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Hyundai sales slump in China over North Korea, standoff with Chinese partner

BEIJING/SEOUL — Hyundai is at loggerheads with its Chinese partner over efforts to cut supplier costs, as they grapple with cutthroat competition and the impact of a standoff between Beijing and Seoul. Hyundai, along with affiliate Kia, has been caught up in a political row over a missile defense system that is being deployed in South Korea, but opposed by China, as tensions grow over North Korean missile tests and last week's test of a nuclear bomb the North claims can be mounted on a missile. Sales of Hyundai cars in China have been falling, part of a backlash against South Korean brands over the missile system that China views as a threat to its own national security. On Tuesday, South Korea asked the United States to lift a limit on the explosive payloads it can use in the missile system. This as a North Korean missile, believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile, was being tracked by intelligence services being moved on the ground toward North Korea's west coast and a possible launch site. That has come against the backdrop of ever tougher competition from local Chinese automakers. Until last year, Hyundai and Kia ranked third in China by sales. But Hyundai's sales alone have slumped 41 percent from January to July, fraying relations with local partner BAIC Motor Corp and making this the biggest crisis since Hyundai entered the Chinese market in 2002. Last month, Hyundai suspended production at its four China plants for a week after a French supplier refused to provide fuel tanks when its bills went unpaid. On Tuesday, Hyundai suspended production at one of its plants in China after a German firm went unpaid. Hyundai and BAIC — whose Beijing Hyundai joint venture is a 50:50 partnership — are divided over how to solve the issue of suppliers and tougher competition. Hyundai wants to protect its South Korean supply chain, while BAIC favors shifting to cheaper Chinese suppliers to cut costs, the people said. "BAIC wants to solve this aggressively and is ... asking Hyundai to change its sourcing strategy significantly and immediately," said the head of a Hyundai supplier based in Seoul, adding the idea was to source more locally from cheaper suppliers in China. Hyundai wants to solve this more gradually "over perhaps 5-10 years and do so in phases," the person said. BAIC declined to comment.

2020 Kia Soul vs. subcompact crossovers: How they compare on paper

At 10 years old, the 2020 Kia Soul has entered its third, and potentially best, generation yet. To get here, it fought off other boxy hatchbacks such as the Scion xB and Nissan Cube. But now it faces all new competition: subcompact crossovers. They offer similar sizes, prices and flexibility as the Soul, but with a veneer of ruggedness. But the Soul is ready with its own rugged trim, the X-Line, plus the return of its powerful turbocharged variant. To see how the Soul stacks up to the fresh competition, we've compiled vital stats on all the tall hatches. Considering the prodigious size of the subcompact crossover segment, we've limited our selection to a few options that are similarly priced and sized to the Soul, and that offer a bit of funky styling. They include the Toyota C-HR, Nissan Kicks, Hyundai Kona and Honda HR-V. There are of course many more options, and you can create your own comparisons using our Compare Cars feature. (You can also check out our Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross comparison that includes a few larger choices). In the meantime, though, check out all the numbers on our selected vehicles in the chart below, followed by analysis after. Performance, fuel economy and drivetrains The crossover segment is diverse when it comes to powertrains, with all different displacements, induction systems and drive wheels. A surprising number of these supposedly rugged and off-road-oriented vehicles (at least more than normal cars) are front-drive only. These include the Nissan Kicks, Toyota C-HR and Kia Soul. But the Kona and HR-V offer all-wheel drive, with the Hyundai offering it on both engine options. Speaking of engine options, only the Kia and Hyundai have two possibilities, either a base 2.0-liter naturally aspirated engine, or a turbocharged 1.6-liter engine. The base engines have identical outputs of 147 horsepower and 132 pound-feet of torque, but the turbo engines differ. The Soul has 201 horsepower to the Hyundai's 175, but both make the same 195 pound-feet of torque. The Kicks, C-HR and HR-V all offer just one engine option, and they're all naturally aspirated. The Nissan's engine is the smallest and least powerful: a 1.6-liter engine making 125 horsepower and 115 pound-feet of torque. The HR-V is next with a 1.8-liter engine making 141 horsepower and 127 pound-feet of torque. The C-HR rounds out the trio at 144 horsepower and 139 pound-feet of torque from a 2.0-liter engine.

Hyundai brings 1,000-hp Genesis Coupe to SEMA, and plenty more [w/video]

Hyundai has a thirst for horsepower. How else could we explain the scene you see above, in which there exists a 708-horsepower front-wheel-drive Sonata tuned by Bisimoto (black and white, above left) powered by Hyundai's 2.4-liter Theta II engine? Or the little red number you see hiding in the background, which, at an even 1,000 horsepower, is "the most-powerful 2.0-liter Genesis Coupe ever built," says Hyundai?
In addition to those two powerhouses, the white Sonata (above right) was styled by John Pangilinan to "[connect] Los Angeles street art culture with automotive enthusiasts," whatever that means, and it joins an ARK Performance-tuned Genesis Sedan meant to go head-to-head with Mercedes AMG and BMW M and another Genesis Sedan tuned by Toca Marketing Group with a twin-turbo'd 5.0-liter Tau V8.
All in, that's five heavily modified vehicles being shown at the 2014 SEMA Show by Hyundai (not to mention any more customs not actually sponsored by the automaker itself), and each of them is pretty successful as far as we're concerned. Check them all out for yourself in the image gallery above, and read all the details in the press release below, where you'll also find a video of the builders discussing each of their creations.