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South Korea firms up fuel economy regs following Hyundai/Kia debacle

According to a report from Reuters, South Korea's government has drafted strict new rules for automakers to follow when calculating fuel economy. The legislation comes after a major snafu by Hyundai and Kia that resulted in the automakers lowering the estimated fuel mileage of many popular models - some by several miles per gallon, including the Soul subcompact above - and compensating owners in the US and Canada for the reduction.
The new fuel economy rules were announced by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in South Korea and will see average mileage ratings drop by roughly three to five percent, according to the report. In addition, manufacturers found guilty of overstating mileage figures will be liable for fines of up to $900,000.
These sweeping new regulations will go into effect in the second half of 2013 and, while they won't have any effect on EPA estimates for Hyundai and Kia vehicles in the United States, they are expected to result in new ratings for the two automakers in their home market of South Korea, where they enjoy a whopping 70-percent market share.

Hyundai spotted testing Prius-style hybrid

The Toyota Prius has become an automotive icon – maybe less so among actual automotive enthusiasts than with the public at large – to the extent that most anyone on the street would recognize its five-door hatchback form and immediately identify it as a hybrid. Little wonder that Honda tried to emulate it with the second-gen Insight, but while that didn't work out so well for Honda, it looks like Hyundai is preparing to go down the same road with a dedicated hybrid of its own. Our paparazzi on the ground in the Arctic Circle have spotted this protoytpe and tell us what we're looking at is a new Prius-fighter from the Korean automaker. Snapped up high on a transporter truck, you can see the orange high-voltage cables underneath and a label with the letters AE HEV – the latter standing, of course, for Hybrid Electric Vehicle. We wouldn't be surprised if the AE stood for Advanced Experimental or Alternative Energy or something of the sort. Tipped to be based on the same platform as the next-generation Elantra, the new Hyundai hybrid is said to pack a 1.6-liter inline-four working in parallel with an electric motor juiced by a lithium-ion battery pack. It's expected to begin production in the second half of 2016, with a plug-in and possibly other variants to follow a year to a year and a half after its initial launch.

We want a Hyundai with this N prototype's crackly engine

Hyundai produces quality, mainstream machinery, but with the exception of the Genesis Coupe and Veloster Turbo, it hasn't brought many enthusiast-oriented vehicles to the table. Hyundai plans to change that with their in-house performance brand, N. The group will develop race cars and high-output versions of production cars, and if this prototype video is anything to go by, Hyundai N products will sound fantastic. The video shows what looks to be a Hyundai i30 hatchback, which we get in the States as the Elantra GT. And it sounds wonderful with a cackling, popping exhaust reminiscent of a rally car. Hyundai has not confirmed whether we will get this car or engine. We wouldn't be surprised if we didn't get the car, since a new generation Elantra hit dealers not long ago. As far as the engine, we certainly hope we will get it eventually, whether it's in an Elantra or something else – Veloster N anyone? Either way, we will get a slightly hopped-up Elantra Sport soon. Hyundai showed the Korean-market Avante Sport recently, which Hyundai confirmed would become the US-market Elantra Sport, more or less. It will feature the same 201 horsepower engine of the Veloster Turbo, and if it sounds even half as impressive as the i30 N prototype, it should tide us over while we wait for our own N-badged model. Related Video: