2014 Hyundai Sonata Gls on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Bisimoto tunes Hyundai Ioniq SEMA show car for efficiency, not power

Automotive tuner Bisimoto is probably best known for its wildly powerful SEMA show cars, such as its 1,029 horsepower Honda Odyssey, and last year's 1,040-horsepower, rear-drive Hyundai Santa Fe. But this year, the company tried something different, building a Hyundai Ioniq hybrid not for power, but for fuel economy. According to Hyundai and Bisimoto, the resulting HyperEconiq managed to repeatedly exceed 80 mpg, based on 83 tests by the tuning company. That's a seriously impressive gain considering the standard Ioniq hybrid is rated at 57 mpg city and 59 mpg highway. Bisimoto was able to do this by enhancing just about every aspect of the car inside and out. But the most obvious changes are on the outside. The HyperEconiq features a custom body kit with front and side splitters, and a rear spoiler. There are also some prominent wheel spats, something we haven't really seen since the first-generation Honda Insight. The car also features lightweight, one-piece carbon fiber wheels from Carbon Revolution, and they're shod in high-silica low rolling resistance tires. Aluminum brake calipers further lighten the car, and coilover suspension lowers the car for better aerodynamics. There are a few other mechanical changes under the skin, too. The engine features unique low-friction 0W20 oil from PurOl. It has also been tweaked so that more air can be pulled in during valve overlap, and the exhaust was upgraded to improve exhaust flow out of the engine. The overall look is rather attractive. The body kit makes the car look sportier and more aggressive, and the carbon wheels are a nice accent to the dark gray color. We're still undecided on the looks of the wheel spats, but if they're functional, it's hard to argue with them. It will also be interesting to see if hypermiling upgrades enter the aftermarket mainstream. Related Video: Featured Gallery Bisimoto Hyundai HyperEconiq: SEMA 2017 Image Credit: Live photos copyright 2017 Drew Phillips / Autoblog.com Aftermarket Green SEMA Show Hyundai Fuel Efficiency Hatchback Hybrid Sedan hyundai ioniq bisimoto

Hyundai outlines EV strategy as it struggles with cost of engine defects

SEOUL — South Korea's Hyundai Motor pledged to boost sales of electric vehicles to over half a million by 2025 as part of a bid to focus on new technologies and catch up with rivals, but some analysts saw the target as conservative and warned of the costs. The announcement by Hyundai, the world's fifth largest car maker along with affiliate Kia Motors, underscores the accelerating strategy shift under Euisun Chung, who became the motor group's executive vice chairman last year. Hyundai announced a $35 billion investment last week in mobility and other auto technologies by 2025, less than a month after unveiling a $1.6 billion deal to develop self-driving vehicle technologies with Aptiv. The firm said on Thursday it plans to launch 16 EV models by 2025 to boost sales of such vehicles 17-fold to 560,000 by that year. Still, that would be equivalent to just over 10% of its projected global sales this year. The projection compares with more bullish forecasts offered by its bigger rivals. Volkswagen AG expects to make 22 million EVs over the next decade, while General Motors aims to sell 1 million EVs annually by 2026. "That is not an ambitious target. If Hyundai fails to boost volumes fast enough, costs of electric cars will weigh on profitability," Lee Jae-il, an analyst at Eugene Securities & Investment. Hyundai said that the EV market would face intensifying competition and oversupply soon and automakers failing to meet toughening European emissions regulations will face heavy penalties and suffer a serious blow to their reputation. "EV supply is expected to surpass demand from the second half of next year," Ka Suk-hyun, vice president of Hyundai Motor, told an earnings conference call. Quality issues Hyundai's third-quarter net profit rose 59% to 427 billion won ($365 million), well below the average 684 billion profit estimate of analysts based on Refinitiv data, due to 600 billion won provisions it earmarked to address potential engine defects in the United States and South Korea. Quality issues have been a major drag in Hyundai's attempt to steer a recovery from six consecutive annual profit declines and constrained its financial firepower to invest in future technologies. It is still under investigation by U.S regulators and prosecutors over potential faulty engines in some models. Total retail sales fell 3% in the third quarter, as higher U.S.

Hyundai Tucson N would be a hot hatch on crossover stilts

Auto Express reports that during last week's launch of the all-new Hyundai Santa Fe, the carmaker's global head of sales said a hotted-up N version of the Tucson "is under development, and other models will come after that." The remark should quell a year of speculation that a performance-oriented Tucson N had to figure somewhere in Hyundai's plans. The question now is when will the Tucson N get here. The N performance sub-brand's first product, the i30 N, just launched. We'd been told that a "fastback" would come next, probably an N version of the i30 Fastback going on sale in international markets this year. After that would come a B-segment vehicle — likely an i20 N, a road-going model of the four-door that Hyundai uses for the World Rally Championship. After that would come an SUV, however, we're also expecting a Veloster N to reach the U.S. market late this year. We know that the N division plans to take the time to make sure each model delivers all the goods — the i30 N's received uniformly high marks so far — so we could be looking at mid to late 2019 for a spicy Tucson. The hot crossover playground will entertain more global players by then — Seat just debuted its 296-horsepower Cupra Ateca in Europe, for instance — but in the US, the Tucson N could own a niche without a true competitor. The Mazda CX-5 earns across-the-board praise for driving dynamics, but its four-cylinder tops out at 187 hp and it would never be called a "lovable thug." Unless Ford decides to roll out an Escape ST after three years of scuttlebutt on the matter, nothing else in the segment could touch a 'roided Tucson, especially one given the full 271-hp from i30 N's 2.0-liter turbocharged four-pot. Related Video: