2017 Hyundai Sonata Sedan 4d on 2040-cars

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Hyundai mulling new Lexus-fighting upscale crossover

The idea of Hyundai marketing a luxury automobile might have seemed ridiculous a decade ago, but that was before the Genesis sedan, Genesis coupe and Equus came along. Now that buyers seem more accustomed to the notion of an upscale Hyundai, the Korean automaker is said to be considering launching a luxury crossover to take on the likes of the Lexus RX and Cadillac SRX.
The report comes from our compatriots at Edmunds, who spoke to Dave Zuchowski, head of Hyundai's North American unit, who said that the project is not yet part of the company's plan, but that "it is something under consideration."
The last time Hyundai entered that territory was with the Veracruz (pictured above), a model that was sometimes compared to but ultimately failed to compete with the Lexus RX when it was sold between 2006 and 2011. The Veracruz was effectively replaced by the seven-passenger Santa Fe with which it shared its underpinnings. This new project being considered would similarly be based on the latest Santa Fe, and the challenge Hyundai is facing once again would be to position it as a sufficiently upscale product to warrant a premium sticker price.

Hyundai shows us two more Super Bowl commercials

Hyundai is gearing up to show five commercials during this year's Super Bowl, and you've probably already seen one of them called Don't Tell that's been airing on television for weeks now. The Korean automaker has released two of the other four ads, though it looks like it might keep the headlining ad for the three-row Santa Fe, called Epic PlayDate, under wraps until the big game.
Of the two ads published on YouTube, we like Stuck the most, which features the Sonata Turbo. It presents all of the horrid things you could be stuck behind on the highway as reason enough for buying a boosted Sonata with its ample passing power.
The other commercial, called Excited, features the 2013 Hyundai Genesis. Our funny bone didn't tingle much with this one, and it contains a grammar bugaboo that's a pet peeve of some editors in the Autoblog virtual offices. Can you spot it? Scroll below to take the challenge and let us know in the comments.

Hyundai developed an airbag for panoramic sunroofs

We've reached a point where you can be in a car crash from just about any angle, and find yourself with a face full of airbag. But there's yet one more airbag frontier that Hyundai and its parts supplier company Hyundai Mobis are pioneering: the sunroof airbag. More specifically, the companies have developed an airbag to protect occupants in cars equipped with panoramic sunroofs. Hyundai explains in a press release that there was concern passengers' heads and limbs could end up going through the big glass opening in a rollover, leading to serious injury. The resulting airbag design aims to prevent that by deploying when a rollover is detected to contain occupants' bodies. It inflates from the back of the sunroof toward the front in 0.08 seconds and will go off regardless of whether the sunroof is open or closed. Hyundai, which together with Kia and Genesis had six of the 15 recent IIHS Top Safety Pick+ vehicles, claims the airbag reduced life-threatening injuries to minor ones during testing. It also noted that the company has 11 patents on the technology. No mention of when these airbags would appear in production vehicles was made. We would imagine that whenever Hyundai starts offering the feature, it will show up first on high-end vehicles such as Genesis luxury cars. Related Video: