high hurdle set by the IIHS.
The other IIHS "Top Safety Pick" standards are stringent as well -- the institute's frontal crashworthiness evaluations are based on results of 40 mph frontal offset crash tests. Each vehicle's overall evaluation is based on measurements of intrusion into the occupant compartment, injury measures recorded on a dummy representing a 50th percentile male in the driver seat, and analysis of slow-motion film to assess how well the restraint system controlled dummy movement during the test.
Side evaluations are based on performance in a crash test in which the side of a vehicle is struck by a barrier moving at 31 mph. The barrier represents the front end of a pickup or SUV. Ratings reflect injury measures recorded on two instrumented dummies representing an average-sized woman, assessment of head protection countermeasures, and the vehicle's structural performance during the impact.
Rear crash protection is rated according to a two-step procedure. Starting points for the ratings are measurements of head restraint geometry -- the height of a restraint and its horizontal distance behind the back of the head of an average-size man. Seat/head restraints with good or acceptable geometry are tested dynamically using a dummy that measures forces on the neck. This test simulates a collision in which a stationary vehicle is struck in the rear at 20 mph.
HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA
Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through almost 800 dealerships nationwide. All Hyundai vehicles sold in the U.S. are covered by the Hyundai Assurance pro gram which now includes the 5-year/60,000-mile fully transferable bumper-to-bumper warranty, Hyundai's 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty and 5-year complimentary Roadside Assistance in addition to the highly acclaimed vehicle return policy introduced in early 2009. For more details on Hyundai Assurance, please visit www.HyundaiAssurance.com
Sonata is built from the ground up with safety in mind, with a hot stamped ultra-high-strength steel body structure, advanced airbag technology and Electronic Stability Control (ESC), delivering on Hyundai's commitment to both active and passive safety technology leadership. In 2005, the Sonata was the first popular midsize sedan to standardize ESC-- once again every 2011 Sonata has lifesaving ESC as standard equipment. This is important because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has reported that ESC results in 35 percent fewer single-vehicle crashes and 30 percent fewer single-vehicle fatalities in passenger cars.
The Sonata also features a state-of-the-art Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) including Brake Assist and Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD). Sonata features six airbags--including dual front, front seat-mounted side-impact, and front and rear side curtain airbags--along with active front-seat head restraints.
While past Hyundai models, such as the Genesis, have been named IIHS "Top Safety Picks," the standards are higher than ever for 2010, with a roof strength test added to the qualifications. According to the new guidelines, roofs must be more than double the strength of current federal requirements in order to better maintain vehicle integrity in the event of a rollover accident.
Because this roof strength test is so demanding, many of the vehicles that had previously been named "Top Safety Picks" were dropped from the list in 2010. From the 2011 Sonata's inception, Hyundai engineers carefully considered the importance of roof strength and designed the newest edition to pass this high hurdle set by the IIHS.
The other IIHS "Top Safety Pick" standards are stringent as well -- the institute's frontal crashworthiness evaluations are based on results of 40 mph frontal offset crash tests. Each vehicle's overall evaluation is based on measurements of intrusion into the occupant compartment, injury measures recorded on a dummy representing a 50th percentile male in the driver seat, and analysis of slow-motion film to assess how well the restraint system controlled dummy movement during the test.
Side evaluations are based on performance in a crash test in which the side of a vehicle is struck by a barrier moving at 31 mph. The barrier represents the front end of a pickup or SUV. Ratings reflect injury measures recorded on two instrumented dummies representing an average-sized woman, assessment of head protection countermeasures, and the vehicle's structural performance during the impact.
Rear crash protection is rated according to a two-step procedure. Starting points for the ratings are measurements of head restraint geometry -- the height of a restraint and its horizontal distance behind the back of the head of an average-size man. Seat/head restraints with good or acceptable geometry are tested dynamically using a dummy that measures forces on the neck. This test simulates a collision in which a stationary vehicle is struck in the rear at 20 mph.
HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA
Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through almost 800 dealerships nationwide. All Hyundai vehicles sold in the U.S. are covered by the Hyundai Assurance pro gram which now includes the 5-year/60,000-mile fully transferable bumper-to-bumper warranty, Hyundai's 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty and 5-year complimentary Roadside Assistance in addition to the highly acclaimed vehicle return policy introduced in early 2009. For more details on Hyundai Assurance, please visit www.HyundaiAssurance.com
Monday, February 22, 2010
Genesis Named 'Best Deal for the Boss' by Cars.com
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., 02/11/2010 The Genesis Sedan was named "Best Deal for the Boss" in the Cars.com annual Best Lifestyle Vehicle Awards. This award recognizes the Hyundai Genesis as the vehicle best suited to meet the lifestyle needs of "the boss" including luxury features, driving refinement, styling and prestige all in an affordable package.
"It's a rear-wheel-drive full-size sedan that offers a luxurious, spacious cabin and V-6 and V-8 drivetrains that are notable for their efficiency and performance," said Cars.com editors. "The Genesis comes standard with eight airbags and a stability system to help protect occupants, and it's available with convenience features like a 17-speaker audio system. On the whole, the Genesis does a remarkable job at delivering the experience of a high-end luxury sedan at a much lower price."
The Cars.com Lifestyle Awards recognize new vehicles that best suit the lifestyles of today's car shoppers, and acknowledge the best cars across a number of categories that car shoppers can identify with based on their personal vehicle needs.
The North American Car of the Year-winning Genesis is built on Hyundai's performance-driven rear-wheel drive architecture. Genesis offers an array of luxury convenience features including Smart Cruise Control, touch-screen navigation, electronic parking brake with automatic vehicle hold, Adaptive Front Lighting System (AFLS), Lexicon® audio systems and electronic active head restraints.
"We are thrilled to receive this recognition from Cars.com as it reinforces the Genesis ability to compete with the world's best luxury sedans," said Derek Joyce, Genesis product manager. "Genesis is the ideal model for car buyers looking for the power, comfort and sophisticated design of a luxury brand, without the expensive price tag."
Cars.com
Cars.com is the leading destination for online car shoppers, offering credible, easy-to-understand information from consumers and experts to help buyers formulate opinions on what to buy, where to buy and how much to pay for a car. With comprehensive pricing information, side-by-side comparison tools, photo galleries, videos, unbiased editorial content and a large selection of new- and used-car inventory, Cars.com puts millions of car buyers in control of their shopping process with the information they need to make confident buying decisions.
Launched in June 1998, Cars.com is a division of Classified Ventures, LLC, which is owned by leading media companies, including Belo (NYSE: BLC), Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI), Tribune Company and The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO).
HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA
Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through almost 800 dealerships nationwide. All Hyundai vehicles sold in the U.S. are covered by the Hyundai Assurance program which now includes the 5-year/60,000 mile fully transferable bumper-to-bumper warranty, Hyundai's 10-year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty and 5-year complimentary Roadside Assistance in addition to the highly acclaimed vehicle return policy introduced in early 2009. For more details on Hyundai Assurance, please visit www.HyundaiAssurance.com.
"It's a rear-wheel-drive full-size sedan that offers a luxurious, spacious cabin and V-6 and V-8 drivetrains that are notable for their efficiency and performance," said Cars.com editors. "The Genesis comes standard with eight airbags and a stability system to help protect occupants, and it's available with convenience features like a 17-speaker audio system. On the whole, the Genesis does a remarkable job at delivering the experience of a high-end luxury sedan at a much lower price."
The Cars.com Lifestyle Awards recognize new vehicles that best suit the lifestyles of today's car shoppers, and acknowledge the best cars across a number of categories that car shoppers can identify with based on their personal vehicle needs.
The North American Car of the Year-winning Genesis is built on Hyundai's performance-driven rear-wheel drive architecture. Genesis offers an array of luxury convenience features including Smart Cruise Control, touch-screen navigation, electronic parking brake with automatic vehicle hold, Adaptive Front Lighting System (AFLS), Lexicon® audio systems and electronic active head restraints.
"We are thrilled to receive this recognition from Cars.com as it reinforces the Genesis ability to compete with the world's best luxury sedans," said Derek Joyce, Genesis product manager. "Genesis is the ideal model for car buyers looking for the power, comfort and sophisticated design of a luxury brand, without the expensive price tag."
Cars.com
Cars.com is the leading destination for online car shoppers, offering credible, easy-to-understand information from consumers and experts to help buyers formulate opinions on what to buy, where to buy and how much to pay for a car. With comprehensive pricing information, side-by-side comparison tools, photo galleries, videos, unbiased editorial content and a large selection of new- and used-car inventory, Cars.com puts millions of car buyers in control of their shopping process with the information they need to make confident buying decisions.
Launched in June 1998, Cars.com is a division of Classified Ventures, LLC, which is owned by leading media companies, including Belo (NYSE: BLC), Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI), Tribune Company and The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO).
HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA
Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through almost 800 dealerships nationwide. All Hyundai vehicles sold in the U.S. are covered by the Hyundai Assurance program which now includes the 5-year/60,000 mile fully transferable bumper-to-bumper warranty, Hyundai's 10-year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty and 5-year complimentary Roadside Assistance in addition to the highly acclaimed vehicle return policy introduced in early 2009. For more details on Hyundai Assurance, please visit www.HyundaiAssurance.com.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Genesis and Genesis Coupe Make CarsDirect's Top Ten Cars of the Decade
CarsDirect Recognizes the Genesis and Genesis Coupe at Number Five on its Top Ten Cars of the Decade Countdown
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., 01/08/2010 Hyundai's Genesis sedan and sportier sibling Genesis Coupe rang in at number five on CarsDirect's Top Ten Cars of the Decade Countdown. CarsDirect is one of the leading multi-brand online car buying services, providing new and pre-owned automobiles and related products and services. Other cars that made the Top Ten Cars of the Decade Countdown include the Honda S2000, Nissan Altima, Chevrolet Corvette, Nissan 350Z, Ford Fusion, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, MINI Cooper, BMW 3 Series and Toyota Prius.
"Even though the Hyundai Genesis didn't enter the market until late in the decade, it was a game-changer nonetheless. When introduced in 2008, the Genesis marked a huge change for Hyundai," said Armaan Almeida, automotive editor, CarsDirect. "While the Genesis sedan tackles the full-size luxury segment, its sibling Genesis Coupe takes on sporty two-door cars like the G37 and 370Z. And like its sedan counterpart, it has yet to fail."
Hyundai's Genesis sedan, the 2009 North American Car of the Year, sets a new benchmark in the premium car category. With a starting price of just $33,000, Genesis includes performance and luxury features typically found on vehicles costing thousands of dollars more. Using the same flexible rear-wheel drive architecture, Genesis Coupe is Hyundai's most dynamic performance car ever designed to appeal to true driving enthusiasts. The Genesis Coupe offers a 2.0-liter intercooled four-cylinder turbocharged engine producing 210 horsepower, and a 3.8-liter V6 with 306 horsepower.
"2009 has been a remarkable year for Hyundai and having the Genesis and Genesis Coupe recognized by CarsDirect on its Top Ten Cars of the Decade helps us carry the momentum into 2010," said Scott Margason, director, Product Planning, Hyundai Motor America. "The Genesis and Genesis Coupe have proven Hyundai is a brand capable of creating game-changing vehicles and we look forward delivering more quality, stylish and affordable cars in the new year."
CARSDIRECT
CarsDirect (www.carsdirect.com) is a leading online automotive shopping service and research portal, providing new and used automobiles and related products and services, such as loan and lease financing. CarsDirect is a division of Los Angeles-based Internet Brands (www.internetbrands.com), a leading operator of community and e-commerce consumer websites.
HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA
Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through almost 800 dealerships nationwide. All Hyundai vehicles sold in the U.S. are covered by the Hyundai Assurance program which now includes the 5-year/60,000 mile fully transferable bumper-to-bumper warranty, Hyundai's 10-year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty and 5-year complimentary Roadside Assistance in addition to the highly acclaimed vehicle return policy introduced in early 2009. For more details on Hyundai Assurance, please visit www.HyundaiAssurance.com.
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., 01/08/2010 Hyundai's Genesis sedan and sportier sibling Genesis Coupe rang in at number five on CarsDirect's Top Ten Cars of the Decade Countdown. CarsDirect is one of the leading multi-brand online car buying services, providing new and pre-owned automobiles and related products and services. Other cars that made the Top Ten Cars of the Decade Countdown include the Honda S2000, Nissan Altima, Chevrolet Corvette, Nissan 350Z, Ford Fusion, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, MINI Cooper, BMW 3 Series and Toyota Prius.
"Even though the Hyundai Genesis didn't enter the market until late in the decade, it was a game-changer nonetheless. When introduced in 2008, the Genesis marked a huge change for Hyundai," said Armaan Almeida, automotive editor, CarsDirect. "While the Genesis sedan tackles the full-size luxury segment, its sibling Genesis Coupe takes on sporty two-door cars like the G37 and 370Z. And like its sedan counterpart, it has yet to fail."
Hyundai's Genesis sedan, the 2009 North American Car of the Year, sets a new benchmark in the premium car category. With a starting price of just $33,000, Genesis includes performance and luxury features typically found on vehicles costing thousands of dollars more. Using the same flexible rear-wheel drive architecture, Genesis Coupe is Hyundai's most dynamic performance car ever designed to appeal to true driving enthusiasts. The Genesis Coupe offers a 2.0-liter intercooled four-cylinder turbocharged engine producing 210 horsepower, and a 3.8-liter V6 with 306 horsepower.
"2009 has been a remarkable year for Hyundai and having the Genesis and Genesis Coupe recognized by CarsDirect on its Top Ten Cars of the Decade helps us carry the momentum into 2010," said Scott Margason, director, Product Planning, Hyundai Motor America. "The Genesis and Genesis Coupe have proven Hyundai is a brand capable of creating game-changing vehicles and we look forward delivering more quality, stylish and affordable cars in the new year."
CARSDIRECT
CarsDirect (www.carsdirect.com) is a leading online automotive shopping service and research portal, providing new and used automobiles and related products and services, such as loan and lease financing. CarsDirect is a division of Los Angeles-based Internet Brands (www.internetbrands.com), a leading operator of community and e-commerce consumer websites.
HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA
Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through almost 800 dealerships nationwide. All Hyundai vehicles sold in the U.S. are covered by the Hyundai Assurance program which now includes the 5-year/60,000 mile fully transferable bumper-to-bumper warranty, Hyundai's 10-year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty and 5-year complimentary Roadside Assistance in addition to the highly acclaimed vehicle return policy introduced in early 2009. For more details on Hyundai Assurance, please visit www.HyundaiAssurance.com.
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Hyundai smokes the competition
(Fortune Magazine) -- On the second floor of the 21-story Hyundai Motor headquarters in the south of Seoul is a 24-hour operations hub, the Global Command and Control Center (GCCC). Modeled after the CNN newsroom in Atlanta with dozens of computer screens relaying video and data, it keeps watch on Hyundai operations around the world.
Parts shipments are tracked from the time they leave the supplier until they reach a plant. Cameras peer into assembly lines from Beijing to Montgomery and keep a close watch on Hyundai's giant Ulsan, Korea, plant, the world's largest integrated auto factory and the scene of frequent labor unrest.
Are competitors' spies lurking? The GCCC watches over Hyundai R&D activities in Europe, Japan, and North America, as well as its sprawling, 4,300-acre test facility in California's Mojave Desert, with its 6.4-mile oval track.
Almost no outsiders, and certainly no visitors from Fortune, are allowed inside the GCCC to view the operation firsthand. Hyundai employees aren't even supposed to talk about it. But its existence says volumes about how Hyundai views itself and the rest of the world.
Hyundai is a confident, hyperaggressive company that not only wants to win, it expects to win. By monitoring operations in real time, Hyundai can identify problems in an instant and react quickly. It is a different philosophy for an auto company. Whereas Toyota (TM) thrives on consistency and Honda (HMC) on innovation, Hyundai is all about aggressiveness and speed.
These days Hyundai (rhymes with "Sunday") could get ticketed for exceeding the limit. Powered by a weak Korean won and a revitalized product line, it is ramping up volumes in major markets around the world.
Along with sister company Kia, of which it owns 39%, Hyundai has a hammerlock on Korea, with 80% of sales this year. In the U.S. generous incentives for retail customers and fleet purchases have pushed sales up a strong 7% in a market down 24%. November was a spectacular month: Hyundai brand sales jumped 46% from the previous year, and Kia rose 18%.
In China, where auto sales have skyrocketed this year thanks to government stimulus, Hyundai leaped 150% in September, leaving the company in second place, behind Volkswagen, among international automakers.
Behind the scenes at Hyundai
To take advantage of its momentum, Hyundai is pushing new models out of its factories faster and faster. American customers got to see the slick new 2011 Sonata in December, two months ahead of schedule, because, in an unusual move, Hyundai sped up the start of production.
Automakers hate to interfere with factory schedules because it is expensive, disrupts the flow of parts, and invites assembly problems. But Hyundai decided to move ahead. It was receiving good reads on early quality checks, suppliers showed ample stocks of parts, and engineers had prepped its Alabama plant. Speed became a competitive advantage.
Moving quickly and boldly has made Hyundai Motor Co. the fastest-growing major automaker in the world. Amid the global sales slump, it made a record $832 million in the third quarter ended Sept. 30. Analysts expect its net profits to rise almost 40% this year.
Despite its relative youth -- it is only 43 years old -- Hyundai already ranks fifth in volume among the world's auto producers, according to IHS Global Insight, and passed 107-year-old Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) in 2009 to move into fourth place. Years ago Toyota used to say that Hyundai was the company it feared most. Today those fears have grown into a nightmare.
Despite their success, Hyundai executives keep pushing for more. Hyundai and Kia currently have capacity for 5.8 million cars and trucks. "We want to grow to 6.5 million units in two years," says Steve Yang, president and CEO, over a traditional multicourse Korean lunch at a small restaurant in Seoul.
Since Hyundai was expected to produce 5.2 million vehicles in 2009, that means a steep ramp-up if it wants to operate at full capacity. Western auto experts cringe at such a notion, because a big increase in volume can compromise quality and dilute brand equity. But Yang made the pledge with a smile as if he were merely exchanging polite chitchat. At Hyundai, it is understood that impossible targets are part of its way of doing business.
Sometimes speeding leads to accidents. Hyundai entered the U.S. market in 1986 with a single model, the Excel, which sold for $4,995 -- a price that so captivated bargain-minded Americans that Hyundai set a first-year record by selling 126,000 cars.
Its second year in business, Hyundai adopted the slogan "Cars that make sense" and set another record, selling 264,000 Excels. In its haste to grow, Hyundai made two near-fatal errors. It made fragile cars and sold them to noncreditworthy customers. When the cars were repossessed, their quality was so poor that they were worth less than the outstanding loans.
Hyundai is making another big gamble this year by introducing a premium luxury car called the Equus that is priced thousands of dollars higher than any car Hyundai has sold before. The Equus (Latin for "horse"), expected to cost around $60,000, will cost more than most Cadillacs and is designed to compete with top-of-the-line models marketed by Mercedes, BMW, and Audi that sell for $20,000 more.
Depending on your point of view, the introduction of the Equus is either ambitious, arrogant, or ignorant. Popular brands like Hyundai are not supposed to stretch into premium luxury territory; consumers want a prestige label when they pay a prestige price. Volkswagen found that out a couple of years ago when it tried to sell a $70,000 car called the Phaeton. Despite its technical excellence, potential buyers didn't associate the people's car with a high-priced sedan.
Test-driving the Equus
Judged on its merits, not its image, the Equus is a winner. Fortune had an opportunity to test one in Korea and found it surprisingly competitive with German luxury sedans under normal driving conditions.
The exterior could go on a chrome diet, but otherwise the Equus adheres to the conservative design standards required for luxury cars. The interior is best in class, intelligently crafted from fine materials and smartly laid out. The spacious rear seat, where many Asian buyers will spend their time, is equipped with a variety of diversionary devices, including one that provides a back massage.
Powered by a smooth, quiet, 4.6-liter V-8, the Equus should appeal to customers for whom value is a higher priority than association with a three-pointed star or dual-kidney grille.
No such identity crisis faces Kia, which got its start as a bicycle manufacturer and has become a power in its own right with a line of smaller, sportier cars. In the U.S. it markets six passenger cars and five crossovers with idiosyncratic names like Borrego, Rondo, and Soul, and has built its own U.S. plant in West Point, Ga.
Kias are typically priced below competing models and, loaded with options and carrying a strong warranty, represent an attractive value. From its U.S. market debut in February 1994, Kia has expanded methodically to become the eighth-most-popular brand in the U.S., outselling such stalwarts as Jeep, Subaru, and Lexus. Through November its sales had risen 8%.
How do the Koreans do it? In addition to getting big, Hyundai has gotten good. Once known as a cheap and cheerful brand that offered a comprehensive warranty to make up for mechanical shortcomings, Hyundai has become a respected name and a smart buy.
"Hyundai is a brand that is on the verge of being aspirational," says New York--based consultant and investor John Casesa. "People are saying they are proud to own it, not just to settle for it."
The evidence can be seen in the strengthening demographics of Hyundai owners. Last year some 49% were college graduates, compared with just 36% in 1999. By comparison, Toyota has a higher percentage of college grads -- 57% -- but the number hasn't grown much, up only two percentage points in 10 years.
New leadership, new focus
Hyundai's success reflects a shift in attitude that occurred nearly a decade ago. In the 1990s the company was more interested in how many cars it could build than in how good it could make them. That changed in 1999 when founder Ju-Yung Chung passed corporate leadership to his son, Mong-Koo Chung.
According to company lore, the younger Chung decreed that Hyundai would henceforth concentrate on quality, not volume. With the chairman behind the push, and with its characteristic intensity, Hyundai went after quality improvements with a vengeance.
Hyundai benchmarked Toyota, then the industry's quality leader, to understand its processes. It installed Six Sigma at its engineering center to measure its improvement. It made quality a cross-functional responsibility, with involvement from procurement, finance, and sales and marketing. It enlisted outside suppliers and put them together with designers and engineers to work out problems before they occurred. Quality oversight meetings, which had been poorly attended, became must-go events after chairman Chung began to show up for twice-monthly gatherings.
Three years ago legal problems diverted Chung from his quality push. In May 2006 he was indicted on charges of embezzling some $100 million from Hyundai and its subsidiaries for a political slush fund. He was detained by authorities for two months before being released on bail. The following February he was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison. But an appeals court decided that he was too valuable to the Korean economy to be incarcerated and suspended his sentence.
At 71, Chung still takes an active role in the company. He typically arrives in the office by 6:30 a.m. and gets frequent briefings from the CEOs of Hyundai and Kia, as well as their subsidiaries. He has taken a particular interest in a new $5 billion mill being built by Hyundai Steel to make lightweight, high-tensile steel for automobiles, and travels to the construction site by helicopter as often as four times a week.
Chung, who rarely gives interviews to English-language publications, spoke with Fortune through an interpreter from his penthouse office in the Hyundai tower. Chung attributes his company's success to the investment it has made in improving its products. He believes that Hyundai's quality, as well as its technology, "are head to head with Toyota at this moment," a statement he makes with some confidence since "we are monitoring what is going on with Toyota all the time."
Asked what scares Hyundai the most, he replied, "The thing we fear is uncertainty. There are many announcements about demand shrinking, and all the numbers are different."
Hyundai's quality success is a testament to the power of focused management and aggressive goals. In 2001 Hyundai ranked 32nd out of 37 brands in J.D. Power's study of new vehicle quality after 90 days of ownership -- close to the bottom. As its quality efforts took hold, it began moving up the list, and it achieved a breakthrough in 2004 when it reached seventh place. Since then, Hyundai has placed third in 2006 and then fourth in 2009, displacing Toyota as the highest- ranked mass-market brand in the world. (Three luxury brands -- Lexus, Porsche, and Cadillac -- finished ahead of it.)
Characteristically, Hyundai is aiming yet higher. It has developed a two-part quality target it calls GQ 3-3-5-5, as Joon-Sang Kim, executive vice president of Hyundai-Kia's Quality Division, explained in an interview. Hyundai aims to finish in the top three in actual quality within three years as measured by Power's dependability survey -- and to finish in the top five in perceived quality in five years.
The first goal seems achievable. Hyundai has had solid, if unspectacular, success in the Power study, which measures problems experienced by original owners of three-year-old vehicles. From a rank of 35th out of 38 in 2001, it moved up to 20th by 2006 and kept climbing, finishing in 14th place in 2009.
Moving into the top five in perceived quality will be more difficult. That's because the rankings are based on the way outsiders perceive Hyundai. This year Hyundai ranked 11th in the brand-evaluation analysis performed by ALG (Automotive Lease Guide), which determines the residual value of cars for lease purposes.
At Hyundai Motor America's headquarters in Fountain Valley, Calif., the managers are learning they have to run fast to keep up with their Korean bosses. "Hyundai is an ambitious company that looks for boldness and leadership," says John Krafcik, president and CEO, who once referred to his employer as the "hardest-working company on the planet."
