2013 Hyundai Azera Base Sedan 4-door 3.3l on 2040-cars

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Hyundai preparing to enter US commercial vehicle market

The commercial van segment has been surprisingly hot in the US over the past few years with new or updated entries from Ford, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz and Ram. Now, it looks like we can add one more to that lineup because Hyundai plans to enter the market here, too. The decision is part of the brand's newly announced push into the commercial vehicle segment worldwide, according to Reuters. Hyundai intends to invest 2 trillion South Korean won ($1.8 billion) into the venture through 2020, and the Korean automaker expects the segment to grow by 30 percent annually worldwide over the next five years. Around 1.6 trillion won ($1.5 billion) of that goes towards development of new models and engines for the division. Another $363 million is for expansion of the company's Jeon-ju plant to build 100,000 units there each year. According to Reuters, there's no set timeline on the US introduction of these models yet. Hyundai already sells commercial vehicles in Korea and China but holds just 2.1 percent of the global market in the segment. Autoblog reached out to Hyundai Motor America to learn more, but company spokesperson Jim Trainor said via email, "It is too early to provide any more details concerning the sale of commercial vehicles in the US market." The company is already setting it sights on the European commercial segment with the HG350 (pictured above). It's offered as either a cargo van or flatbed and is meant to compete against market stalwarts like the Ford Transit and Mercedes Sprinter. Rather than this vehicle, the US might get one of Hyundai's newly developed models, though. The automaker previously suggested to Autoblog that it wasn't "seriously considering" the HG350 for this market, at least at that time. Hyundai Motor Plans to increase Jeon-ju Commercial Vehicle Plant capacity to 100,000 units • Hyundai Motor to invest KRW 2 trillion on commercial vehicle development and production until 2020 • New Pilot Center, Global Training Center expected in Jeon-ju plant • 1,000 new jobs to be created following the increased capacity February 16, 2015 – Hyundai Motor announced today that it will invest KRW 2 trillion over the next six years to enhance its global commercial vehicle competitiveness. KRW 1.6 trillion will be invested on developing new models and engines to strengthen global commercial vehicle competitiveness.

This Hyundai commercial may be the weirdest of Super Bowl 50

It happens every year at the Super Bowl. For every headline-making, Twitter-breaking commercial, there's an ad like this one, simply titled "Better," from Hyundai. An ad that's so odd, people will focus not on its message, but the overarching weirdness of the spot. The ad in question follows the life of a man born with an exposed V8 engine where his heart should be (it's actually a little high, but we're nitpicking). Yes, it's as strange as it sounds. According to Hyundai, the man "strives to make the world a better place," but the only time we see anything approaching that is when he opens a jammed umbrella for a woman. For most of the ad, it's hard to tell you're even seeing a car commercial. It's not until the end, where the man is shown working in a Hyundai design studio alongside people with similar anatomical features, that the ad begins to make sense. Perhaps part of our disappointment with Hyundai's latest Super Bowl spot is that the NFL's official automotive sponsor has done so well otherwise. The brand has become a fixture during the big game over the years, and will likely see some success in 2016 with spots featuring both Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Hart. Those successes aside, though, we'll be surprised if there's a great response to this particular Super Bowl 50 commercial from Hyundai.

Keep it simple, stupid | 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid and Plug-In First Drive

The Ioniq is Hyundai's "golden medal project," conceived from the outset as a car to beat the Toyota Prius and be the most efficient on the market. Ki-Sang Lee, Hyundai's senior vice president in charge of eco R&D, promised that if they could accomplish that feat, he'd give every single engineer on the project a gold medal. The result of their work is an attractive trio – hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and electric – built on the company's first dedicated green vehicle platform. And Lee gave out more than 500 gold medals to his engineers. With a growing number of drivers – bolstered by Millenials replacing the buying power of baby boomers – who value efficiency and consider the environmental impact of their purchases, hybrids and electric cars should be a popular choice, right? While cheap gas has not helped to encourage people to make the switch to greener vehicles in the last couple years, the added cost and complexity of electrified cars have also been barriers to wider adoption. Hyundai's approach appears solid. The Ioniq hybrids are straightforward, affordable, and something drivers would be proud to own without appearing smug. So Hyundai has built the car people claim to want, but will the drivers show up at dealerships? The Ioniq is attractive for a number of reasons, not the least of which is pricing. The Ioniq Hybrid starts at $23,035, undercutting the Toyota Prius by $2,535 (with its base MSRP of $25,570). It's also more efficient, with EPA mpg figures of 57 city/59 highway/58 combined. The most efficient Prius (the Two Eco trim level) falls slightly short at 58 city/53 highway/56 combined. While the Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid doesn't have price or fuel economy figures yet – it doesn't go on sale until the fourth quarter of 2017 – we do know its 8.9-kW battery pack offers over 27 miles of all-electric range and can be topped off in 2.5 hours on a Level 2 charger. The Ioniq's green cred doesn't stop at its efficient powertrain. Sitting inside the cabin, you wouldn't realize that the soft plastics contain 25 percent sugar cane, or that the headliner and carpet contain about 20 percent of the same renewable plant material. There's no way to tell by look or feel that door trim uses recycled plastics mixed with wood powder and volcanic stone, making it 20 percent lighter. Interior metallic paints use soybean oil to lessen their environmental impact. Even better, it all agrees with the senses.