2012 Hyundai Sonata Gls on 2040-cars

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New Hyundai i30 N hot hatch makes at least 250 horsepower

The chefs at Hyundai's new N performance division are working on their first dish, a Korean take on the ever popular hot hatch. The new model will be a modified version of the i30, or Elantra GT here in the US. Hyundai Motor Europe revealed a new teaser today showing the car testing on public roads in the UK. While we could cross our fingers for this spiritual successor to the Renault 5 Turbo, the car appears to be a traditional Volkswagen GTI and Ford Focus ST competitor. The first teaser from March showed the new i30 dancing around at a snow-covered testing facility in Sweden. While the video did give us a few cool shots of the new car tossing up a bit of the white stuff, it didn't actually reveal any new details. This new video is different, showing what might be the car's horsepower and torque rating. A quick shot of a computer screen shows 257.5 PS at 6,000 rpm and 302.1 Nm, which translates to about 254 horsepower and 223 lb-ft of torque in American. It's unclear if this is power at the crank or the wheels, but it seems to be right in the middle of the pack for the segment. We're really looking forward to this new model. Hyundai (and Kia for that matter) has been on a roll the past few years. Its cars are no longer simply value buys. The Elantra Sport shows the company is capable of building a enthusiastic little all rounder that can compete with the big guys. It looks like the car is in the final stages of development, so look for a full reveal sometime this fall. Related Video:

Hyundai, Kia to temporarily close U.S. plants in path of Irma

SEOUL — South Korea's Hyundai and sister car maker Kia said on Monday they planned to temporarily shut down plants in the United States to avoid potential damage from Hurricane Irma. The shut down comes at a time Hyundai's U.S. sales have fallen more than the market average, and after it recently announced plans to expand its SUV lineup and launch a pickup truck in the market in an attempt to reverse the slide. In a statement, Hyundai Motor said it would suspend operation of its Alabama plant for two days - between Monday and Wednesday — while Kia Motors will stop operation of its Georgia plant for one day - between Monday and Tuesday. The suspension is expected to result in lost production of about 3,000 vehicles for both, the Yonhap news agency earlier said on Monday, citing a Hyundai Motor group spokesman. A Hyundai spokeswoman declined to comment on the number. Hurricane Irma took aim at heavily populated areas of central Florida on Monday as it carved a path of destruction through the state with high winds and storm surges that left millions without power, ripped roofs off homes and flooded city streets. Hyundai's U.S. sales are down nearly 11 percent this year through July 31, worse than the overall 2.9 percent decline in U.S. car and light truck sales. Sales of the Sonata, once a pillar of Hyundai's U.S. franchise, have fallen 30 percent through the first seven months of 2017. In contrast, sales of Hyundai's current SUV lineup are up 11 percent for the first seven months of this year. Reporting by Joyce LeeRelated Video: Plants/Manufacturing Hyundai Kia alabama

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.