Having toiled under Jac Nasser at Ford, Krafcik, 48, is an expert on boldness and hard work, and he knows the industry from the inside out. Trained at MIT, he visited assembly plants around the world for the 1989 study "The Machine That Changed the World," about the Toyota manufacturing system, and he coined the term "lean production."
Krafcik joined Hyundai after 14 years at Ford overseeing development of SUVs, and he ascended to the top job at Hyundai America after one of its periodic management shakeups, the fifth in six years.
After working in Detroit's belt-and-suspenders culture, the boyish Krafcik delights in the challenges presented by Hyundai's determination to break rules. "One of the reasons we move fast is fewer people," says Krafcik. "Speed doesn't suffer bureaucrats well."
A willingness to take risks also keeps things moving. "Typically," adds Krafcik, "when we set targets, we haven't yet made a plan for how to get there." Krafcik says that when the company vowed to achieve a corporate fleet average fuel economy of 35 miles per gallon by 2015, a year ahead of the government deadline, it wasn't sure how it would do it.
Hyundai also likes to wait until the last possible moment to make decisions. "When developing a new model," says Krafcik, "companies typically sign off on the characteristics of the powertrain 4 1/2 months before production. Hyundai waits until a month ahead so that it can incorporate the most recent performance data." It's a technique that allows it to stay close to its customers, but it also increases the likelihood of mistakes.
Nothing shows off Hyundai's opportunistic culture better than its U.S. marketing team. Headed by Joel Ewanick, who joined Hyundai in February 2007 after stints at Porsche, Yamaha, and Hinckley Yachts, it operates like the war room of a political campaign, making lightning strikes when it sees an opportunity.
A year ago it noticed growing fears among customers about unemployment, so it developed a program that allowed them to return their new Hyundais risk-free if they lose their jobs. Pulling together such a program -- which included production of a TV commercial shown during the 2009 Super Bowl -- would take several months at other companies, but Hyundai marketers got the job done in 37 days. The campaign, called "Assurance," won Hyundai enormous amounts of attention and goodwill, even though only about 100 customers returned their cars.
Ewanick, 49, says programs like that are vital because buyers no longer respond to traditional cash and interest-rate promotions. He is looking for new ways to create showroom traffic. Last summer he devised the "Assurance Gas Lock," which guaranteed customers $1.49-a-gallon gasoline for a year.
Then Hyundai beat the government's Cash for Clunkers program to the punch by offering tax credits to buyers several weeks before the program started. "Customers want to be involved with the brand," says Ewanick. "Incentives aren't enough. We want to break away and have Hyundai be considered as more than a car company."
That doesn't mean that Hyundai doesn't use incentives -- and use them very effectively. It just does so where the consumer can't see them but where they drive down the transaction price.
Consultant Kimberly Rodriguez of Grant Thornton in Detroit cites data showing that Hyundai was spending $2,825 per car on incentives for the first 10 months of 2009 -- more than any other Asian manufacturer -- and selling lots of excess production into rental-car fleets. "They are clearly taking advantage of a lull in the action," says Rodriguez, "and with currency in their favor, they can afford to do it."
Whatever the attraction, customers seem to be getting a new message about Hyundai. Five years ago Hyundai was known for its low prices, so-so quality, and a 100,000-mile powertrain warranty. Today, Ewanick says, Hyundai stands for softer, more positive qualities like smart, fresh, and high-tech. "Consumers," he says, "want brands that feel the same way they do about society and the environment. But they don't want to pay for it."
Labor union disputes to Genesis' success
The automaker's origins date back to the Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. (Hyundai means "modernity" in Korean), which was founded after World War II and created Hyundai Motor in 1967. Thanks to high tariffs that rebuffed foreign manufacturers, the motor company thrived and was spun off as a separate enterprise in 1998.
That same year it acquired a controlling stake in rival Kia, which was struggling from the Asian financial crisis. Gradually the two companies are consolidating around common functions for economies of scale, but they are keeping the Hyundai and Kia brands separate for marketing and distribution purposes: Hyundai is positioned as the responsible adult, while Kia is the mischievous adolescent.
Hyundai's growth was accompanied by a decade of labor union disputes that produced paralyzing strikes. Labor rights in South Korea had been long suppressed, and a series of healthy pay increases kept its militant labor unions at bay until the mid-1990s.
But the financial crisis as well as an industry slump brought the strikers out in force, and Hyundai was hit by a seemingly endless number of work stoppages. A 47-day walkout in 2003 cost Hyundai an estimated $1.2 billion in exports. Since then a measure of labor peace has been restored. The strikes haven't become a thing of the past -- there is usually one a year -- but the level of vitriol has been reduced.
In the U.S., Hyundai spun its wheels for a decade after the Excel fiasco, selling inexpensive cars to lower-income customers as it churned through a succession of U.S. sales executives who failed to meet its aggressive targets. But along with improved quality, Hyundai began to pay attention to international designs with greater market appeal. Its cars developed cleaner lines with more elegant details as Hyundai moved away from traditional Korean styles, which tend to be baroque and fussy.
The two trends -- better quality, sharper designs -- came vividly together in 2008 with the launch of the Genesis sedan. A step up from the midsize Sonata, Hyundai's best U.S. seller, the Genesis is powered by a V-6 engine (with an optional V-8) and is designed to compete in the so-called entry luxe segment with cars like the Lexus ES 350.
The journalists who judge the North American Car of the Year competition made it the surprise winner in 2009, an award Ewanick and his team promptly made a centerpiece of their advertising. With a starting price of $32,250, the Genesis was recognized by customers as an attractive value, and they have been buying more than 1,500 units a month. The success of the Genesis in such a highly competitive segment signaled Hyundai's arrival as a top-tier manufacturer.
Speedy in most matters, Hyundai has been a laggard when it comes to developing alternative-fuel vehicles. It didn't introduce its first fuel-saving hybrid until last summer, a decade after Toyota started selling the Prius. Typically, Hyundai's ambitions remain huge. Despite its late start, it has stated its intention to sell 500,000 hybrids a year by 2018. Hyundai has developed a lithium-polymer battery that is 40% smaller and weighs 35% less than conventional nickel-metal-hydride ones used in the Toyota Prius.
A wave of new models should keep both Hyundai and Kia hustling over the next few years. The two companies are due to turn over their entire U.S. product line in the course of the next four years, the highest replacement rate in the industry, according to a forecast by Merrill Lynch/Bank of America's John Lynch. He sees Hyundai and Kia gaining 3 1/2 points of market share over the span. That would be enough to vault the Koreans past Chrysler and Nissan into fifth place in the U.S., with a share of 10.8% by 2013.
The old bumper sticker used to preach that speed kills, but Hyundai shows no signs of slowing down -- and so far has no need to report any casualties.
By Alex Taylor III
money.cnn.com
Parts shipments are tracked from the time they leave the supplier until they reach a plant. Cameras peer into assembly lines from Beijing to Montgomery and keep a close watch on Hyundai's giant Ulsan, Korea, plant, the world's largest integrated auto factory and the scene of frequent labor unrest.
Are competitors' spies lurking? The GCCC watches over Hyundai R&D activities in Europe, Japan, and North America, as well as its sprawling, 4,300-acre test facility in California's Mojave Desert, with its 6.4-mile oval track.
Almost no outsiders, and certainly no visitors from Fortune, are allowed inside the GCCC to view the operation firsthand. Hyundai employees aren't even supposed to talk about it. But its existence says volumes about how Hyundai views itself and the rest of the world.
Hyundai is a confident, hyperaggressive company that not only wants to win, it expects to win. By monitoring operations in real time, Hyundai can identify problems in an instant and react quickly. It is a different philosophy for an auto company. Whereas Toyota (TM) thrives on consistency and Honda (HMC) on innovation, Hyundai is all about aggressiveness and speed.
These days Hyundai (rhymes with "Sunday") could get ticketed for exceeding the limit. Powered by a weak Korean won and a revitalized product line, it is ramping up volumes in major markets around the world.
Along with sister company Kia, of which it owns 39%, Hyundai has a hammerlock on Korea, with 80% of sales this year. In the U.S. generous incentives for retail customers and fleet purchases have pushed sales up a strong 7% in a market down 24%. November was a spectacular month: Hyundai brand sales jumped 46% from the previous year, and Kia rose 18%.
In China, where auto sales have skyrocketed this year thanks to government stimulus, Hyundai leaped 150% in September, leaving the company in second place, behind Volkswagen, among international automakers.
Behind the scenes at Hyundai
To take advantage of its momentum, Hyundai is pushing new models out of its factories faster and faster. American customers got to see the slick new 2011 Sonata in December, two months ahead of schedule, because, in an unusual move, Hyundai sped up the start of production.
Automakers hate to interfere with factory schedules because it is expensive, disrupts the flow of parts, and invites assembly problems. But Hyundai decided to move ahead. It was receiving good reads on early quality checks, suppliers showed ample stocks of parts, and engineers had prepped its Alabama plant. Speed became a competitive advantage.
Moving quickly and boldly has made Hyundai Motor Co. the fastest-growing major automaker in the world. Amid the global sales slump, it made a record $832 million in the third quarter ended Sept. 30. Analysts expect its net profits to rise almost 40% this year.
Despite its relative youth -- it is only 43 years old -- Hyundai already ranks fifth in volume among the world's auto producers, according to IHS Global Insight, and passed 107-year-old Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) in 2009 to move into fourth place. Years ago Toyota used to say that Hyundai was the company it feared most. Today those fears have grown into a nightmare.
Despite their success, Hyundai executives keep pushing for more. Hyundai and Kia currently have capacity for 5.8 million cars and trucks. "We want to grow to 6.5 million units in two years," says Steve Yang, president and CEO, over a traditional multicourse Korean lunch at a small restaurant in Seoul.
Since Hyundai was expected to produce 5.2 million vehicles in 2009, that means a steep ramp-up if it wants to operate at full capacity. Western auto experts cringe at such a notion, because a big increase in volume can compromise quality and dilute brand equity. But Yang made the pledge with a smile as if he were merely exchanging polite chitchat. At Hyundai, it is understood that impossible targets are part of its way of doing business.
Sometimes speeding leads to accidents. Hyundai entered the U.S. market in 1986 with a single model, the Excel, which sold for $4,995 -- a price that so captivated bargain-minded Americans that Hyundai set a first-year record by selling 126,000 cars.
Its second year in business, Hyundai adopted the slogan "Cars that make sense" and set another record, selling 264,000 Excels. In its haste to grow, Hyundai made two near-fatal errors. It made fragile cars and sold them to noncreditworthy customers. When the cars were repossessed, their quality was so poor that they were worth less than the outstanding loans.
Hyundai is making another big gamble this year by introducing a premium luxury car called the Equus that is priced thousands of dollars higher than any car Hyundai has sold before. The Equus (Latin for "horse"), expected to cost around $60,000, will cost more than most Cadillacs and is designed to compete with top-of-the-line models marketed by Mercedes, BMW, and Audi that sell for $20,000 more.
Depending on your point of view, the introduction of the Equus is either ambitious, arrogant, or ignorant. Popular brands like Hyundai are not supposed to stretch into premium luxury territory; consumers want a prestige label when they pay a prestige price. Volkswagen found that out a couple of years ago when it tried to sell a $70,000 car called the Phaeton. Despite its technical excellence, potential buyers didn't associate the people's car with a high-priced sedan.
Test-driving the Equus
Judged on its merits, not its image, the Equus is a winner. Fortune had an opportunity to test one in Korea and found it surprisingly competitive with German luxury sedans under normal driving conditions.
The exterior could go on a chrome diet, but otherwise the Equus adheres to the conservative design standards required for luxury cars. The interior is best in class, intelligently crafted from fine materials and smartly laid out. The spacious rear seat, where many Asian buyers will spend their time, is equipped with a variety of diversionary devices, including one that provides a back massage.
Powered by a smooth, quiet, 4.6-liter V-8, the Equus should appeal to customers for whom value is a higher priority than association with a three-pointed star or dual-kidney grille.
No such identity crisis faces Kia, which got its start as a bicycle manufacturer and has become a power in its own right with a line of smaller, sportier cars. In the U.S. it markets six passenger cars and five crossovers with idiosyncratic names like Borrego, Rondo, and Soul, and has built its own U.S. plant in West Point, Ga.
Kias are typically priced below competing models and, loaded with options and carrying a strong warranty, represent an attractive value. From its U.S. market debut in February 1994, Kia has expanded methodically to become the eighth-most-popular brand in the U.S., outselling such stalwarts as Jeep, Subaru, and Lexus. Through November its sales had risen 8%.
How do the Koreans do it? In addition to getting big, Hyundai has gotten good. Once known as a cheap and cheerful brand that offered a comprehensive warranty to make up for mechanical shortcomings, Hyundai has become a respected name and a smart buy.
