2013 Hyundai Elantra on 2040-cars

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U.S., South Korea strike a new trade deal

WASHINGTON — The United States and South Korea have reached agreement on a new trade pact, the White House said on Tuesday. "We have come to an agreement in principle, and we expect to roll out specific details on that very soon," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told a briefing. Her comments were the Trump administration's first confirmation that the two sides had reached an agreement in trade talks covering revisions to the U.S. South Korean Trade Agreement (KORUS) and a South Korean exemption from new U.S. metals tariffs. Seoul on Monday announced a deal to limit exports to the U.S. of South Korean steel, while extending high U.S. tariffs on any possible South Korean pickup trucks and increasing U.S. automakers' access to the Korean market. But details of the agreement have not yet been released by the U.S. Trade Representative's office, which led the negotiations for the United States after President Donald Trump last year called the 6-year-old bilateral pact a "horrible deal" that had doubled the U.S. trade deficit with South Korea since 2012. The deal is expected to permanently exempt South Korea from Trump's tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum, but South Korea will have to reduce its steel exports to the United States by 30 percent from its average over the past three years to about 2.68 million tons. South Korea was the third largest steel exporter to the United States last year after Canada and Brazil. The agreement also was expected to double South Korea's import quota for cars meeting U.S. safety standards — not necessarily Korean standards — to 50,000 per manufacturer per year from 25,000 previously. The big challenge now would be getting unimpressed Korean consumers to buy them. The 25 percent U.S. tariff for pickup trucks, which was due to begin a phase-out starting in 2019, would be extended for another 20 years, according to South Korean officials. This would virtually ensure that any pickup truck contemplated by Korean automakers Hyundai or Kia for the U.S. market would be built in the United States.Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe and David LawderRelated Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Image Credit: Reuters Government/Legal Hyundai Kia

Hyundai Sonata's slow sales start to trigger more daring redesign

On paper, the latest Hyundai Sonata has been a winner. The sedan sold 216,936 units in 2014, around 13,000 more than the previous year, and the new model posted healthy year-over-year gains in both December and November. However, according to a report from Wards Auto, the Korean brand isn't happy with how the vehicle is doing and is planning a redesign, to be timed with the future refresh. Unveiled at the 2014 New York Auto Show, the latest Sonata has a more refined, almost luxurious air about it, and the sedan ditches the swooping styling from the previous generation. It also comes at a slightly lower base price. But the more mature design is also the problem. Hyundai Motor America CEO Dave Zuchowski told Wards during the 2015 Detroit Auto Show that the new model was "not as distinctive" as its predecessor. Previously, "people would seek us out because we look different. And we don't get that now," he said. While no details on the redesign were divulged, Zuchowski said the company was already at work on the shape. He suggested the changes would debut for the Sonata's refresh, likely in the 2017 or 2018 model years. Autoblog reached out to Hyundai about the possible design change and spokesperson Derek Joyce told us, "Dave was simply referring to our normal mid-cycle refresh where it's typical to make styling tweaks." According to Wards, the latest Sonata isn't conquesting as many buyers from other brands as Hyundai would like. The company reportedly raised incentives to get them to move. So while sales were up, the automaker was disappointed. AutoTrader senior analyst Michelle Krebs confirmed to Autoblog that incentives were high for the Sonata, but that had nothing to do with its design. "The midsize car segment has fallen out of favor with buyers who want utilities so they are carrying very heavy incentives. We expect that trend to continue and then some in 2015," she said. A previous report also claimed that the 2015 Sonata wasn't living up to sales expectations in part due to its more traditional styling. But the company shot down those claims because the sedan was still rolling out the entire range to dealers at the time. Even now, Hyundai is still adding the Sonata Hybrid and Plug-In to the lineup in the coming year.

Best and worst car brands of 2022 according to Consumer Reports

It's that time again, Consumer Reports this morning lifting the curtain on its 2022 Annual Car Brand rankings and its 10 Top Picks in the car, crossover, and truck category. Drumroll, please: This year, Subaru climbs two spots to claim the winner's circle, having come third the last two years. Last year, Mazda climbed three spots from 2020 to take the crown. This year, Mazda slipped to second, BMW taking the last spot on the podium, also a one-spot drop from 2021. Six automakers in the top 10 hailed from Japan, which is one more than last year, and five luxury makers occupied the top 10, which is two more than last year. And South Korean representation didn't crack the top this year, after Hyundai managed tenth last year. The seven makes after BMW are: Honda, Lexus, Audi, Porsche, Mini, Toyota, and Infiniti.  The magazine and testing concern says its Brand Report Card "[reveals] which automakers are producing the most well-performing, safe, and reliable vehicles based on CR’s independent testing and member surveys," and that "Brands that rise to the top tend to have the most consistent performance across their model lineups." The domestics also took steps back among the 32 OEMs ranked on the 2022 card. Chrysler and Buick were the domestic carmakers who made last year's top 10 in eighth and ninth, respectively. This year, Buick dropped to eleventh, Chrysler to thirteenth. Dodge went from fourteenth to sixteenth. CR continues to ding Tesla's yoke steerer, the not-exactly-natural handhold responsible for the electric carmaker going from sixteenth last year to twenty-third this year.