2013 Hyundai Veloster Turbo W/ Limited Edition Matte Gray Exterior Paint on 2040-cars

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Hyundai Elantra's alleged unintended acceleration sends teen, police on a 113-mile ride

Back in December, one North Texas teenager received a quick lesson in car control at the hands of his 2011 Hyundai Elantra. Elez Lushaj called police, after he says his car accelerated to nearly 120 mph on Highway 183 unintentionally. Dispatchers urged the 16-year-old driver to try everything from turning the car off to standing on the brakes and putting the car in neutral, but Lushaj told them nothing was working. Flummoxed, police simply did their best to warn traffic away from the speeding compact with the hope that the car would eventually run out of fuel.
Before that could happen, Lushaj lost control on Interstate 30 after some 90 minutes as he attempted to avoid a semi truck. The Elantra rolled four times, leaving the driver conscious but with several broken bones. Police commended Lushaj for keeping the car on the road and away from population centers for as long as he did.
Hyundai, meanwhile, said that it hasn't heard anything on the case. Spokesperson Jim Trainor reported to WFAA that it was "extremely unlikely for simultaneous and spontaneous total system failures for the brakes, accelerator and transmission to occur at the same time" and notes that Hyundai would like to investigate, but this is the first they've heard of Lushaj's wild ride. You can watch a local news report on the incident below for more information.

2016 Hyundai Tucson starts at $23,595, rated up to 33 mpg

The latest generation of the Hyundai Tucson had its all-new hexagonal face revealed at the 2015 Geneva Motor show earlier this year. But we're finally getting a much better idea of what the North America version of the crossover offers. The 2016 model arrives at Hyundai dealers in July with a base price of $23,595, after the $895 charge for all trims. That's a jump from the current post-destination MSRP of $22,525, but customers get more modern styling and a new powertrain option with the update. In addition to its handsome new styling, the 2016 Tucson grows slightly in length and width for greater cargo space inside. The base SE trim carries over the previous 2.0-liter four-cylinder, six-speed automatic, and front-wheel drive combo with 164 horsepower and 151 pound-feet of torque. Fuel economy jumps slightly to 23 miles per gallon city, 31 mpg highway, and 26 mpg combined – up from the 2015's 23/29/25. However, the real gains start showing up with the Eco, Sport and Limited trims. Those models share a 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder and seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox to replace the previous 2.4-liter four and six-speed auto. The boosted engine is rated at 175 horsepower and 195 pound-feet of torque, which is 7 less ponies but 18 lb-ft more torque than the outgoing mill. In the Eco trim starting at $25,045, the powertrain is rated at 26/33/29 with front-wheel drive. Sport goes for $27,045 and Limited for $30,795, but the turbo engine is rated at 25/30/27 in those latter two guises. All-wheel drive adds $1,400 to any version and knocks one or two mpg from the combined fuel economy figures. Beyond the powertrain improvement, Tucsons are available with an alphabet soup of safety systems to let drivers feel more secure. Inside, a five-inch touchscreen infotainment display is standard and comes with a rearview camera. An optional eight-inch system with navigation is also optional. ALL-NEW 2016 HYUNDAI TUCSON STARTS AT $22,700 Well-Equipped Tucson Features Sporty Styling, Outstanding Efficiency and Leading Safety Technologies FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., July 14, 2015 – Hyundai's all-new 2016 Tucson compact crossover offers an unmatched combination of a modern design, enhanced driving dynamics, increased utility and the latest in safety and entertainment technologies, all with a starting price of $22,700.

Hyundai looking to add plant in Mexico

Mexico is rapidly becoming the go-to place for North American auto production, and companies including Toyota, General Motors, and Audi are all building new plants, expanding or shifting some production there. Now, Hyundai is investigating joining them in the future. "I'm sure that over the years we'll see production of Hyundai products in Mexico," Pedro Albarran, managing director for the automaker in Mexico, said to Bloomberg. Albarran indicates that a likely location for such a factory might be the state of Nuevo Leon, where Kia also has a forthcoming $1 billion plant. The site would be an ideal location near suppliers. It's probably going to be a while before any of Hyundai's models start coming out of Mexico. According to Bloomberg, the automaker wants to wait to make a final decision until sales there reach around 50,000 annual units, and that benchmark isn't expected until 2018. While Kia's plant is slated to have a capacity around 300,000 vehicles a year when it opens in 2016, Albarran thinks Hyundai might start smaller at just over 100,000 annual examples. Some of those would likely include subcompact models for the Mexican market. The Korean automaker was rumored to be looking into a factory south of the border as far back as 2013.