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Hyundai announces N performance sub-brand at WRC launch

It's been well over a year since Hyundai revealed its initial prototype for the i20 WRC at the 2012 Paris Auto Show. Now it's revealed the final version (pictured above, complete with Shell Helix livery) and it's also announced the full team that will field it next year in the World Rally Championship, including Thierry Neuville and additional drivers Juho Hänninen, Dani Sordo and Chris Atkinson. That's plenty exciting for rally fans, but the news that caught our attention was buried deeper in the press release.
That is the announcement of Hyundai's new N performance sub-brand. Named after the company's R&D facility in Namyang, South Korean, the N brand "will be used to symbolize Hyundai's high performance technology," not just on the rally car but also "future mass-produced high performance cars" for the road. The WRC car wears the logo that we'd expect to represent that new cadre of performance Hyundais.
Having hinted at the emergence of a European performance sub-brand a couple of months ago, the Korean automaker hasn't revealed any further details on which those road cars might be, but promises to transfer lessons it learns from the rally stage to the marketplace. We're looking forward to finding out more, but a roadgoing i20 hot hatch would be a good first bet. Here's hoping the North American product lineup won't be left out.

Recharge Wrap-up: Batty battery covers, Mercedes at Silvretta, new Hyundai Sonata Hybrid available in 2015

Apparently, Chevrolet Volt battery covers make suitable homes for bats. As part of an Eagle Scout project, Matthew Netherland created 30 bat houses out of scrapped Volt battery covers donated by Chevy. 22 of the bat houses will be set up near hydroelectric dams in Michigan. Each bat house will accommodate 100 bats, and divert the scrapped materials from the landfill. The battery covers also make great nesting boxes for wood ducks, which General Motors has previously set up at its Milford, Michigan Proving Ground. Last weekend was the Silvretta E-Auto Rally, which saw emissions-free vehicles cross the Montafon Mountains in Austria, including cars from Mercedes-Benz. These cars included the B-Class Electric Drive, B-Class F-Cell, SLS AMG Electric Drive and even the Smart Fortwo Electric Drive. Also on hand for the Silvretta Classic Rally was a V8-powered C111, a 1978 Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC and 300 SL Roadster. Read more in the press release, below. BMW has finalized pricing for the i8 in the US at $135,700 (plus $925 in destination charges). In addition to the base price tag, which we've known for a while, BMW Blog has the complete pricing guide with options and packages. Most of the i8 orders were the Pure Impulse World package, which includes various aesthetic upgrades. It also provides membership to the BMW i Pure Impulse Program, which allows you to "to enjoy innovative ideas and trends in a variety of areas, including home styling, culture, gourmet gastronomy, design and many more." Head over to BMW Blog for more information. The new generation of the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid will arrive later than the rest of the model lineup, confirms Car and Driver. While the gas-powered Sonatas get updated now for the 2015 model year, the Hybrid remains unchanged until late this year or early 2015, when it will arrive as a 2016 model. Hyundai is offering a 2015 Sonata Eco edition, but with 28 miles per gallon in the city and 38 mpg highway (32 combined), it's not quite as appealing as the current Sonata Hybrid's 36/40/38 figures. Read more here. In June, average US fuel economy was 25.5 miles per gallon, making it the fifth straight month above 25 mpg, according to University of Michigan. The average window sticker ratings from vehicles sold in June dropped slightly from 25.6 mpg in May. The year started at 24.9 mpg in January, and hasn't dropped below 25 mpg since.

Amazon Prime will now bring you a Hyundai, but you can't keep it

We already rely on Amazon Prime to bring us necessities like food, clothing, and five-pound Hershey bars, so why not entire cars? Hyundai is going to try that, although only to quickly bring you a car to test-drive. There's no one-click ordering for Elantras yet. The program, called "Prime Now. Drive Now", is an extension of the Prime Now fast delivery service that brings certain items to people in select areas in under two hours. It's available this weekend and next, only to people in Los Angeles and Orange County. Prime members can hop online and schedule a time between 9 am and 7 pm, Saturday or Sunday, and designate a preferred location for the test drive. After that, a "trained expert" will be sent with a 2017 Hyundai Elantra for the potential customer to try out for 45 to 60 minutes. If after that they want to purchase an Elantra, the expert can then direct them to a local Hyundai dealer to complete the transaction. This is an interesting approach to reaching consumers and could have benefits for them. People who are too busy to visit a dealer for a test drive can schedule a more convenient time and place to try the car. For people who get stressed out with the dealer experience and the pressure to purchase a car (which is, like, everyone) this could also be a more comfortable way to look at one. It's also a clever way for Hyundai to sort of circumvent its dealers while still letting them handle the final sale, a sort of indirect direct-sales solution. On the flip side, this program means consumers may only try the car that arrives at their door, and there's a decent chance that it will be a high trim with options and features that they might not want or be able to afford. It might still require some shopping around at the dealer to see what the different trim levels and options are like. Though only a limited trial for now, it will be interesting to see if Hyundai continues the program, and having more test-drive options can't hurt. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Hyundai Elantra View 51 Photos Image Credit: Hyundai Hyundai Car Buying Sedan Amazon amazon prime