2002 Hyundai Sonata, No Reserve on 2040-cars

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Hyundai Sonata sales drop so Santa Fe production will increase

Hyundai will begin production of the five-seat Santa Fe Sport at its Alabama factory this summer to take advantage of the growing popularity of crossovers in comparison to midsize sedans. The company won't release official production targets for the CUV at the plant, but an anonymous company insider told Reuters Hyundai would build around 30,000 of them at the site this year. The Kia factory in Georgia will continue to handle the majority of Santa Fe Sport production, but the Alabama assembly will help Hyundai keep up with demand. The three-row Santa Fe will still come from South Korea. The Alabama factory has a 400,000-unit annual capacity and already produces the Elantra and Sonata. Sonata sales slipped in 2015 to 213,303 deliveries from 216,936 in 2014. Meanwhile, the volume of both body styles of Santa Fe jumped to 118,134 examples in 2015 from 107,906 the previous year. According to Reuters, Hyundai could have sold more of the CUVs last year, but a limited production capacity restricted the sales. Rumors from 2015 suggested that Hyundai might have had an eye on the plant for additional crossover production in case of falling sales for the sedans built there. The Alabama factory last built the Santa Fe in August 2010. "We're thrilled to bring back another pillar of the Hyundai lineup to our production mix here at HMMA," Chris Susock, vice president of production at the plant, said in the announcement. SANTA FE SPORT PRODUCTION WILL BEGIN AT HYUNDAI MOTOR MANUFACTURING ALABAMA IN SUMMER 2016 ID: 44810 • Additional production will support growing demand in the sport utility segment • Alabama plant is the home of the Sonata and Elantra sedans • Plant is capable of assembling 400,000 units per year MONTGOMERY, Ala., January 7, 2016 –Hyundai Motor Company has announced the addition of the Santa Fe Sport to the production schedule at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA) starting in the summer of 2016. This change will supplement existing U.S. production of the sport utility vehicle to meet the growing demand in this popular vehicle segment. "We're very happy Hyundai has been able to make this change, which will result in more great Santa Fe crossovers available to our dealers and customers," said Dave Zuchowski, president and 'CEO of Hyundai Motor America. "The new production will help us meet the growing demand for one of our most popular products," said Zuchowski.

2016: The year we talked about autonomy a bunch | Autoblog Podcast #497

This week on the Autoblog Podcast, Mike Austin and David Gluckman take a look back at one of the biggest topics of 2016: autonomous driving. The thing is, there was a lot of news about autonomous driving, but not much in the way of autonomous cars you can buy. They also talk about what they've been driving lately - there was a good turbocharged compact car and a not-so-good turbocharged compact car. And then we round out the year with a quick Spend My Money. The podcast will take a break next week, but we'll be back in the new year with reports from CES and the 2017 Detroit Auto Show. And we're lining up some fun guests for future recordings. The rundown is below. Remember, if you have a car-related question you'd like us to answer or you want buying advice of your very own, send a message or a voice memo to podcast at autoblog dot com. (If you record audio of a question with your phone and get it to us, you could hear your very own voice on the podcast. Neat, right?) And please send trivia questions! You'll get the honor of stumping your fellow listeners, and we'll thank you too. Autoblog Podcast #497 Topics and stories we mention 2017 Hyundai Elantra Sport 2017 Nissan Sentra SR Turbo 2016 Honda Accord V6 (The sedan, but here's our Quick Spin of the coupe for reference) Autonomous Driving Rundown Intro - 00:00 What we're driving - 02:40 Rants (metal trim on steering wheels, learn how your car works) - 14:25 Looking back at autonomous driving in 2016 - 21:10 Spend My Money - 31:20 Total Duration: 37:46 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Feedback Email – Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show on iTunes Podcasts Honda Hyundai Nissan Car Buying Technology Emerging Technologies Autonomous Vehicles nissan sentra

Hyundai Veloster N reveals menacing grille, big wing

Once again, the Hyundai Veloster N has been spotted at the 'Ring. This time, though, the car was sporting considerably less camouflage, giving us our best look yet at the first N car for the United States. The first thing most people will notice is that the top-spec Veloster will feature a massive black grille, just as the outgoing Veloster Turbo had. It does differ from the old one in that the far corners have been brought up higher and squared off to bring it inline with the new "cascade" corporate grille. The greenhouse is more visible now, too. And like the grille, it has been squared off a bit at the rear corners. It appears there's more glass, either due to the roof being raised slightly, or the window sills being dropped. The back of the Veloster N may reveal the most, though. This car gives us our first uninhibited glimpse at the rear wing, and it's a big 'un that closely hugs the bodywork on each end. The triangular shape in the middle suggests it will have a brake light similar to the i30 N. We can also finally see the taillights better. They're more horizontal than the previous car's, and they're also mounted flush to the window seam. Looking closely, we can see that they extend forward, still hugging the rear window, and the edge leads into a arching line created by the side windows. The rear glass is interesting, too, because there's just a single rear pane, rather than the old model's split glass similar to the Honda CR-X, Toyota Prius, and Hyundai Ioniq. The rear bumper also features an aggressive diffuser design in the bottom, and, as with the i30 N, there is a red accent line. We'll probably see another red line at the front. The exhaust has two outlets on each end as well, which is further indication that this is the N model and not a standard Veloster or Veloster Turbo. Since we won't be getting the i30 N in the U.S., we wouldn't be surprised if the Veloster N carried the same turbocharged four-cylinder as that car, which produces 271 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque. After all, if the i30 N isn't sold here, there's no reason not to hamstring the Veloster to keep it from cannibalizing sales. Continuing on that line of thinking, it will likely use the same front-wheel-drive system with limited-slip differential and six-speed manual transmission. We also expect to see a full reveal of the Veloster line later this year.