"Hyundai is a brand that is on the verge of being aspirational," says New York--based consultant and investor John Casesa. "People are saying they are proud to own it, not just to settle for it."
The evidence can be seen in the strengthening demographics of Hyundai owners. Last year some 49% were college graduates, compared with just 36% in 1999. By comparison, Toyota has a higher percentage of college grads -- 57% -- but the number hasn't grown much, up only two percentage points in 10 years.
New leadership, new focus
Hyundai's success reflects a shift in attitude that occurred nearly a decade ago. In the 1990s the company was more interested in how many cars it could build than in how good it could make them. That changed in 1999 when founder Ju-Yung Chung passed corporate leadership to his son, Mong-Koo Chung.
According to company lore, the younger Chung decreed that Hyundai would henceforth concentrate on quality, not volume. With the chairman behind the push, and with its characteristic intensity, Hyundai went after quality improvements with a vengeance.
Hyundai benchmarked Toyota, then the industry's quality leader, to understand its processes. It installed Six Sigma at its engineering center to measure its improvement. It made quality a cross-functional responsibility, with involvement from procurement, finance, and sales and marketing. It enlisted outside suppliers and put them together with designers and engineers to work out problems before they occurred. Quality oversight meetings, which had been poorly attended, became must-go events after chairman Chung began to show up for twice-monthly gatherings.
Three years ago legal problems diverted Chung from his quality push. In May 2006 he was indicted on charges of embezzling some $100 million from Hyundai and its subsidiaries for a political slush fund. He was detained by authorities for two months before being released on bail. The following February he was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison. But an appeals court decided that he was too valuable to the Korean economy to be incarcerated and suspended his sentence.
At 71, Chung still takes an active role in the company. He typically arrives in the office by 6:30 a.m. and gets frequent briefings from the CEOs of Hyundai and Kia, as well as their subsidiaries. He has taken a particular interest in a new $5 billion mill being built by Hyundai Steel to make lightweight, high-tensile steel for automobiles, and travels to the construction site by helicopter as often as four times a week.
Chung, who rarely gives interviews to English-language publications, spoke with Fortune through an interpreter from his penthouse office in the Hyundai tower. Chung attributes his company's success to the investment it has made in improving its products. He believes that Hyundai's quality, as well as its technology, "are head to head with Toyota at this moment," a statement he makes with some confidence since "we are monitoring what is going on with Toyota all the time."
Asked what scares Hyundai the most, he replied, "The thing we fear is uncertainty. There are many announcements about demand shrinking, and all the numbers are different."
Hyundai's quality success is a testament to the power of focused management and aggressive goals. In 2001 Hyundai ranked 32nd out of 37 brands in J.D. Power's study of new vehicle quality after 90 days of ownership -- close to the bottom. As its quality efforts took hold, it began moving up the list, and it achieved a breakthrough in 2004 when it reached seventh place. Since then, Hyundai has placed third in 2006 and then fourth in 2009, displacing Toyota as the highest- ranked mass-market brand in the world. (Three luxury brands -- Lexus, Porsche, and Cadillac -- finished ahead of it.)
Characteristically, Hyundai is aiming yet higher. It has developed a two-part quality target it calls GQ 3-3-5-5, as Joon-Sang Kim, executive vice president of Hyundai-Kia's Quality Division, explained in an interview. Hyundai aims to finish in the top three in actual quality within three years as measured by Power's dependability survey -- and to finish in the top five in perceived quality in five years.
The first goal seems achievable. Hyundai has had solid, if unspectacular, success in the Power study, which measures problems experienced by original owners of three-year-old vehicles. From a rank of 35th out of 38 in 2001, it moved up to 20th by 2006 and kept climbing, finishing in 14th place in 2009.
Moving into the top five in perceived quality will be more difficult. That's because the rankings are based on the way outsiders perceive Hyundai. This year Hyundai ranked 11th in the brand-evaluation analysis performed by ALG (Automotive Lease Guide), which determines the residual value of cars for lease purposes.
At Hyundai Motor America's headquarters in Fountain Valley, Calif., the managers are learning they have to run fast to keep up with their Korean bosses. "Hyundai is an ambitious company that looks for boldness and leadership," says John Krafcik, president and CEO, who once referred to his employer as the "hardest-working company on the planet."
Having toiled under Jac Nasser at Ford, Krafcik, 48, is an expert on boldness and hard work, and he knows the industry from the inside out. Trained at MIT, he visited assembly plants around the world for the 1989 study "The Machine That Changed the World," about the Toyota manufacturing system, and he coined the term "lean production."
Krafcik joined Hyundai after 14 years at Ford overseeing development of SUVs, and he ascended to the top job at Hyundai America after one of its periodic management shakeups, the fifth in six years.
After working in Detroit's belt-and-suspenders culture, the boyish Krafcik delights in the challenges presented by Hyundai's determination to break rules. "One of the reasons we move fast is fewer people," says Krafcik. "Speed doesn't suffer bureaucrats well."
A willingness to take risks also keeps things moving. "Typically," adds Krafcik, "when we set targets, we haven't yet made a plan for how to get there." Krafcik says that when the company vowed to achieve a corporate fleet average fuel economy of 35 miles per gallon by 2015, a year ahead of the government deadline, it wasn't sure how it would do it.
Hyundai also likes to wait until the last possible moment to make decisions. "When developing a new model," says Krafcik, "companies typically sign off on the characteristics of the powertrain 4 1/2 months before production. Hyundai waits until a month ahead so that it can incorporate the most recent performance data." It's a technique that allows it to stay close to its customers, but it also increases the likelihood of mistakes.
Nothing shows off Hyundai's opportunistic culture better than its U.S. marketing team. Headed by Joel Ewanick, who joined Hyundai in February 2007 after stints at Porsche, Yamaha, and Hinckley Yachts, it operates like the war room of a political campaign, making lightning strikes when it sees an opportunity.
A year ago it noticed growing fears among customers about unemployment, so it developed a program that allowed them to return their new Hyundais risk-free if they lose their jobs. Pulling together such a program -- which included production of a TV commercial shown during the 2009 Super Bowl -- would take several months at other companies, but Hyundai marketers got the job done in 37 days. The campaign, called "Assurance," won Hyundai enormous amounts of attention and goodwill, even though only about 100 customers returned their cars.
Ewanick, 49, says programs like that are vital because buyers no longer respond to traditional cash and interest-rate promotions. He is looking for new ways to create showroom traffic. Last summer he devised the "Assurance Gas Lock," which guaranteed customers $1.49-a-gallon gasoline for a year.
Then Hyundai beat the government's Cash for Clunkers program to the punch by offering tax credits to buyers several weeks before the program started. "Customers want to be involved with the brand," says Ewanick. "Incentives aren't enough. We want to break away and have Hyundai be considered as more than a car company."
That doesn't mean that Hyundai doesn't use incentives -- and use them very effectively. It just does so where the consumer can't see them but where they drive down the transaction price.
Consultant Kimberly Rodriguez of Grant Thornton in Detroit cites data showing that Hyundai was spending $2,825 per car on incentives for the first 10 months of 2009 -- more than any other Asian manufacturer -- and selling lots of excess production into rental-car fleets. "They are clearly taking advantage of a lull in the action," says Rodriguez, "and with currency in their favor, they can afford to do it."
Whatever the attraction, customers seem to be getting a new message about Hyundai. Five years ago Hyundai was known for its low prices, so-so quality, and a 100,000-mile powertrain warranty. Today, Ewanick says, Hyundai stands for softer, more positive qualities like smart, fresh, and high-tech. "Consumers," he says, "want brands that feel the same way they do about society and the environment. But they don't want to pay for it."
Labor union disputes to Genesis' success
The automaker's origins date back to the Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. (Hyundai means "modernity" in Korean), which was founded after World War II and created Hyundai Motor in 1967. Thanks to high tariffs that rebuffed foreign manufacturers, the motor company thrived and was spun off as a separate enterprise in 1998.
That same year it acquired a controlling stake in rival Kia, which was struggling from the Asian financial crisis. Gradually the two companies are consolidating around common functions for economies of scale, but they are keeping the Hyundai and Kia brands separate for marketing and distribution purposes: Hyundai is positioned as the responsible adult, while Kia is the mischievous adolescent.
Hyundai's growth was accompanied by a decade of labor union disputes that produced paralyzing strikes. Labor rights in South Korea had been long suppressed, and a series of healthy pay increases kept its militant labor unions at bay until the mid-1990s.
But the financial crisis as well as an industry slump brought the strikers out in force, and Hyundai was hit by a seemingly endless number of work stoppages. A 47-day walkout in 2003 cost Hyundai an estimated $1.2 billion in exports. Since then a measure of labor peace has been restored. The strikes haven't become a thing of the past -- there is usually one a year -- but the level of vitriol has been reduced.
In the U.S., Hyundai spun its wheels for a decade after the Excel fiasco, selling inexpensive cars to lower-income customers as it churned through a succession of U.S. sales executives who failed to meet its aggressive targets. But along with improved quality, Hyundai began to pay attention to international designs with greater market appeal. Its cars developed cleaner lines with more elegant details as Hyundai moved away from traditional Korean styles, which tend to be baroque and fussy.
The two trends -- better quality, sharper designs -- came vividly together in 2008 with the launch of the Genesis sedan. A step up from the midsize Sonata, Hyundai's best U.S. seller, the Genesis is powered by a V-6 engine (with an optional V-8) and is designed to compete in the so-called entry luxe segment with cars like the Lexus ES 350.
The journalists who judge the North American Car of the Year competition made it the surprise winner in 2009, an award Ewanick and his team promptly made a centerpiece of their advertising. With a starting price of $32,250, the Genesis was recognized by customers as an attractive value, and they have been buying more than 1,500 units a month. The success of the Genesis in such a highly competitive segment signaled Hyundai's arrival as a top-tier manufacturer.
Speedy in most matters, Hyundai has been a laggard when it comes to developing alternative-fuel vehicles. It didn't introduce its first fuel-saving hybrid until last summer, a decade after Toyota started selling the Prius. Typically, Hyundai's ambitions remain huge. Despite its late start, it has stated its intention to sell 500,000 hybrids a year by 2018. Hyundai has developed a lithium-polymer battery that is 40% smaller and weighs 35% less than conventional nickel-metal-hydride ones used in the Toyota Prius.
A wave of new models should keep both Hyundai and Kia hustling over the next few years. The two companies are due to turn over their entire U.S. product line in the course of the next four years, the highest replacement rate in the industry, according to a forecast by Merrill Lynch/Bank of America's John Lynch. He sees Hyundai and Kia gaining 3 1/2 points of market share over the span. That would be enough to vault the Koreans past Chrysler and Nissan into fifth place in the U.S., with a share of 10.8% by 2013.
The old bumper sticker used to preach that speed kills, but Hyundai shows no signs of slowing down -- and so far has no need to report any casualties.
By Alex Taylor III
money.cnn.com
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Hyundai Assurance Enhanced for 2010
Expanded protection includes America's Best Warranty™, vehicle return and Roadside Assistance, creating the most comprehensive consumer safety net in the industry
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., 12/29/2009 Hyundai Motor America will expand Hyundai Assurance in 2010 to include America's Best Warranty™ and 24-hour Roadside Assistance. These programs will join the innovative vehicle return program, initiated in January 2009 to protect consumers in an uncertain economic environment, as complimentary services on every Hyundai model sold in the United States. The suite of protection now offered under Hyundai Assurance provides the most comprehensive safety net in the industry, all at no additional cost to the consumer.
Hyundai will extend the vehicle return option through 2010, continuing the unique program that permits Hyundai customers to return their new vehicle if they unexpectedly lose their income. The program set a trend in early 2009 for similar consumer guarantees from airlines, retailers and other automakers looking to alleviate the stress of making a significant purchase during a recession. Hyundai sales increased 6.2 percent through November, improving market share faster than any other automaker in 2009, in part due to the strength of Hyundai Assurance.
"Hyundai Assurance represents our complete commitment to our customers, with job-loss vehicle return coverage, five years of roadside assistance, and our industry-leading 10-year warranty," said John Krafcik, president and CEO, Hyundai Motor America. "Assurance shows that we're doing things a little bit differently at Hyundai, and this is making a difference in our business results. You can expect more of this in 2010, starting with the all-new Tucson and Sonata."
