Hyundai Blog :: Hyundai news, spy shots, reviews, concept cars, sales reports

Hyundai Motor Company today reported its November sales fell 1.6 percent compared to a year earlier. South Korean largest and most aggressive automaker sold 234,211 vehicles worldwide last months with domestic sales tumbling 34 percent and exports rising 8.2 percent!

From January till November, Hyundai sold 2.56 million vehicles worldwide. Domestic sales has been dropping in the last months, but exports have gained almost 12 percent compared to the same period of last year. In Korea, Hyundai and Kia also acquired one of the highest car-market shares last month, surpassing 80% of market share again.

As global auto demand is getting worse and worse, Hyundai has surprisingly been increasing its sales overseas. Last month, Hyundai sold 8% more cars abroad compared to last year.

As every month, we will also report detailed sales for US market. Sales forecasts look gloomy for Hyundai Motor America and all other automakers as well. It will be interesting to see November sales numbers, so stay tuned.

Here we have a pair of images that both preview the 2010 Hyundai VI. These are not new images to us, as we have seen them sometime ago, when Hyundai Motor officially released a teaser shot f its upcoming luxury sedan.

Guys from Digital Chosun Media have cut the teaser shot to a few pieces and enlarged those two pics that reveal design details at the front and rear of the vehicle.

As you can see the rear part of the car features a beautiful character line that ends at the upper part of rear-light. At a first glance, the rear design resembles Bimmer 7- series, but more detailed look and better images will reveal, that the future VI will feature far more distinctive design than we have been used to see on Hyundai vehicles till now.

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Last week, I announced we are going to talk about concept cars Hyundai unveiled in the past 15 years. There are more than 20 exciting concepts that have never made it to production but have had a major impact on Hyundais future production cars.

Starting today, we will take a look at one of the best looking concepts Hyundai has ever built. Its called the HCD-1 and made its official debut sixteen years ago… (Continue your read to see more images and a video!)

Hyundai HCD-1 concept:

Back in 1992, Hyundai Motor unveiled an impressive looking concept car. Dubbed the HCD-1, the concept was the first undertaking of the Hyundai California Design Center, which was established in 1990 to develop both production vehicle and cutting edge design concepts for the US automotive market.

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Hyundai Motor America has new Chief Executive Officer. It was announced yesterday that John Krafcik, who has joined Hyundai Motor America (HMC) in April 2004 and has, until recently, worked as a Vice President of Product Development and Strategic Planning at HMC, has been named the new acting president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America. He will be responsible for implementation of strategic direction and management of the company’s operations.

He has taken the position from Jong Eun Kim, who has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Hyundai Motor America for the past 15 months and has now returned to work at Hyundai Motor Company headquarters in South Korea.

When asked to give a statement regarding his promotion, John Krafcik said he is honored by Hyundai Motor Company decision to name him as a CEO and very excited to help improve Hyundais position in the U.S. market

Hyundai Motor America also announced it has already begun the search to fill Krafcik’s prior position. [Source: Hyundai]

Initially, Hyundai planned to officially unveil the all-new Hyundai VI in December -next month, but plans were postponed, due to extended quality tests. The company wanted to ensure its new high-end luxury vehicle delivers the top-notch quality and therefore it has extended VIs final testing program by a few more months.

Scheduled to go on sale in South Korean market in February 2009, the VI sedan will be Hyundais most luxurious vehicle in the line-up and is expected to match German competition (BMW Series-7 and Mercedes-Benz S-Class) in terms of performance, luxury, comfort and quality.

Equipped with Hyundais sophisticated safety technology, including second-generation Vehicle Stability Management System -VSM2, a Lane Departure Warning System -LDWS, a Pre-Safety Seatbelt System and 9 airbags, the 2010 VI will serve as a replacement for the aging Equus model, which has been on the market for 10 years.

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At this years Los Angeles Auto Show, Hyundai officially revealed its hybrid car architecture, which will be used in the next generation Sonata model.

Scheduled to go on sale in 2010, the Sonata gas-electric hybrid car will feature 9 core components, such as regenerative braking system, 30kw electric motor, start-stop system that automatically shuts off the engine and turns it on again under acceleration, a breakthrough lithium-polymer battery and others (see the press release after the jump).

During its official press conference at L.A. auto event, Hyundai also announced an exciting future plan that reveals the company has set the an ambitious goal to become the most environmental friendly car manufacturer on the planet! Hyundai is confident it can meet fleet average of 35 MPG by 2015, five years ahead of US government requirements.

Hyundais says the goal can be achieved with three different types of vehicles. First, starting in 2009, Hyundai will roll out a high-mileage Accent and Elantra, which will both feature low–rolling–resistance tires, enhanced aerodynamics, revised engine calibrations and reduced final drive ratios.

Second phase includes rolling out hybrid cars, including Sonata hybrid-electric car and other hybrids. And finally, in the third phase starting in 2012, Hyundais plans to debut its first massively produced, zero emission FCEV vehicle, equipped with a hydrogen fuel-cell stack and electric motor.

Continue your read with full details of Hyundais hybrid car architecture details and information by clicking a link below.

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Just a couple of days ago we have seen a car accident where an owner of a brand new Genesis Coupe smashed his car into a street-light barrier and totaled his ride.

Today, I received an image from a friend who lives in South Korea and shows another totaled Hyundai Genesis Coupe. The crash doesnt look as bad as the one we have seen here last week, but still, you dont need to be an expert to figure out the vehicle had been totaled.

Comparing both cars that got into accidents, I have noticed that both Genesis Coupes were coated in gray color. So, does this mean gray color brings bad luck and you should stay away from it if buying a Genesis Coupe? Or is this happening because unexperienced owners underestimate Coupes 310 hp and rear-wheel-drive architecture?

Hyundai has announced it plans to develop an advanced fuel saving 8-speed automatic transmission which will put Korean carmaker on equal terms with prestige carmaker such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz who are also reportedly working on a new 8-speed gearboxes and Lexus that already uses such a transmission.

First vehicle to benefit from a 8-speed automatic transmission will be the V8 powered luxury sedan, which you can see above. Entering a final stage of development, the upcoming VI sedan will make its official debut in February next year and will offer various up-to date safety technologies and high-tech GDI (gasoline direct injection) equipped engines.

Just a few months later, Hyundais very successful Genesis sedan, which currently uses Germany’s ZF developed six-speed transmission, will join the league of cars equipped with 8-speed automatics, while later on, we can expect to see the same transmission implemented to several other models in Hyundais range.

Details so far are very slim, but we were told by company’s powertrain chief Park Seong-hyun that the 8-speed automatic transmission is going to be developed in-house, by a Hyundai Powertech Company and should be available in several 2010MY (Model Year) Hyundai models.

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