2013 Hyundai Elantra Gls Radiant Silver on 2040-cars

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The new Hyundai Veloster will have a driver-focused interior

We've had a number of solid glances at the Hyundai Veloster's exterior while testing, but this is our first look at the car's interior. And it's a seriously good look. About the only thing hiding the dashboard is some snazzy zebra-print vinyl wrap. We can tell from these new spy photos that the Veloster's interior is more focused on the driver than other Hyundais. The center stack is canted slightly toward the driver, and it's a bit asymmetrical, favoring the person behind the wheel. At the top of the center stack is a large touch screen that protrudes from the dash, but it looks a bit more integrated than the screen found in the Elantra GT, as it's nestled between two air vents. We have reason to suspect this is a Veloster Turbo model, which may be renamed Veloster Sport to fit nomenclature used on the Elantra line. The steering wheel is leather-wrapped and has a metallic red accent in the bottom spoke, just like the wheel in the Elantra Sport models. The shifter also has an accent in the same red color as the one on the wheel. We doubt this could be a Veloster N, though, as the seats don't seem aggressive enough, and there don't appear to be any accents in the performance sub-brand's trademark light blue. We expect to see this interior fully revealed, along with the rest of the Veloster lineup, by the end of the year. It will be available in three versions, an entry-level model, a peppier Turbo or Sport version with the outgoing model's center exhaust and more aggressive looks, and a high-performance N model that will probably use the Elantra i30 N's 271-horsepower turbo engine. The Veloster N will also have the most aggressive looks, featuring a large rear wing. Related Video:

Hyundai's 2015 Genesis Super Bowl commercial is Dad-approved

Super Bowl commercials allow advertising and marketing execs the opportunity to let their hair down, have a bit of fun and get silly. That's why Audi's ad features a mutant, CGI-animated dog, GoDaddy's spot features a beefcake Danica Patrick and Kia has recruited Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus, from the Matrix films. Hyundai, meanwhile, didn't seem to get the memo.
It's not that its spot is bad, but it does feel a bit boring, playing a lot like Hyundai's non-Super Bowl advertisements - in other words, not something we're going to be talking about next Monday around the water cooler. Called Dad's Sixth Sense, the 30-second clip shows off the 2015 Genesis Sedan and its auto emergency braking system, after showing dad's saving their kids from what we imagine would be fairly painful, and in some cases horrific, accidents (tackling a hot barbecue, anyone?).
We've got the full spot down below. Keep your eye out for it on Super Bowl Sunday.

Hyundai Santa Cruz pickup with four doors, five seats, due around 2020

You could boil three years of coverage on the Hyundai Santa Cruz pickup to a question mark. The "crossover truck" debuted at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show, then got swallowed in the executive turmoil at Hyundai Motor America. Reuters reported last year that the Santa Cruz would finally arrive by 2020 as part of the South Korean carmaker's push into SUVs. Motor Trend recently spoke to Brian Smith, the COO at HMA, and got a crucial detail on the eventual truck. Forget about the sleek, two-door concept from Detroit — the actual item will be a "four-door ... that seats five." The redesigned Hyundai Tucson is also due in 2020, the compact crossover providing the platform for the Santa Cruz. If connecting the dots is really this simple, it mean's we'll be getting Hyundai's version of the Honda Ridgeline, the only unibody compact pickup on sale in the U.S. at the moment. And that makes us wonder how the Santa Cruz will fare whenever it gets here. Anyone who wanted to put money down on something similar to the highly popular concept has been booted from the game. They've been replaced by those who can be lured by an alternative to the Ridgeline, but the questions are how many buyers is that, and will the production Santa Cruz be the right truck to close the deal? In 2016, then-CEO Dave Zuchowski said Hyundai research showed the possibility of moving at least 50,000 pickups a year, and other studies suggested 70,000 sales could be possible. Even at the low end, that suggests a remarkable pent-up demand for the kind of truck that's never succeeded in the U.S. The Ridgeline sold 34,749 units in 2017, and numbers are down nearly 30 percent down so far this year. Meanwhile, the body-on-frame (BOF) GMC Canyon sold 32,106 units last year, and it was merely piggybacking on the Chevrolet Colorado, which did 112,996 sales. Even the BOF Nissan Frontier, last refreshed during the Bronze Age, sold 74,360 models. What's more, by the time the Santa Cruz gets here, the new BOF Ford Ranger will revel in actual pent-up demand, and the really cool kids will still be cooing over their new BOF Jeep Wrangler pickup. Looking back at the Ridgeline space, we await word from Volkswagen on the fate of the Tanoak concept. Hyundai could choose to take a stand in the unibody pickup segment on price; the Ridgeline whips up its own headwinds by charging $8,000 more than a Canyon, $11,000 more than a Frontier. Still, a Tucson with a bed, that is two years away ...