For 2010, Hyundai Assurance coverage includes:
America's Best Warranty™
The warranty that changed the industry at its inception in 1999 now headlines a suite of protection programs under the Hyundai Assurance umbrella. America's Best Warranty is highlighted by a fully transferrable five-year, 60,000-mile new vehicle warranty to repair or replace components manufactured or originally installed by Hyundai that are defective in material or factory workmanship, under normal use and maintenance. Additionally, new Hyundai buyers are covered by 10-year, 100,000-mile powertrain coverage which includes repair or replacement of Hyundai-manufactured or installed powertrain components (i.e., selected engine and transmission/transaxle components) under normal use and maintenance. Other coverage includes seven-year, unlimited miles anti-perforation warranty, 12-month, 12,000-mile replacement parts and accessory limited warranty, and eight-year, 80,000-mile federal emission and performance warranty. For full details about America's Best Warranty, please see: http://www.hyundaiusa.com/warranty.aspx.
Vehicle Return Program
The Hyundai Assurance vehicle return program, the first of its kind for an automaker in the U.S., returns for 2010. The coverage allows consumers to walk away from a financing obligation when certain adverse life events occur, such as involuntary unemployment, providing protection from financial shortfalls that arise from vehicle depreciation (negative equity) up to $7,500. Hyundai Assurance will remain standard protection on new vehicles financed or leased from a participating Hyundai dealer, and supplements all existing consumer incentives. The program is available to any consumer, regardless of age, health, employment history or financed amount of the vehicle. The program is complimentary for the first 12 months of the financing or lease date for vehicles financed through any lender and financing source.
The Hyundai Assurance vehicle return program is administered by WALKAWAY USA, LLC. For more details, please visit www.HyundaiUSA.com or www.HyundaiAssurance.com.
Roadside Assistance
If for any reason a new Hyundai becomes disabled, owners have a safety net with five years of 24-hour roadside assistance. Roadside assistance offers drivers peace of mind under the following circumstances:
* Towing for inoperable vehicles, including accidents
* Battery jump starts
* Change flat tire
* Lock-out assistance
* Out of gas assistance
* Trip interruption
HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA
Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through more than 790 dealerships nationwide.
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., 12/29/2009 Hyundai Motor America will expand Hyundai Assurance in 2010 to include America's Best Warranty™ and 24-hour Roadside Assistance. These programs will join the innovative vehicle return program, initiated in January 2009 to protect consumers in an uncertain economic environment, as complimentary services on every Hyundai model sold in the United States. The suite of protection now offered under Hyundai Assurance provides the most comprehensive safety net in the industry, all at no additional cost to the consumer.
Hyundai will extend the vehicle return option through 2010, continuing the unique program that permits Hyundai customers to return their new vehicle if they unexpectedly lose their income. The program set a trend in early 2009 for similar consumer guarantees from airlines, retailers and other automakers looking to alleviate the stress of making a significant purchase during a recession. Hyundai sales increased 6.2 percent through November, improving market share faster than any other automaker in 2009, in part due to the strength of Hyundai Assurance.
"Hyundai Assurance represents our complete commitment to our customers, with job-loss vehicle return coverage, five years of roadside assistance, and our industry-leading 10-year warranty," said John Krafcik, president and CEO, Hyundai Motor America. "Assurance shows that we're doing things a little bit differently at Hyundai, and this is making a difference in our business results. You can expect more of this in 2010, starting with the all-new Tucson and Sonata."
For 2010, Hyundai Assurance coverage includes:
America's Best Warranty™
The warranty that changed the industry at its inception in 1999 now headlines a suite of protection programs under the Hyundai Assurance umbrella. America's Best Warranty is highlighted by a fully transferrable five-year, 60,000-mile new vehicle warranty to repair or replace components manufactured or originally installed by Hyundai that are defective in material or factory workmanship, under normal use and maintenance. Additionally, new Hyundai buyers are covered by 10-year, 100,000-mile powertrain coverage which includes repair or replacement of Hyundai-manufactured or installed powertrain components (i.e., selected engine and transmission/transaxle components) under normal use and maintenance. Other coverage includes seven-year, unlimited miles anti-perforation warranty, 12-month, 12,000-mile replacement parts and accessory limited warranty, and eight-year, 80,000-mile federal emission and performance warranty. For full details about America's Best Warranty, please see: http://www.hyundaiusa.com/warranty.aspx.
Vehicle Return Program
The Hyundai Assurance vehicle return program, the first of its kind for an automaker in the U.S., returns for 2010. The coverage allows consumers to walk away from a financing obligation when certain adverse life events occur, such as involuntary unemployment, providing protection from financial shortfalls that arise from vehicle depreciation (negative equity) up to $7,500. Hyundai Assurance will remain standard protection on new vehicles financed or leased from a participating Hyundai dealer, and supplements all existing consumer incentives. The program is available to any consumer, regardless of age, health, employment history or financed amount of the vehicle. The program is complimentary for the first 12 months of the financing or lease date for vehicles financed through any lender and financing source.
The Hyundai Assurance vehicle return program is administered by WALKAWAY USA, LLC. For more details, please visit www.HyundaiUSA.com or www.HyundaiAssurance.com.
Roadside Assistance
If for any reason a new Hyundai becomes disabled, owners have a safety net with five years of 24-hour roadside assistance. Roadside assistance offers drivers peace of mind under the following circumstances:
* Towing for inoperable vehicles, including accidents
* Battery jump starts
* Change flat tire
* Lock-out assistance
* Out of gas assistance
* Trip interruption
HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA
Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through more than 790 dealerships nationwide.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Hyundai Tucson proves it's time to buy a Hyundai
BEVERLY HILLS -- Hyundai needed a more-competitive small crossover-utility vehicle to get U.S. buyers to pay attention in a market segment dominated by Honda CR-V, Ford Escape and Toyota RAV4 -- the three best-selling SUVs of any kind.
So the South Korean car company chose a design from its Frankfurt unit and made sure it would accommodate every gadget typical of bigger, fancier machines.
But it did not bother to make room for a V-6. Those are passé at Hyundai these days, and a four-cylinder should be quite enough, thank you.
A variety of preproduction 2010 Tucsons tested around here seemed more refined, more comfortable and more agile than those key competitors.
If you need a third-row seat, though, RAV4 is the only one. Or if you crave a hybrid, help yourself to an Escape. Tote lots of stuff? Tucson's cargo space is some 40% shy of main rivals'.
But if your only hesitation is the thought of snide remarks from outdated others who still think of Hyundai as a second-tier brand, grow up and make your own choice. The naysayers will be on board soon enough.
Perhaps it'll be when they notice the much-longer Hyundai warranty (60,000 miles overall, 100,000 miles powertrain). Or the all-wheel drive (AWD) that lets you lock it into true four-wheel-drive mode (50% of power to each end). And how about fuel-economy ratings 5% to 10% (1 to 3 mpg) better than those of key rivals?
As if trying to dispel the "cheap car" myth, Hyundai picked this hoity-toity locale to present Tucson to journalists. Bit of a reach, the Beverly Hills connection, but the remade Tucson is pretty slick.
The appearance is supposed to be European, though it doesn't look much like what was on the roads during a recent trip to Germany and the U.K.
By whatever name, the styling is dramatic: sweep and swoop and angles and edges. Will it wear well or soon seem outdated? For the moment, it looks good. Oddly color-sensitive. Nice in white, a color worn well by almost no vehicle.
Rear visibility is compromised by the way the sheet metal kicks up beginning at the back edge of the rear door. Pinches down the rear-most side window. Even so, you wouldn't say it's dangerously difficult to see out the back and rear quarter.
What about that four-banger-only business? Tucson has the perverse advantage of comparing the new powertrain with a ho-hum (at best) V-6 in the old Tucson. Wouldn't take much to seem better.
Abetted by Hyundai's self-designed, excellent-shifting, six-speed automatic, the Tucson's 2.4-liter, 176-horsepower four felt lively, smooth and capable in a day rolling up miles on rural canyon roads, freeways and the Pacific Coast Highway in heavy traffic. More pleasant to drive than rivals' four-bangers. All have similar power, but Tucson models generally weigh less. And despite being 3 inches longer and an inch wider, the 2010 Tucson base model weighs 61 pounds less than the 2009.
Did the four feel like a V-6? No. Did that seem to matter? No. Was the experience undercut by any sort of coarse, bust-a-gut roar you often get in four-cylinder vehicles? No. Floor it and go, liking the sound and sensations. Simple and satisfying.
What else the drives showcased:
-Dandy manual. The six-speed stick shift, offered only in the base GLS with front-wheel drive, was an easy joy. Light-touch clutch, little worry about killing the engine or jerky shifts.
-Panoramic sunroof. Hyundai's first. Handsome option for those who can't stand being unenlightened from above.
-Roomy interior. You'd think you were in a midsize machine, especially back-benchers.
-Clean, classy accommodations. Hyundai's a champion at presenting all the dials, instruments and other hoo-hah you need in stunning simplicity that looks and feels inviting.
Favorite example of less-is-more: Manual-shift mode for Tucson's automatic transmission is via the floor lever. Period. No goofy steering-column shift paddles that are useful to Grand Prix racers loath to lift a digit from the wheel at 200 mph but laughably silly in many modern family cars.
-Good down-the-road dynamics. Based on the commendable Elantra chassis, Tucson had modest body lean for an SUV. Electric power steering was well-tuned, with good on-center feel on straight roads and responsive turning and road feel in the snaky stuff. Brakes felt good, though nearly every automaker has room to approach the Audi standard of suddenness in the "whoa" pedal.
-Niggling details. Safety belt for middle rear-rider hangs from the ceiling. Messy looking, distracting in the rearview mirror and a possible entanglement when you fold the back seat.
It's hard to lower windows just-so to prevent whistle or buffeting. Doable, but takes fussing.
Rear seat doesn't slide fore-aft, as rivals' do.
Hyundai's hot. Sales up 6.2%, Autodata says, in an overall market down 23.9% through November. Only others up this year: Kia, 7.2%; Subaru, 13.6%.
The 2010 Tucson suggests that Hyundai will be among the winners for quite some time.
-What? Compact, four-door, five-passenger crossover-utility vehicle that's different in almost every detail from the vehicle of the same name it replaces.
Two flavors: GLS and Limited, each available with front-wheel drive (FWD) or all-wheel drive (AWD).
-When? On sale this month.
-Where? Designed in Frankfurt, tweaked in California, manufactured in Ulsan, South Korea.
-Why? Needed a serious rival to Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4 and Ford Escape, which currently outsell Tucson in the U.S. about 10-to-1.
-How much? Base GLS FWD manual starts at $19,790 including $795 shipping. High-end Limited AWD with premium package is $29,490.
-How potent? Optional V-6 has been discontinued. Only engine is a 2.4-liter four-cylinder that Hyundai calls Theta II, rated 176 horsepower at 6,000 rpm, 168 pounds-feet of torque at 4,000, mated to six-speed automatic transmission with manual-shift mode. Six-speed manual available on GLS FWD only.
-How big? Six inches shorter than CR-V, otherwise similar but has considerably less cargo space. Tucson is 173.2 inches long, 71.7 in. wide, 66.3 in. tall (with roof rails), on a 103.9-in. wheelbase.
Weighs 3,179 to 3,516 lbs.
Passenger space: 101.9 cubic feet. Cargo space: 25.7 cu. ft. behind second row, 55.8 cu. ft. when rear seat's folded.
Tows up to 2,000 lbs. Turning circle diameter, 34.7 ft. Carries 1,091 to 1,294 lbs. of people, cargo and accessories, depending on model.
-How thirsty? FWD automatic rated 23 miles per gallon in town, 31 highway, 26 in combined driving. FWD manual: 22/30/25. AWD automatic: 21/28/24.
Trip computers in preproduction test cars registered:
GLS AWD automatic: 22.3 mpg (4.48 gallons per 100 miles) in mixed driving including suburbs, freeway and winding canyon roads.
GLS FWD manual: 26.8 mpg (3.73 gal./100 mi.) in suburbs during heavy traffic.
Limited AWD automatic: 28.7 mpg (3.48 gal./100 mi.) in a mix of suburbs and winding, hilly canyon roads that were driven mainly in second and third gears.
Burns regular, holds 14.5 gallons.
-Overall: Could be the new champ among small SUVs.
By James R. Healey USA TODAY
So the South Korean car company chose a design from its Frankfurt unit and made sure it would accommodate every gadget typical of bigger, fancier machines.
But it did not bother to make room for a V-6. Those are passé at Hyundai these days, and a four-cylinder should be quite enough, thank you.
A variety of preproduction 2010 Tucsons tested around here seemed more refined, more comfortable and more agile than those key competitors.
If you need a third-row seat, though, RAV4 is the only one. Or if you crave a hybrid, help yourself to an Escape. Tote lots of stuff? Tucson's cargo space is some 40% shy of main rivals'.
But if your only hesitation is the thought of snide remarks from outdated others who still think of Hyundai as a second-tier brand, grow up and make your own choice. The naysayers will be on board soon enough.
Perhaps it'll be when they notice the much-longer Hyundai warranty (60,000 miles overall, 100,000 miles powertrain). Or the all-wheel drive (AWD) that lets you lock it into true four-wheel-drive mode (50% of power to each end). And how about fuel-economy ratings 5% to 10% (1 to 3 mpg) better than those of key rivals?
As if trying to dispel the "cheap car" myth, Hyundai picked this hoity-toity locale to present Tucson to journalists. Bit of a reach, the Beverly Hills connection, but the remade Tucson is pretty slick.
The appearance is supposed to be European, though it doesn't look much like what was on the roads during a recent trip to Germany and the U.K.
By whatever name, the styling is dramatic: sweep and swoop and angles and edges. Will it wear well or soon seem outdated? For the moment, it looks good. Oddly color-sensitive. Nice in white, a color worn well by almost no vehicle.
Rear visibility is compromised by the way the sheet metal kicks up beginning at the back edge of the rear door. Pinches down the rear-most side window. Even so, you wouldn't say it's dangerously difficult to see out the back and rear quarter.
What about that four-banger-only business? Tucson has the perverse advantage of comparing the new powertrain with a ho-hum (at best) V-6 in the old Tucson. Wouldn't take much to seem better.
Abetted by Hyundai's self-designed, excellent-shifting, six-speed automatic, the Tucson's 2.4-liter, 176-horsepower four felt lively, smooth and capable in a day rolling up miles on rural canyon roads, freeways and the Pacific Coast Highway in heavy traffic. More pleasant to drive than rivals' four-bangers. All have similar power, but Tucson models generally weigh less. And despite being 3 inches longer and an inch wider, the 2010 Tucson base model weighs 61 pounds less than the 2009.
Did the four feel like a V-6? No. Did that seem to matter? No. Was the experience undercut by any sort of coarse, bust-a-gut roar you often get in four-cylinder vehicles? No. Floor it and go, liking the sound and sensations. Simple and satisfying.
What else the drives showcased:
-Dandy manual. The six-speed stick shift, offered only in the base GLS with front-wheel drive, was an easy joy. Light-touch clutch, little worry about killing the engine or jerky shifts.
-Panoramic sunroof. Hyundai's first. Handsome option for those who can't stand being unenlightened from above.
-Roomy interior. You'd think you were in a midsize machine, especially back-benchers.
-Clean, classy accommodations. Hyundai's a champion at presenting all the dials, instruments and other hoo-hah you need in stunning simplicity that looks and feels inviting.
Favorite example of less-is-more: Manual-shift mode for Tucson's automatic transmission is via the floor lever. Period. No goofy steering-column shift paddles that are useful to Grand Prix racers loath to lift a digit from the wheel at 200 mph but laughably silly in many modern family cars.
-Good down-the-road dynamics. Based on the commendable Elantra chassis, Tucson had modest body lean for an SUV. Electric power steering was well-tuned, with good on-center feel on straight roads and responsive turning and road feel in the snaky stuff. Brakes felt good, though nearly every automaker has room to approach the Audi standard of suddenness in the "whoa" pedal.
-Niggling details. Safety belt for middle rear-rider hangs from the ceiling. Messy looking, distracting in the rearview mirror and a possible entanglement when you fold the back seat.
It's hard to lower windows just-so to prevent whistle or buffeting. Doable, but takes fussing.
Rear seat doesn't slide fore-aft, as rivals' do.
Hyundai's hot. Sales up 6.2%, Autodata says, in an overall market down 23.9% through November. Only others up this year: Kia, 7.2%; Subaru, 13.6%.
The 2010 Tucson suggests that Hyundai will be among the winners for quite some time.
-What? Compact, four-door, five-passenger crossover-utility vehicle that's different in almost every detail from the vehicle of the same name it replaces.
Two flavors: GLS and Limited, each available with front-wheel drive (FWD) or all-wheel drive (AWD).
-When? On sale this month.
-Where? Designed in Frankfurt, tweaked in California, manufactured in Ulsan, South Korea.
-Why? Needed a serious rival to Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4 and Ford Escape, which currently outsell Tucson in the U.S. about 10-to-1.
-How much? Base GLS FWD manual starts at $19,790 including $795 shipping. High-end Limited AWD with premium package is $29,490.
-How potent? Optional V-6 has been discontinued. Only engine is a 2.4-liter four-cylinder that Hyundai calls Theta II, rated 176 horsepower at 6,000 rpm, 168 pounds-feet of torque at 4,000, mated to six-speed automatic transmission with manual-shift mode. Six-speed manual available on GLS FWD only.
-How big? Six inches shorter than CR-V, otherwise similar but has considerably less cargo space. Tucson is 173.2 inches long, 71.7 in. wide, 66.3 in. tall (with roof rails), on a 103.9-in. wheelbase.
Weighs 3,179 to 3,516 lbs.
Passenger space: 101.9 cubic feet. Cargo space: 25.7 cu. ft. behind second row, 55.8 cu. ft. when rear seat's folded.
Tows up to 2,000 lbs. Turning circle diameter, 34.7 ft. Carries 1,091 to 1,294 lbs. of people, cargo and accessories, depending on model.
-How thirsty? FWD automatic rated 23 miles per gallon in town, 31 highway, 26 in combined driving. FWD manual: 22/30/25. AWD automatic: 21/28/24.
Trip computers in preproduction test cars registered:
GLS AWD automatic: 22.3 mpg (4.48 gallons per 100 miles) in mixed driving including suburbs, freeway and winding canyon roads.
GLS FWD manual: 26.8 mpg (3.73 gal./100 mi.) in suburbs during heavy traffic.
Limited AWD automatic: 28.7 mpg (3.48 gal./100 mi.) in a mix of suburbs and winding, hilly canyon roads that were driven mainly in second and third gears.
Burns regular, holds 14.5 gallons.
-Overall: Could be the new champ among small SUVs.
By James R. Healey USA TODAY
Thursday, December 03, 2009
LAZER 99.3, GARY ROME HYUNDAI, AND THE UNITED STATES MARINES HOST "TOYS TO THE WORLD" TO BENEFIT BRIGHTSIDE
HOLYOKE, MA, DECEMBER 14, 2009: Lazer 99.3's morning host Leslie Hall has been battling afternoon host Pat Kelly to see who can raise more toys for the kids at Brightside this holiday season. Brightside for Families and Children is a prestigious and comprehensive nonprofit child welfare, mental health and family support center offering contemporary services for children, adolescents and their families. Both Leslie and Pat have spent nights at the Holyoke Mall collecting toys this holiday season, and it all comes to a head at one final event on the afternoon of Monday, December 14th from 2PM to 4PM on at Gary Rome Hyundai in Holyoke. Atlantic recording artists Skillet (online at www.skillet.com) as well as independent band Aranda (online at myspace.com/aranda) will each perform acoustic sets in the showroom. The only way to gain admission for these exclusive sets is to bring a new, unwrapped toy to the dealership on the day of the show. Again "Toys to the World" to benefit Brightside takes place Monday, December 14th in the showroom at Gary Rome Hyundai, 1000 Main Street, in Holyoke, Massachusetts.
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
THE 2011 SONATA: THE NEW STANDARD FOR MIDSIZE SEDANS
Sonata Injects Emotion, Advanced Powertrains and Superior Quality into Bland Segment
Hyundai today introduced its all-new 2011 Sonata at the Los Angeles Auto Show. This marks the North American debut of the latest version of the popular midsize sedan, introducing Hyundai's "Fluidic Sculpture" design language and an all four-cylinder engine lineup to the U.S. market.
HIGHLIGHTS FOR 2011 SONATA
* All-new sixth generation Sonata midsize sedan
* Fluidic Sculpture design
* All four-cylinder engine lineup
* Launches with new Theta II 2.4-liter gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine and in-house six-speed automatic transmission
o Class leading fuel economy of 23 mpg city/35 mpg highway*
o Class leading 198 horsepower standard* (200 horsepower on SE trim*)
* 2.0-liter Theta II turbocharged GDI four-cylinder engine and Hybrid Blue Drive models to debut by 2010 year-end
* Production begins at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama in December with retail sales beginning in January
* XM Satellite Radio™, real-time XM NavTraffic, XM Data Services, HD Radio Technology™, Bluetooth®, Touch-screen navigation and iPod®/USB inputs
Sonata is the second vehicle in Hyundai's 24/7 version 2.0 product initiative (seven new models in the next 24 months) following on the heels of the all-new Tucson. Production of Sonata will begin later this month at Hyundai's U.S. plant in Alabama with retail sales beginning in January.
The 2011 Sonata represents a modern approach to the traditional midsize sedan segment by using only advanced four-cylinder engines, emotional design and luxury features offered with Hyundai's strong value proposition. The 2011 Sonata poses some intriguing questions:
* Why can't a smart, solid sedan also have modern, sleek, sophisticated style?
* Why pay so much to get a taste of luxury?
* Why can't an efficient four-cylinder engine give V6 power?
FLUIDIC SCULPTURE DESIGN LANGUAGE
Beginning with the 2011 Sonata and 2010 Tucson projects, Hyundai designers set to work about three and half years ago on Fluidic Sculpture. Fluidic Sculpture is a consistent, cohesive design language that will ripple through the entire Hyundai showroom. In developing the initial Sonata sketches, Hyundai designers considered the interplay of natural, fluid elements with more rigid surfaces and structures to create the illusion of constant motion. Inspired by nature, Fluidic Sculpture injects sophistication and dynamic angles into the shape of a vehicle and now serves as the core of Hyundai's future design identity.
The exterior of the all-new Sonata is long, light and low. The high beltline allows for a long, sleek roofline accented by the third window. A monoform side profile includes flowing lines highlighted by a Hyundai signature chrome accent that spans the length of the car. Normally, this type of trim is only found around the windows. On the new Sonata, this trim extends out from the headlamps, juts up along the hood and through the beltline. The face is bold with a large powerful chrome grille and headlamps that integrate precise details. The stance is completed by 16-, 17- or 18-inch multi-spoke wheels.
The sophisticated look continues inside where Hyundai has created an upscale ambiance thanks to a flow-through center console and instrument panel. These flowing surfaces complement the exterior design and wrap around the driver and passengers.
HYUNDAI PACKAGING EFFICIENCY
The sleek design, combined with Hyundai's expertise in interior packaging, has produced an interior that delivers class-leading comfort, functionality and practicality. A sleek roofline typically compromises headroom and interior volume but, at 120.2 cubic feet, the Sonata has the most interior volume of its key competitors. It is so spacious, Sonata continues to be classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a Large car, truly a "class above" Camry, Altima, Fusion and Malibu (all are categorized as Midsize cars). Even in trunk room, the Sonata shines. Sonata's 16.4 cu. ft. of trunk space gives it a 9.3 percent advantage over the Camry, and a 17.1 percent advantage over Accord.
ADVANCED POWERTRAINS
The new Sonata will launch with Hyundai's new Theta II GDI 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine with a Gasoline Direct-Injection (GDI) fuel delivery system, which contributes to improved fuel efficiency and lower emissions. Sonata is the first midsize sedan to adopt GDI technology as standard equipment in a naturally aspirated powertain. This shorter, more direct path of fuel delivery, allows for greater control of the fuel mixture at the optimum moment, thus improving efficiency. The fuel is injected by a camshaft-driven, high pressure pump that operates at pressures up to 2,175 psi. Direct injection also utilizes a higher than normal 11.3:1 compression ratio for increased power. The pistons are "dished" to increase combustion efficiency in the cylinder. This powerplant will deliver best-in-class fuel economy, best-in-class four-cylinder horsepower and best-in-class torque.
Sonata delivers an impressive 23 mpg city/35 mpg highway estimated fuel economy rating* with the available six-speed automatic transmission with SHIFTRONIC®. (When equipped with the six-speed manual, the Sonata achieves an estimated 23 mpg city/34 mpg highway fuel economy rating). The preliminary horsepower and torque ratings for the Theta II GDI are 198 horsepower and 184 lb.-ft. of torque. In the SE trim which includes a standard dual exhaust, the engine delivers 200 horsepower. This high-tech, all-aluminum, 16-valve engine features Continuously Variable Valve Timing (CVVT) on both camshafts and a Variable Induction System (VIS) for better engine breathing. A version of this engine also meets Partial Zero Emission Vehicle (PZEV) standards.
Next year, Hyundai will add a 2.0-liter Theta II turbocharged GDI four-cylinder engine and a 2.4-liter Hybrid Blue Drive model featuring Hyundai's breakthrough lithium polymer battery pack. Details about these powertrains will be announced at the 2010 New York Auto Show. Sonata's innovative segment first powertrain lineup is a key driver of Hyundai's goal to be the most fuel-efficient automaker on the planet.
