2020 Hyundai Santa Fe Sel 2.4 on 2040-cars

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Hyundai returns to flashier design with 2018 Sonata

Compared to the stylistic achievement of the 2009 Hyundai Sonata, many observers viewed the redesigned 2015 Sonata as a step backward. To right the ship, Hyundai tasked its North American Design Center with restoring some razzle-dazzle to the brand's midsize contender for 2018. The creative team made changes throughout, the biggest development being the "cascading grille" at the front, cribbed from the Elantra. The Sonata Sport 2.0T grille gets a silver mesh treatment and vertical LED DRLs tucked in the triangular bumper vents at the corners. The other models wear chrome bars inside the grille, with vertical and horizontal LED DRLs at the corners. Slimmer headlights stretch around the front edges, with the hood sporting deeper chiseled surfaces to emphasize the injection of style. In back, instead of the hint of a spoiler on the current sedan, the 2018 Sonata's deck lid ends in a pronounced flick above a sharp taper into the rear valance. The license-plate holder moves down to the reshaped bumper so that the larger, flatter trunk face can fit much larger badging. The trunk release button hides inside the Flying H emblem, and wedge-shaped taillights glow with the same alien-script pattern familiar from the Elantra. Down below, non-Sport models get a single, trapezoidal exhaust tip, but the Sport 2.0T gets two such exhaust tips, paired with new Michelin tires and a flat-bottomed steering wheel. Engines don't change, but buyers who choose the 2.0-liter four-cylinder get an eight-speed automatic transmission that adds a cog at the low end and another at the high end. The rest of the lineup sticks with the present six-speed auto. Handling upgrades include 12-percent thicker torsion bars in the steering system and new steering calibration for better on-center feel and responsiveness, plus 21-percent thicker trailing arms and new bushings in the suspension for faster response and more compliance. Inside, a reworked center console holds steady with a seven-inch touchscreen. Interior designers gave the new HVAC and audio controls a silkier finish and contrasting "piano key" buttons. A second-row USB port serves back-seaters, and the options list will include a Qi wireless charging pad for those in front. The 2018 Sonata introduces a navigation bird's-eye view, free traffic data, standard blind-spot detection and rear cross-traffic alert, and a new lane departure warning system as some of the convenience and safety highlights.

Chrysler and Hyundai join Pepsi and Coke as top Super Bowl spenders [w/ video]

Super Bowl XLVIII is barely a week away, and some of the early ads are already leaking out. It's timely then that The Street has released rankings of the top five Super Bowl advertisers since 2009, showing Chrysler and Hyundai/Kia taking two of the spots with $131.7 million in cumulative spending.
Since 2010, the cost to air a 30-second Super Bowl ad has risen from $3 million in 2009 to about $4 million in 2014, and about a fifth of advertisers opt for a one-minute ad, which doubles costs. Last year, the ads brought in $292 million, and they have brought in roughly $2 billion since 2010.
Chrysler has spent $64.3 million since 2009 to make it the fourth highest spending company in the last five years. In that time, the company has rebranded itself as it emerged from bankruptcy with the Imported from Detroit ad campaign that premiered in 2011 and last year's God Made a Farmer Ram Trucks ad. Its 2012 Halftime in America sparked national debate about whether it was also a reference to the upcoming presidential election.

Hyundai Intrado is more than just another fuel cell concept

Hyundai says the Intrado is "relevant to consumers" and is "far more than a styling exercise."
Just because it's packing a futuristic powertrain doesn't mean that the new Hyundai Intrado concept isn't a preview of a crossover we'll be seeing on the road in the near future. After all, the hydrogen CUV unveiled today at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show is from Hyundai, which is just about to launch the hydrogen-powered Tuscon fuel cell in the US later this spring. The accompanying press release even says the concept is "relevant to consumers." If that's not a hint, we don't know what is.