2014 Hyundai Elantra Limited on 2040-cars

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Hyundai plans $388 million expansion at engine plant in Alabama

Hyundai says it is investing $388 million to build a new plant in Alabama to manufacturing engine heads and update technology in an existing engine plant to support production of new Sonata and Elantra sedans and the Santa Fe crossover. The investment will also include 50 new jobs at its manufacturing complex in Montgomery. About $40 million will go toward constructing a new 260,000-square-foot engine-head machining plant, which is expected to be completed in November and operational by mid-2019. Hyundai says the project will free up space to expand engine assembly lines in two existing engine plants in Alabama. Hyundai plans to begin producing the Theta III engine, likely a 2.5-liter four-cylinder (though Hyundai won't confirm the specs yet), in April 2019 for the Sonata and Santa Fe crossover. It will continue to build the 2.0-liter Nu engine for the Elantra at its plant in Montgomery. Together, the engine plants build about 700,000 engineers per year to support vehicle production in Alabama and Kia's manufacturing facility in West Point, Ga. Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama started vehicle production in May 2005 and employs 2,700 full-time and 500 part-time employees. Related Video: Image Credit: Hyundai Plants/Manufacturing Hyundai Crossover Sedan hyundai santa fe

Hyundai recalls some 2011 Sonatas: Airbags might not deploy

Hyundai is recalling certain 2011 model-year Sonata midsize sedans, saying the airbags may not inflate in a crash. Hyundai says in a government filing that the airbag control unit may short circuit in a crash and prevent the front and side airbags from inflating and the seatbelts from tightening. The automaker says it is aware of four incidents in which owners of the 2011 Sonata reported airbag failure during a crash. Only 1 percent of models are estimated to be defective. The recall affects 154,753 Sonata models built between Dec. 11, 2009, and Sept. 29, 2010, at Hyundai's Alabama assembly plant. It starts April 20. Hyundai says the remedy for the recall is still being developed. This recall is not related to the massive global Takata recall. Separately, Hyundai this week issued a recall for nearly 44,000 Santa Fe and Santa Fe Sport SUVs, both from 2018, following reports of the steering wheel detaching from the steering column. In that recall, dealers will replace the steering wheel assembly, if necessary. Affected owners are to be notified starting March 16. Related Video: Image Credit: Hyundai Recalls Hyundai Auto Repair Safety Sedan airbag hyundai santa fe hyundai santa fe sport

Ioniq Unlimited is Hyundai's way to get Millennials to subscribe to a car

Let's state at the outset that a lot of the questions you're going to have about the new Ioniq Unlimited vehicle subscription program from Hyundai will not be answered in this post. This isn't because we didn't ask - we did - but because Hyundai is holding on to those details until some time after the service starts, which will be some time after the first of the year. If we had to guess, we'll get the information we seek at CES in early January. But, hey, we're getting ahead of ourselves. What is Ioniq Unlimited, anyway? It's a subscription service for the all-electric version of the Ioniq. Available only in California (during the pilot program, anyway), Ioniq Unlimited is an Internet-based way to get yourself a 2017 Ionic Electric. There are no negotiations, just a single price that you pay every month. That price includes all sorts of things: registration and Doc fees, recharging fees, unlimited mileage, and scheduled maintenance. Oh, and there's no down payment. Hyundai vice president of corporate and product planning, Mike O'Brien, told AutoblogGreen that the idea here is to appeal to millennials, who like to keep their transactions simple. Sign once, pay once, be done. Hyundai is trying to, "make car ownership as easy as owning a phone," O'Brien said. Maybe that's why the subscription terms are 24 and 36 months. O'Brien would not say if people could cancel early. As for the price, all he would say is that it will be, "very competitive." Yeah, we want more information, too. Whatever they cost, the subscriptions will be good for Hyundai, too, since the cars will be treated like leased vehicles (and thus owned by Hyundai's captive leasing program) and totally counted in the company's CAFE numbers. We'll have more details, well, whenever Hyundai feels like it's time to share. For more information on Vehicle Subscription Services, check out the Complete Guide. Related Video: