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Kia GT4 Stinger gets top-down teaser

Kia has issued another teaser for its hotly anticipated GT4 Stinger Concept, which is set to debut at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show early next week. Our third teaser for the new car is from above, showing a squat, compact sports car form that makes us rather hopeful for the upcoming debut.
All signs point to the GT4 being a looker, with noticeable vents in the hood, a small back window and rather meaty C-pillars and rear haunches. When Kia calls this "sculpted" in the press release, we're certainly inclined to agree.
As we told you when revealing the GT4's last teaser, a 2.0-liter turbo will be responsible for motivating the rear-drive 2+2. If it held on to the concept's 315 horsepower, a production version of the Stinger Concept would certainly seem like it could have the potential to keep pace with the new EcoBoost-powered Ford Mustang, as well as the Genesis Coupe, from Kia's favorite corporate frenemy, Hyundai.

Kia KX3 crossover concept leaked

Despite all the focus on the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show, there's another increasingly important event happening on the other side of the planet. The Guangzho Motor Show is yet another expression of China's growing automotive might. Not only does the show boast a concurrent introduction with the LA Auto Show, in the form of the Mercedes-Maybach S600, but it has at least one exclusive item, with the Kia KX3 Concept.
Looking like a Soul mixed with a Sportage, the KX3 heralds the arrival of a production model based on the Hyundai ix35, known here in the US as the Hyundai Tucson. Whether that model will make Stateside, though, is another story.
If it does, World Car Fans claims it will be with either a 2.0-liter four-cylinder or a 1.6-liter turbocharged four, both of which should be familiar to Hyundai/Kia shoppers. While WCF says there will be a manual-transmission option, we shouldn't count on any gearbox beyond a dual-clutch automatic.

Hyundai, union reach tentative labor deal

According to Reuters, South Korea's labor unions may have reached a tentative deal with Hyundai following a compromise between the two sides on wages. Workers have staged a number of stoppages since August 20, which have cost the South Korean giant 1.02 trillion won - around $1.1B US. It also represents just over 50,000 units of production. That vehicle total sounds like a lot, but it's a small enough figure that Hyundai can apparently catch up with weekend and overtime shifts. We'd wager that this is why US inventories haven't been hit quite so hard aside from the battering already taking place. The proposal will now go before the union's rank and file.
If ratified, the new agreement will see workers getting a 5.14-percent raise in base salaries, along with 8.5-million-won (roughly $7,800) bonuses. Those concessions are a far cry compared to what the union was initially demanding, though. Early proposals included a 56.25-gram gold medal for each employee (worth about $2,400) and a 10-million won bonus (about $9,100) for employees whose children chose not to attend college. The union also sought a bonus worth two months' salary for workers that have been with the company for over 40 years, but this was negotiated down to a flat rate of six-million won ($5,464).
Based on Reuters' report, the work stoppages must have taken a real toll on Hyundai - its domestic sales dropped 20 percent last month, while exports were down nine percent. Those startling figures must have put some fire under the Hyundai bargaining team.