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Hyundai reportedly eyeing a takeover of FCA

The CEO of Hyundai Motor Group plans to launch a takeover bid for Fiat Chrysler ahead of the planned retirement of FCA Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne next spring, Asia Times reports, citing unnamed sources close the situation. CEO Chung Mong-koo will wait for an expected decline in the Italian-American automaker's shares to make his move. Hyundai isn't commenting on the rumors, unsurprisingly, but would presumably stand to benefit by gaining Chrysler's dealer network and the lucrative Jeep brand and probably Ram, too. An FCA spokeswoman in Auburn Hills told Autoblog the company had no comment. But like any story about a possible takeover, this one gets complicated with inside players — and President Trump's posturing on international trade issues. FCA has been the subject of takeover interest before, including by Hyundai, but Marchionne has denied a merger was likely, instead saying his company was in talks with the Korean automaker about a technical partnership. In 2015, Marchionne lobbied General Motors hard, but unsuccessfully, for a tie-up; he was also spurned by Volkswagen. Marchionne had repeatedly stressed the need for car companies to merge to decrease overcapacity and better afford the massive investments needed for things like autonomous and electric vehicles. In the case of Hyundai's reported interest, there is a cast of characters. One is Paul Singer, principal of the hedge fund Elliott Management, an activist shareholder with a $1 billion stake in Hyundai and a major owner of equities in Fiat's home turf of Italy. Then there is FCA Chairman John Elkann, who reportedly disagrees with Marchionne on a successor as CEO of Fiat Chrysler but has little interest in running the company himself and would prefer a merger. Compounding things is what the Trump administration would think of a further blending of Fiat Chrysler's international DNA, though a deal with a Korean automaker is thought to be more palatable to the president and members of Congress than by a Chinese conglomerate like Great Wall Motor, which has confirmed its interest in taking over all or parts of FCA. The full Asia Times piece is here. Related Video: News Source: Asia TimesImage Credit: REUTERS/Rebecca Cook Chrysler Fiat Hyundai Jeep RAM Sergio Marchionne FCA merger takeover

Google poised to release Apple CarPlay rival this month

Apple and Google. They're the Michigan and Ohio State of the tech world. They're New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, Real Madrid and Barcelona, or whatever sports-based rivalry you want to cook up. Bottom line, if one company expands into a segment, it's only a matter of time before the other follows suit. And now, that rivalry is about to carry over to your car's dashboard.
Unnamed sources are reporting to Automotive News that Google will unveil its very own challenger to Apple's new CarPlay in-car operating system later this month at the Mountain View, CA company's annual developer conference. The system, allegedly called Google Auto Link, will be the first product to come from the Open Automotive Alliance, a partnership between Google, General Motors, Hyundai, Audi, Honda and hardware manufacturer NVIDIA.
The official announcement is expected to be made on either June 25 or 26, at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco. Expect to hear a lot more about Google Auto Link then.

2018 Hyundai Kona misses out on IIHS Top Safety Pick

There are many things good about the 2018 Hyundai Kona subcompact crossover SUV. The turbo engine gives it some real get-up-and-go, it handles surprisingly well, and it has a pleasant interior. But apparently it has a feature that's actually not good: the headlights. And they were bad enough that they kept the small crossover from getting the IIHS Top Safety Pick rating. IIHS gave both the standard halogen headlights and the optional LED headlights a "Poor" rating in the organization's testing, the lowest possible score. The standard lights didn't provide enough illumination, and both sets of lights produced too much glare for oncoming drivers. Headlights have been a weak point for many new vehicles despite having crash test scores that would otherwise merit a Top Safety Pick rating. The Kona is no exception in this regard, as it received a "Good" rating, the highest possible score, in all of its crash tests. Also, when equipped with optional forward collision prevention technology, it got the highest rating for crash prevention. This means it was able to stop the car before colliding with an object at speeds up to 25 mph. As such, we would say a Kona is still a good choice as a fun-to-drive, stylish crossover — if you can tolerate the headlights. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: IIHSImage Credit: IIHS Hyundai Safety Crossover SUV Economy Cars hyundai kona