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Albert Biermann, the man behind some of Hyundai's sportiest cars, retires

Hyundai Motor Group, which includes Kia and Genesis, made big news by announcing at the end of 2014 that it was bringing on Albert Biermann to its research and development division. He had spent just over 30 years at BMW and was in charge of the M division before he left. His time at Hyundai led to some of the company's best driving cars, which meet or beat the global competition. But now, the company has announced Biermann is retiring. At 65 years old, it's not entirely surprising that Biermann would be looking at retirement, and he seems to be leaving on good terms. "Korea will remain as my second home, and all of my colleagues at Hyundai Motor Group will always be considered part of my family. I would like to recognize that our success has always been based on the strong collective spirit of the many talented people at Hyundai, and I will value our unique achievements wherever I live," he said in a release from Hyundai. Fortunately, Biermann will still be an Executive Technical Advisor for the company. Specifically, he'll be advising on electrified performance cars. We say fortunately, because Biermann has been so involved in some of the company's best cars. He helped make the company's rear-drive-based cars such as the Kia Stinger and Genesis models so fun to drive. He also helped setup Hyundai's N sub-brand, and the N models are among the best sport compacts in the world. Assuming Hyundai has taken to heart many things from Biermann, and with his continued advising, the company should still be in a good position. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 2022 Hyundai Kona N Short Cut

What do J.D. Power's quality ratings really measure?

Check these recently released J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS) results. Do they raise any questions in your mind? Premium sports-car maker Porsche sits in first place for the third straight year, so are Porsches really the best-built cars in the U.S. market? Korean brands Kia and Hyundai are second and fourth, so are Korean vehicles suddenly better than their US, European, and Japanese competitors? Are workaday Chevrolets (seventh place) better than premium Buicks (11th), and Buicks better than luxury Cadillacs (21st), even though all are assembled in General Motors plants with the same processes and many shared parts? Are Japanese Acuras (26th) worse than German Volkswagens (24th)? And is "quality" really what it used to be (and what most perceive it to be), a measure of build excellence? Or has it evolved into much more a measure of likeability and ease of use? To properly analyze these widely watched results, we must first understand what IQS actually studies, and what the numerical scores really mean. First, as its name indicates, it's all about "initial" quality, measured by problems reported by new-vehicle owners in their first 90 days of ownership. If something breaks or falls off four months in, it doesn't count here. Second, the scores are problems per 100 vehicles, or PP100. So Power's 2015 IQS industry average of 112 PP100 translates to just 1.12 reported problems per vehicle. Third, no attempt is made to differentiate BIG problems from minor ones. Thus a transmission or engine failure counts the same as a squeaky glove box door, tricky phone pairing, inconsistent voice recognition, or anything else that annoys the owner. Traditionally, a high-quality vehicle is one that is well-bolted together. It doesn't leak, squeak, rattle, shed parts, show gaps between panels, or break down and leave you stranded. By this standard, there are very few poor-quality new vehicles in today's U.S. market. But what "quality" should not mean, is subjective likeability: ease of operation of the radio, climate controls, or seat adjusters, phone pairing, music downloading, sizes of touch pads on an infotainment screen, quickness of system response, or accuracy of voice-recognition. These are ergonomic "human factors" issues, not "quality" problems. Yet these kinds of pleasability issues are now dominating today's JDP "quality" ratings.

A closer look at the Kia GT4 Stinger Concept

When we named the Kia GT4 Stinger Concept as our top debut at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show, our comments section had, let's call it, a tantrum. People were not pleased. Debuting alongside hugely significant production cars like the Chevrolet Corvette Z06, Ford Mustang, Ford F-150, Lexus RC F, BMW M3/M4 and Chrysler 200 (not to mention great concepts like the Toyota FT-1, Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge and Volvo Concept XC Coupe), what business did a tiny, turbocharged, rear-drive Kia concept car have winning the prize as the best of Detroit?
Well, as it turns out, it has every right to be there. Our own Michael Harley sat down with the head of US design for Kia, Tom Kearn, to discuss the GT4 Stinger and find out just what the brand was thinking when it decided to create such an enthusiast-oriented concept. The interview gives a great insight into the car and its design, while Harley goes into some detail at the end of the video about why the GT4 was the Autoblog Editors' Choice of the 2014 Detroit Auto Show.
Scroll down to watch the full interview.