2009 Hyundai Santa Fe Gls Auto Cd Audio Roof Rack 54k Texas Direct Auto on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Which car companies are creating new jobs in America?

Since January, automakers have announced investments totaling $9.5 billion in U.S. plants, creating or retaining more than 12,000 jobs. Some of those companies have yet to announce just how many jobs will be created given their investments, with the location of many of those jobs still to be determined. Specifically, the 4,000-job Toyota-Mazda joint venture plant still hasn't announced its location, with numerous states jockeying for it. Hyundai has plans to invest $1 billion but has not announced a jobs number yet. And likewise Ford is investing $1.2 billion in Michigan without specifying a number of jobs. Volvo this week announced plans to add a second line to its factory under construction in South Carolina, spending another $500 million and adding 2,500 jobs to the 2,000 it was already trying to fill. Then Thursday, Daimler announced a $1 billion expansion to its facility in Tuscaloosa, Ala., to produce EV batteries and electric SUVs, a move that will add 600 jobs to its hiring this year. Above, we've created a handy pie chart showing you which companies have announced new jobs and how many there will be. Reporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit News Source: Reuters Plants/Manufacturing BMW Chrysler Ford GM Honda Hyundai Mazda Mercedes-Benz Toyota Volvo jobs

Hyundai will launch pickup, more SUVs to reverse U.S. sales slide

By Paul Lienert and Hyunjoo Jin DETROIT/SEOUL — Hyundai plans to launch a pickup truck in the United States as part of a broader plan to catch up with a shift away from sedans in one of the Korean automaker's most important markets, a senior company executive said. Michael J. O'Brien, vice president of corporate and product planning at Hyundai's U.S. unit, told Reuters that Hyundai's top management has given the green light for development of a pickup truck similar to a show vehicle called the Santa Cruz that U.S. Hyundai executives unveiled in 2015. Hyundai currently does not offer a pickup truck in the United States. Hyundai also plans to launch a small SUV called the Kona in the United States later this year. People familiar with the automaker's plans said separately that Hyundai plans to launch three other new or refreshed SUVs by 2020. So-called crossovers — sport utilities built on chassis similar to sedans — now account for about 30 percent of total light vehicle sales in the United States. Consumers in China, the world's largest auto market, are also substituting car-based SUVs for sedans. People familiar with Hyundai's plans said the company plans to roll out a new version of its Santa Fe Sport midsize SUV next year, followed by an all-new seven-passenger crossover to replace a current three-row Santa Fe in early 2019 in the United Sates. A redesigned Tucson SUV is expected in 2020, people familiar with Hyundai's plans said. Hyundai's U.S. dealers have pushed the company to invest more aggressively in SUVs and trucks as demand for sedans such as the midsize Sonata and the smaller Elantra has waned, and as Hyundai has announced a shift to electric vehicles. "We are optimistic about the future," Scott Fink, chief executive of Hyundai of New Port Richey, Fla., which is Hyundai's biggest U.S. dealer, said. "But we are disappointed that we don't have the products today." Hyundai's U.S. sales are down nearly 11 percent this year through July 31, worse than the overall 2.9-percent decline in U.S. car and light truck sales. Sales of the Sonata, once a pillar of Hyundai's U.S. franchise, have fallen 30 percent through the first seven months of 2017. In contrast, sales of Hyundai's current SUV lineup are up 11 percent for the first seven months of this year. "Our glasses are fairly clean," O'Brien said.

Hyundai reveals new i20 hatchback ahead of Paris debut

If you had ever traveled overseas and rented a Hyundai Getz, you'll likely have gotten why it was the butt of jokes: it Getz you from A to B, but not much more. But like the company that makes it, the Korean supermini is all grown up now, long since eschewing the punchline nameplate for the i20 moniker. And here is its latest successor.
Set to be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show this fall, the new i20 is Hyundai's rival to the likes of the Ford Fiesta, Volkswagen Polo, Toyota Yaris and such. Designed in Europe for the European market, the new i20 stretches its wheelbase nearly two inches longer than its predecessor (and four and a half inches longer than the knees-in-your-chest Getz) to offer best-in-class legroom and cargo capacity.
Hyundai also says the new i20 is the first in its segment to offer an opening panoramic sunroof. While we wouldn't exactly call the styling "exciting" (especially in that shade of brown), penned at the company's European design center in Rüsselsheim, Germany, it certainly does look more mature... which, we take it, is kinda the point.