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Hyundai and Kia announce $3.1-billion investment in US facilities

Update: A US spokesperson for Hyundai had no further information, but called the reports about the automaker's investments accurate. Hyundai and Kia announced this morning a plan to invest $3.1 billion into its US facilities over the next five years. According to Automotive News, the new investment is a 50-percent increase over what Korea's two largest automakers have brought to the US in the last five years. The automakers already have several large-scale manufacturing bases in the US, but the new investment could bring another plant into the fold. There is the possibility of producing a Genesis product in the US or building a new plant for a US-specific crossover. The announcement is the latest US investment plan as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office Friday. Trump has singled out automakers for not building cars in the United States, and Ford, General Motors, and Fiat Chrysler all announced plans to invest in the US since the beginning of January. Skeptics say these moves would have to be years in the making, though Trump has been quick to take credit for them. Not all of the new money will go toward building new plants. Hyundai and Kia could simply expand the already busy plants in Montgomery, AL, and West Point, GA. Beyond that. The automakers could further their research into electric and autonomous vehicles. Like many other automakers, the two Korean giants have backed down from planned expansions into Mexican manufacturing. Although many automakers currently build or were planning to build new vehicles in Mexico, threats of importation fees appear to be causing caused automakers to refocus some of their efforts toward US production. With all this new investment in the US, Kia and Hyundai said there will be no jobs moved to Mexico. Meanwhile, this morning GM announced plans to bring truck axle manufacturing back from Mexico. As with all of the recent announcements, Hyundai and Kia stated that Trump's upcoming presidency played no part in the decision to reinvest in the US. Related Video: News Source: Automotive News Plants/Manufacturing Genesis Hyundai Kia Mexico Trump jobs investment

Hyundai’s N division will tune electrics, steer clear of Genesis

At Hyundai's Namyang proving ground in a small garage emblazoned with a giant "N," Albert Biermann, the ex-BMW engineer who now heads up vehicle development for the Korean brand, recently provided a few hints about what to expect from Hyundai's nascent performance sub-brand — and that includes EVs. "We are looking for the right ideas of how to transfer the craziness of N into electrification," he said. That could be "a full EV [and] also could be a hybrid." To date, we've seen the Veloster N introduced last fall in the United States, followed by the recently announced Elantra GT N Line. Europe has the i30 N in hatchback and fastback body styles. Biermann says, "We will expand also into segments we are not in now," including "something a little bit smaller," as well as into "a different type of vehicle." Biermann also said we can expect a more powerful version of the new 2020 Hyundai Sonata — which we've just reviewed, and which will launch in the United States with a 180-hp 1.6-liter turbo and a 191-hp 2.5-liter naturally aspirated four. But he stopped short of saying whether it would be an N or an N Line model. And it appears that the N expansion will not extend to Genesis. "There are no plans yet to make a sub-label for Genesis like we did with N for Hyundai," Biermann said. This despite the fact that nearly all of its rivals have branched out in that direction. For now, it seems, the G70 Sport is as sporty as it will get over at Genesis.

The 2017 Hyundai Ioniq fuel economy numbers are official, and impressive

Thanks to the EPA's handy fuel economy reference site, fueleconomy.gov, we now know exactly how the three versions of the 2017 Hyundai Ioniq did in fuel economy testing. The EPA tested all three versions: the hybrid Ioniq, the plug-in hybrid Ioniq Blue, and the self-explanatory Ioniq Electric. For reference, the 2017 Toyota Prius is no slouch, getting 50 mpg highway, 54 in the city, and 52 combined according to EPA testing. Now let's compare to the Ioniq, which in regular form gets 54 highway, 55 city, and 55 combined. It bests the traditional hybrid Prius most significantly on the highway. The plug-in Blue achieved 59 highway, 57 city, for a combined 58 mpg rating. As we mentioned in our earlier deep dive on the Ioniq range, the plug-in will also do 31 miles on electricity alone. As suspected, the range of the Ioniq Electric is going to be an issue for the company. The EPA confirmed the range to be 124 miles in total, returning an MPGe rating of 122 highway, 150 city, and 136 combined. We know that Hyundai is self-conscious of the range of the initial model, which looks unimpressive compared to the crop of 200-plus-mile range EVs coming to market soon, like the Bolt. Hyundai recently told Automotive News that a 200-mile range version will be coming quickly, by 2018, so the Electric won't be hobbled for too long. As long as we're comparing it to the Bolt, it should be noted that the MPGe numbers are better, even if the total range isn't. The Bolt is only good for 110 highway, 128 city, and 119 combined MPGe – to put it another way, the Ioniq Electric consumes 25 kWh per 100 miles, while the Bolt consumes 28. A small difference, to be sure, but worth noting. Don't forget that there's a fourth Ioniq out there, which we rode in recently, although it's notably mainly for its autonomous tech rather than its drivetrain. Related Video: Tip: Ramsy Shuffield Green Hyundai Fuel Efficiency Hatchback Electric Hybrid