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Hyundai pulls wraps off new i20 WRC rally car

Hyundai Motorsport is ready for the 2016 World Rally Championship after the unveiling of the New Generation i20 WRC at the team's shop in Alzenau, Germany. This is Hyundai's third season in the WRC, and it wants to improve after taking third place in the manufacturer's championship in 2015. The New Generation i20 WRC is now based on the five-door i20 hatchback from Europe, and the updated rally car boasts a stiffer chassis and a tweaked suspension. Other than the extra doors at the rear, the latest design features a more angular front end with harder edges around the grille and headlights. The WRC car boasts a 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with 300 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque. A six-speed sequential gearbox routes the power to the all-wheel drive system. Hyundai originally wanted to base the new rally car on the latest three-door i20 production model for the 2015 season, but a delay in the vehicle's homologation turned the team's attention to the five-door for 2016. "The New Generation i20 WRC is the product of a full year of development and, with a more experienced team, we now raise our objectives to be more confident to fight at the front," Team Principal Michel Nandan said at the unveiling. Drivers Dani Sordo and Thierry Neuville give the New Generation i20 WRC a competition debut at the season-opening Rallye Monte-Carlo in January. Hayden Paddon gets his at the following event – the Rally Sweden. While those guys are racing, Hyundai Motorsport also has another car under development to be ready for the next crop of WRC machines that will see action in 2017. Related Video: Hyundai Motorsport unveils New Generation i20 for third WRC season New Generation Hyundai i20 WRC revealed as Hyundai Motorsport previews a third season at the team's 2016 launch event. Alzenau, Germany, December 9, 2015 - Hyundai Motorsport today revealed its New Generation i20 WRC during a launch event for media and guests at the team's factory in Alzenau. The car will be used in our third season of WRC competition by drivers Dani Sordo, Hayden Paddon and Thierry Neuville. The venue for the launch was significant as it will soon be Hyundai Motorsport's customer racing headquarters. From this base we will supply teams around the world with our new R5 rally car that is also based on the New Generation i20. The reveal marks a new chapter in Hyundai Motorsport history as we build on two successful WRC seasons and approach our third.

Hyundai, Buick dealer apologize in wake of Chinese baby social media incident

A very strange story out of China today, as Hyundai and a Chinese Buick dealer were forced to face allegations of using allusions to an infamous child murder on a social media site as a way of promoting the safety features of their respective vehicles.
The original sad tale goes something like this: On March 4, a man reported to police that he had left his infant child in a running Toyota RAV4 while he ran into a supermarket briefly. When he came back out, the vehicle and the child were gone. Later in the week a suspect turned himself in to the police; confessing to them that he had stolen a sport-utility vehicle, strangled the infant that was in it, and then buried the child in the snow.
As you might imagine, the gristly incident was covered massively in the Chinese media. (There was huge public outcry as well, as evidenced by the vigil scene, above.) "Changchun baby abduction" was very quickly amongst the highest ranking search teams of the China's Weibo social media site - an equivalent of Twitter in the English-speaking world.

Hyundai ix35/Tucson replacement comes into view

Last week, we showed you some leaked images of the Hyundai Intrado Concept, a vehicle set for debut at next week's Geneva Motor Show. We suspect that the Intrado will act as the inspiration for the next Hyundai Tucson, known elsewhere in the world as the ix35. Now, we can bring you the first images of that car undergoing testing.
There is quite a lot of cladding on this prototype, although we can make out a set of slim headlights that are similar in shape to the Intrado. The two cars also share a similar shape in the greenhouse, although obviously the prototype wears an extra set of doors behind the B-pillar.
Don't be fooled by the heavy cladding on the rear hatch, either, as it's just there to disrupt the look of the profile. It's fairly easy to spot where the roofline starts its dive down.