SIX-SPEED AUTOMATIC AND MANUAL TRANSMISSIONS
Hyundai's commitment to making the Sonata extremely fuel efficient continues with a six-speed automatic transmission with SHIFTRONIC manual control or a standard six-speed manual transaxle.
Hyundai's all-new six-speed automatic A6MF2 transaxle helps the company meet its goals of improving fuel efficiency and reducing emissions. Shifts are silky-smooth with an option of manual control through the SHIFTRONIC feature.
Drivers can access the SHIFTRONIC feature by moving the gear selector into a separate gate. Pushing the selector forward or pulling it rearward will shift the transmission up or down sequentially, adding to driver control. The SE trim will also feature steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters. A clear LCD readout on the instrument panel shows the gear being used.
Designed for transverse engine applications in passenger cars and SUVs, the new compact transmission puts Hyundai into an elite class of auto manufacturers who have designed their own proprietary six-speed automatic transmissions. The strength of the design is its unique layout which makes it smaller, more compact and lighter than any other six-speed transmission on the market today.
For the customer, the new six-speed delivers a performance edge. In this application, it helps brings a nine percent gain in fuel economy (35 mpg* versus 32 mpg). The gearbox has no dipstick because it is filled with automatic transmission fluid that is good for the life of the vehicle under normal usage conditions, thereby reducing maintenance costs.
Developed over a four-year period, this new six-speed automatic is 26.4 pounds lighter than the five-speed it replaces. It also is 1.6 inches shorter and considerably simpler, having 62 fewer parts, which is a key to increased durability, lighter weight and lower cost.
When it comes to transmissions, more gears are definitely better. The addition of a sixth gear enables closer spacing between gear ratios providing a better balance of performance and fuel economy while the wide overall gear ratio helps deliver strong acceleration.
The gearbox has three planetary gearsets and a unique flat torque converter that shortens the unit's overall length by 0.47 inches. Four pinion differentials improve durability and further minimize size.
Another example of engineering ingenuity is found in the design of the hydraulic pressure control unit. Slight manufacturing deviations from one solenoid valve to the next often times cause fluctuation in the hydraulic pressure and affect shift precision and quality. The transmission featured in the Sonata cleverly integrates adjustment screws in the valves that enable each of the eight valves to be calibrated at the factory. This feature ensures stable hydraulic pressure at any shift point which facilitates a high degree of precision and control needed to deliver fast, smooth and precise shifts throughout the rpm range.
SUPPLE RIDE, AGILE HANDLING
An advanced four-wheel independent suspension system combines a supple ride with precise handling and steering response for Sonata GLS and Limited models. Sonata uses MacPherson strut front and multi-link rear suspension systems with increased travel for improved wheel control and a smoother ride. All four wheels are controlled by coil springs, fade-resistant gas-charged dampers and stabilizer bars. The suspension has been optimized to keep the vehicle flat during corning and provide quick turn-in response. The rear suspension uses aluminum components to reduce weight and improve suspension performance. The GLS and Limited models also use advanced low-rolling resistance tires to improve fuel economy while maintaining good ride and handling performance.
The Sonata SE is an even more exciting and willing partner for drivers who prefer sportier ride and handling dynamics. The sport-tuned suspension features stiffer springs and larger stabilizer bars, resulting in a 20 percent increase in roll stiffness. Unique SE dampers, including monotube shocks in the rear are used to control the more aggressive suspension. Low profile 18-inch tires round out the unique chassis components of the Sonata SE.
All Sonatas have column-mounted, motor-driven electric power steering that adjusts instantly to changing driving conditions while improving fuel economy over a conventional steering system. A quick-ratio steering rack is used for crisp feel on turn-in. Sonata's turning diameter of 35.8 feet is better than Camry, Accord, Altima, Fusion and Malibu.
WORLD CLASS POWER-TO-WEIGHT RATIO
One of the program targets for the 2011 Sonata engineering team was world-class power-to-weight ratio. Power-to-weight ratio pays dividends in both performance and fuel economy.
Sonata is rich in ultra-high-strength steel, leading to world-class body rigidity. The 2011 Sonata is 25 percent stiffer in torsion and 19 percent stiffer in bending rigidity than its predecessor, yet it is lighter than many midsize sedans, also offering more interior room.
This focus on power-to-weight ratio pays dividends across the board. The Sonata owes its ability to deliver both strong performance and excellent fuel economy in great part to its impressive power-to-weight efficiency.
ADVANCED STANDARD SAFETY TECHNOLOGIES: PART OF HYUNDAI'S ASSURANCE COMMITMENT
Sonata is built from the ground up with safety in mind, with a hot stamped ultra-high-strength steel body structure, advanced airbag technology and Electronic Stability Control (ESC), delivering on Hyundai's commitment to both active and passive safety technology leadership. The prior generation Sonata was the first midsize sedan with standard ESC when it launched in March of 2005. ESC was not standard equipment on Honda Accord until the 2008 model year and the 2010 model year for Toyota Camry. Once again every 2011 Sonata has lifesaving ESC as standard equipment. This is important because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has reported that ESC results in 35 percent fewer single-vehicle crashes and 30 percent fewer single-vehicle fatalities in passenger cars.
The Sonata also features a state-of-the-art braking package. The package includes four-wheel disc brakes and an Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) including Brake Assist, which provides maximum braking force when a panic stop is detected, and Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD) to automatically adjust the braking force to front and rear axles based on the vehicle loading conditions.
Sonata features six airbags—including dual front, front seat-mounted side-impact, and front and rear side curtain airbags—along with active front-seat head restraints. The 2011 Hyundai Sonata is projected to earn the NHTSA's top rating of five-stars for front and side impacts. Other passive safety features include shingle-style rear-seat head restraints for improved visibility, three-point seatbelts for all seating positions, front-seat seatbelt pretensioners and force limiters, and a rear-seat Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) system for child seats.
2011 SONATA OFFERS FOUR UNIQUE AUDIO ENVIRONMENTS
* An AM/FM/XM/CD/MP3 audio system with six speakers comes standard in the Sonata GLS and SE.
* AM/FM/XM/CD/MP3 audio system with touch-screen navigation and Dimension® premium sound with subwoofer and external amplifier is optional on the GLS and SE models.
* The Limited model comes standard with an AM/FM/XM/6-disc CD-changer/MP3 with HD Radio Technology and Dimension premium sound.
* The optional AM/FM/XM/CD/MP3 audio system with touch-screen navigation that includes a 400-watt external amplifier system on the Limited comes with Infinity audio.
DIMENSIONAUDIO SYSTEMS
Dimension is a new branded audio system created by Hyundai Mobis and features a Variable Equalizer with normal, dynamic and concert settings. The last generation equalizer provided only one fixed sound field. The new Variable Equalizer, tuned by renowned audiophile Ken Pohlmann, is a function for controlling the sound qualities sensed by listeners. For example, Pohlmann added bass response to the concert mode typically not found in other systems.
INFINITY® AUDIO SYSTEM
Audio enthusiasts with even more demanding tastes will be impressed by the AM/FM/XM/CD/MP3 audio system with touch-screen navigation that includes a 400-watt external amplifier, dedicated Dual Voice Coil (DVC) subwoofer, eight-channels and nine Infinity speakers available on the Limited. Infinity and Hyundai engineers worked together during the early stages of development to integrate the speakers into Sonata's interior. The team spent hundreds of hours fine-tuning the system for the cabin's unique acoustic attributes.
XM, HD RADIO TECHNOLOGY, BLUETOOTH AND TOUCH-SCREEN NAVIGATION DELIVER UNRIVALED MIDSIZE SEDAN TECHNOLOGY CHOICES
* 2011 Sonata comes standard with three months of XM Satellite Radio, real-time XM NavTraffic and XM Data Services
* Sonata also will be the first popular midsize sedan to offer the clarity of digital HD Radio Technology from the factory
* First vehicle in its class to offer a Bluetooth hands-free phone system standard
* Standard auxiliary iPod/USB inputs allow drivers to fully control and charge iPods directly from the head unit
Touch-screen navigation is available on all trim levels and includes a high-resolution screen. This system provides new features including Bluetooth streaming audio capability. This easy-to-use unit can be controlled via 6.5-inch WVGA touchscreen or voice-activation by headliner-mounted microphone.
The system features 8GB of flash memory and comes matched with a sound system that plays compact discs, accesses digital music files via Bluetooth streaming audio or allows driver and passenger to access their personal listening devices through the iPod/USB/auxiliary inputs. Bluetooth audio wirelessly streams music from select mobile phones to the head unit. Also, with a Bluetooth-enabled phone one can look up a local restaurant and call for reservations before plotting the route. The XM Satellite Radio interface is also integrated into the navigation unit and features channel logos, real-time NavTraffic and XM Data services such as WX Satellite Weather®, XM Stock Ticker and XM Sports Ticker. The system is also updateable via the USB.
HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA
Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through more than 790 dealerships nationwide.
* Preliminary estimate
HIGHLIGHTS FOR 2011 SONATA
* All-new sixth generation Sonata midsize sedan
* Fluidic Sculpture design
* All four-cylinder engine lineup
* Launches with new Theta II 2.4-liter gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine and in-house six-speed automatic transmission
o Class leading fuel economy of 23 mpg city/35 mpg highway*
o Class leading 198 horsepower standard* (200 horsepower on SE trim*)
* 2.0-liter Theta II turbocharged GDI four-cylinder engine and Hybrid Blue Drive models to debut by 2010 year-end
* Production begins at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama in December with retail sales beginning in January
* XM Satellite Radio™, real-time XM NavTraffic, XM Data Services, HD Radio Technology™, Bluetooth®, Touch-screen navigation and iPod®/USB inputs
Sonata is the second vehicle in Hyundai's 24/7 version 2.0 product initiative (seven new models in the next 24 months) following on the heels of the all-new Tucson. Production of Sonata will begin later this month at Hyundai's U.S. plant in Alabama with retail sales beginning in January.
The 2011 Sonata represents a modern approach to the traditional midsize sedan segment by using only advanced four-cylinder engines, emotional design and luxury features offered with Hyundai's strong value proposition. The 2011 Sonata poses some intriguing questions:
* Why can't a smart, solid sedan also have modern, sleek, sophisticated style?
* Why pay so much to get a taste of luxury?
* Why can't an efficient four-cylinder engine give V6 power?
FLUIDIC SCULPTURE DESIGN LANGUAGE
Beginning with the 2011 Sonata and 2010 Tucson projects, Hyundai designers set to work about three and half years ago on Fluidic Sculpture. Fluidic Sculpture is a consistent, cohesive design language that will ripple through the entire Hyundai showroom. In developing the initial Sonata sketches, Hyundai designers considered the interplay of natural, fluid elements with more rigid surfaces and structures to create the illusion of constant motion. Inspired by nature, Fluidic Sculpture injects sophistication and dynamic angles into the shape of a vehicle and now serves as the core of Hyundai's future design identity.
The exterior of the all-new Sonata is long, light and low. The high beltline allows for a long, sleek roofline accented by the third window. A monoform side profile includes flowing lines highlighted by a Hyundai signature chrome accent that spans the length of the car. Normally, this type of trim is only found around the windows. On the new Sonata, this trim extends out from the headlamps, juts up along the hood and through the beltline. The face is bold with a large powerful chrome grille and headlamps that integrate precise details. The stance is completed by 16-, 17- or 18-inch multi-spoke wheels.
The sophisticated look continues inside where Hyundai has created an upscale ambiance thanks to a flow-through center console and instrument panel. These flowing surfaces complement the exterior design and wrap around the driver and passengers.
HYUNDAI PACKAGING EFFICIENCY
The sleek design, combined with Hyundai's expertise in interior packaging, has produced an interior that delivers class-leading comfort, functionality and practicality. A sleek roofline typically compromises headroom and interior volume but, at 120.2 cubic feet, the Sonata has the most interior volume of its key competitors. It is so spacious, Sonata continues to be classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a Large car, truly a "class above" Camry, Altima, Fusion and Malibu (all are categorized as Midsize cars). Even in trunk room, the Sonata shines. Sonata's 16.4 cu. ft. of trunk space gives it a 9.3 percent advantage over the Camry, and a 17.1 percent advantage over Accord.
| 2011 Sonata | 2010 Camry | 2010 Accord | 2010 Altima | 2010 Fusion | 2010 Malibu | |
| Passenger volume (cu. ft.) | 103.8 | 101.4 | 106.0 | 100.7 | 100.3 | 97.7 |
| Cargo volume (cu. ft.) | 16.4 | 15.0 | 14.0 | 15.3 | 16.5 | 15.1 |
| Total interior volume (cu. ft.) | 120.2 | 116.4 | 120.0 | 116.0 | 116.8 | 112.8 |
| EPA size classification | Large | Midsize | Large | Midsize | Midsize | Midsize |
ADVANCED POWERTRAINS
The new Sonata will launch with Hyundai's new Theta II GDI 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine with a Gasoline Direct-Injection (GDI) fuel delivery system, which contributes to improved fuel efficiency and lower emissions. Sonata is the first midsize sedan to adopt GDI technology as standard equipment in a naturally aspirated powertain. This shorter, more direct path of fuel delivery, allows for greater control of the fuel mixture at the optimum moment, thus improving efficiency. The fuel is injected by a camshaft-driven, high pressure pump that operates at pressures up to 2,175 psi. Direct injection also utilizes a higher than normal 11.3:1 compression ratio for increased power. The pistons are "dished" to increase combustion efficiency in the cylinder. This powerplant will deliver best-in-class fuel economy, best-in-class four-cylinder horsepower and best-in-class torque.
Sonata delivers an impressive 23 mpg city/35 mpg highway estimated fuel economy rating* with the available six-speed automatic transmission with SHIFTRONIC®. (When equipped with the six-speed manual, the Sonata achieves an estimated 23 mpg city/34 mpg highway fuel economy rating). The preliminary horsepower and torque ratings for the Theta II GDI are 198 horsepower and 184 lb.-ft. of torque. In the SE trim which includes a standard dual exhaust, the engine delivers 200 horsepower. This high-tech, all-aluminum, 16-valve engine features Continuously Variable Valve Timing (CVVT) on both camshafts and a Variable Induction System (VIS) for better engine breathing. A version of this engine also meets Partial Zero Emission Vehicle (PZEV) standards.
| 2011 Sonata (est.) | 2010 Camry | 2010 Accord | 2010 Altima | 2010 Fusion | 2010 Malibu | |
| Engine | 2.4L I4 | 2.5L I4 | 2.4L I4 | 2.5L I4 | 2.5L I4 | 2.4L I4 |
| Horsepower | 198 @ 6300 | 169 @ 6000 | 177 @ 6500 | 175 @ 5600 | 175 @ 6000 | 169 @ 6400 |
| Specific output (HP/Liter) | 82.5 | 67.6 | 73.8 | 70.0 | 70.0 | 70.4 |
| Torque | 184 @ 4250 | 167 @ 4100 | 161 @ 4300 | 180 @ 3900 | 172 @ 4500 | 160 @ 4500 |
| Fuel economy (A/T) | 23/35 | 22/33 | 22/31 | 23/31 | 23/34 | 22/33 |
Next year, Hyundai will add a 2.0-liter Theta II turbocharged GDI four-cylinder engine and a 2.4-liter Hybrid Blue Drive model featuring Hyundai's breakthrough lithium polymer battery pack. Details about these powertrains will be announced at the 2010 New York Auto Show. Sonata's innovative segment first powertrain lineup is a key driver of Hyundai's goal to be the most fuel-efficient automaker on the planet.
SIX-SPEED AUTOMATIC AND MANUAL TRANSMISSIONS
Hyundai's commitment to making the Sonata extremely fuel efficient continues with a six-speed automatic transmission with SHIFTRONIC manual control or a standard six-speed manual transaxle.
Hyundai's all-new six-speed automatic A6MF2 transaxle helps the company meet its goals of improving fuel efficiency and reducing emissions. Shifts are silky-smooth with an option of manual control through the SHIFTRONIC feature.
Drivers can access the SHIFTRONIC feature by moving the gear selector into a separate gate. Pushing the selector forward or pulling it rearward will shift the transmission up or down sequentially, adding to driver control. The SE trim will also feature steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters. A clear LCD readout on the instrument panel shows the gear being used.
Designed for transverse engine applications in passenger cars and SUVs, the new compact transmission puts Hyundai into an elite class of auto manufacturers who have designed their own proprietary six-speed automatic transmissions. The strength of the design is its unique layout which makes it smaller, more compact and lighter than any other six-speed transmission on the market today.
For the customer, the new six-speed delivers a performance edge. In this application, it helps brings a nine percent gain in fuel economy (35 mpg* versus 32 mpg). The gearbox has no dipstick because it is filled with automatic transmission fluid that is good for the life of the vehicle under normal usage conditions, thereby reducing maintenance costs.
Developed over a four-year period, this new six-speed automatic is 26.4 pounds lighter than the five-speed it replaces. It also is 1.6 inches shorter and considerably simpler, having 62 fewer parts, which is a key to increased durability, lighter weight and lower cost.
When it comes to transmissions, more gears are definitely better. The addition of a sixth gear enables closer spacing between gear ratios providing a better balance of performance and fuel economy while the wide overall gear ratio helps deliver strong acceleration.
The gearbox has three planetary gearsets and a unique flat torque converter that shortens the unit's overall length by 0.47 inches. Four pinion differentials improve durability and further minimize size.
Another example of engineering ingenuity is found in the design of the hydraulic pressure control unit. Slight manufacturing deviations from one solenoid valve to the next often times cause fluctuation in the hydraulic pressure and affect shift precision and quality. The transmission featured in the Sonata cleverly integrates adjustment screws in the valves that enable each of the eight valves to be calibrated at the factory. This feature ensures stable hydraulic pressure at any shift point which facilitates a high degree of precision and control needed to deliver fast, smooth and precise shifts throughout the rpm range.
SUPPLE RIDE, AGILE HANDLING
An advanced four-wheel independent suspension system combines a supple ride with precise handling and steering response for Sonata GLS and Limited models. Sonata uses MacPherson strut front and multi-link rear suspension systems with increased travel for improved wheel control and a smoother ride. All four wheels are controlled by coil springs, fade-resistant gas-charged dampers and stabilizer bars. The suspension has been optimized to keep the vehicle flat during corning and provide quick turn-in response. The rear suspension uses aluminum components to reduce weight and improve suspension performance. The GLS and Limited models also use advanced low-rolling resistance tires to improve fuel economy while maintaining good ride and handling performance.
The Sonata SE is an even more exciting and willing partner for drivers who prefer sportier ride and handling dynamics. The sport-tuned suspension features stiffer springs and larger stabilizer bars, resulting in a 20 percent increase in roll stiffness. Unique SE dampers, including monotube shocks in the rear are used to control the more aggressive suspension. Low profile 18-inch tires round out the unique chassis components of the Sonata SE.
All Sonatas have column-mounted, motor-driven electric power steering that adjusts instantly to changing driving conditions while improving fuel economy over a conventional steering system. A quick-ratio steering rack is used for crisp feel on turn-in. Sonata's turning diameter of 35.8 feet is better than Camry, Accord, Altima, Fusion and Malibu.
| 2011 Sonata | 2010 Camry | 2010 Accord | 2010 Altima | 2010 Fusion | 2010 Malibu | |
| Turning diameter (feet) | 35.8 | 36.1 | 37.7 | 36.1 | 37.5 | 40.4 |
WORLD CLASS POWER-TO-WEIGHT RATIO
One of the program targets for the 2011 Sonata engineering team was world-class power-to-weight ratio. Power-to-weight ratio pays dividends in both performance and fuel economy.
| Vehicle | 2011 Sonata | 2010 Camry | 2010 Accord | 2010 Altima | 2010 Fusion | 2010 Malibu |
| Burb weight (lbs.) | 3199 | 3307 | 3269 | 3180 | 3342 | 3415 |
| Horsepower | 198 | 169 | 177 | 175 | 175 | 169 |
| Power-to-weight ratio | 16.2 | 19.6 | 18.5 | 18.2 | 19.1 | 20.2 |
Sonata is rich in ultra-high-strength steel, leading to world-class body rigidity. The 2011 Sonata is 25 percent stiffer in torsion and 19 percent stiffer in bending rigidity than its predecessor, yet it is lighter than many midsize sedans, also offering more interior room.
This focus on power-to-weight ratio pays dividends across the board. The Sonata owes its ability to deliver both strong performance and excellent fuel economy in great part to its impressive power-to-weight efficiency.
ADVANCED STANDARD SAFETY TECHNOLOGIES: PART OF HYUNDAI'S ASSURANCE COMMITMENT
Sonata is built from the ground up with safety in mind, with a hot stamped ultra-high-strength steel body structure, advanced airbag technology and Electronic Stability Control (ESC), delivering on Hyundai's commitment to both active and passive safety technology leadership. The prior generation Sonata was the first midsize sedan with standard ESC when it launched in March of 2005. ESC was not standard equipment on Honda Accord until the 2008 model year and the 2010 model year for Toyota Camry. Once again every 2011 Sonata has lifesaving ESC as standard equipment. This is important because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has reported that ESC results in 35 percent fewer single-vehicle crashes and 30 percent fewer single-vehicle fatalities in passenger cars.
The Sonata also features a state-of-the-art braking package. The package includes four-wheel disc brakes and an Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) including Brake Assist, which provides maximum braking force when a panic stop is detected, and Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD) to automatically adjust the braking force to front and rear axles based on the vehicle loading conditions.
Sonata features six airbags—including dual front, front seat-mounted side-impact, and front and rear side curtain airbags—along with active front-seat head restraints. The 2011 Hyundai Sonata is projected to earn the NHTSA's top rating of five-stars for front and side impacts. Other passive safety features include shingle-style rear-seat head restraints for improved visibility, three-point seatbelts for all seating positions, front-seat seatbelt pretensioners and force limiters, and a rear-seat Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) system for child seats.
2011 SONATA OFFERS FOUR UNIQUE AUDIO ENVIRONMENTS
* An AM/FM/XM/CD/MP3 audio system with six speakers comes standard in the Sonata GLS and SE.
* AM/FM/XM/CD/MP3 audio system with touch-screen navigation and Dimension® premium sound with subwoofer and external amplifier is optional on the GLS and SE models.
* The Limited model comes standard with an AM/FM/XM/6-disc CD-changer/MP3 with HD Radio Technology and Dimension premium sound.
* The optional AM/FM/XM/CD/MP3 audio system with touch-screen navigation that includes a 400-watt external amplifier system on the Limited comes with Infinity audio.
DIMENSIONAUDIO SYSTEMS
Dimension is a new branded audio system created by Hyundai Mobis and features a Variable Equalizer with normal, dynamic and concert settings. The last generation equalizer provided only one fixed sound field. The new Variable Equalizer, tuned by renowned audiophile Ken Pohlmann, is a function for controlling the sound qualities sensed by listeners. For example, Pohlmann added bass response to the concert mode typically not found in other systems.
INFINITY® AUDIO SYSTEM
Audio enthusiasts with even more demanding tastes will be impressed by the AM/FM/XM/CD/MP3 audio system with touch-screen navigation that includes a 400-watt external amplifier, dedicated Dual Voice Coil (DVC) subwoofer, eight-channels and nine Infinity speakers available on the Limited. Infinity and Hyundai engineers worked together during the early stages of development to integrate the speakers into Sonata's interior. The team spent hundreds of hours fine-tuning the system for the cabin's unique acoustic attributes.
XM, HD RADIO TECHNOLOGY, BLUETOOTH AND TOUCH-SCREEN NAVIGATION DELIVER UNRIVALED MIDSIZE SEDAN TECHNOLOGY CHOICES
* 2011 Sonata comes standard with three months of XM Satellite Radio, real-time XM NavTraffic and XM Data Services
* Sonata also will be the first popular midsize sedan to offer the clarity of digital HD Radio Technology from the factory
* First vehicle in its class to offer a Bluetooth hands-free phone system standard
* Standard auxiliary iPod/USB inputs allow drivers to fully control and charge iPods directly from the head unit
Touch-screen navigation is available on all trim levels and includes a high-resolution screen. This system provides new features including Bluetooth streaming audio capability. This easy-to-use unit can be controlled via 6.5-inch WVGA touchscreen or voice-activation by headliner-mounted microphone.
The system features 8GB of flash memory and comes matched with a sound system that plays compact discs, accesses digital music files via Bluetooth streaming audio or allows driver and passenger to access their personal listening devices through the iPod/USB/auxiliary inputs. Bluetooth audio wirelessly streams music from select mobile phones to the head unit. Also, with a Bluetooth-enabled phone one can look up a local restaurant and call for reservations before plotting the route. The XM Satellite Radio interface is also integrated into the navigation unit and features channel logos, real-time NavTraffic and XM Data services such as WX Satellite Weather®, XM Stock Ticker and XM Sports Ticker. The system is also updateable via the USB.
HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA
Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through more than 790 dealerships nationwide.
* Preliminary estimate
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