2014 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0t R-spec on 2040-cars

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Imported pickup tax in play in Trump trade talks with South Korea

WASHINGTON/SEOUL - Talks starting Friday to amend a U.S.-South Korean trade deal must balance President Donald Trump's domestic agenda against the need to contain a nuclear armed North Korea and will have to be completed swiftly, officials from both sides told Reuters. The U.S goods trade deficit with South Korea has doubled since the 2012 signing of the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS). Almost 90 percent of the 2016 shortfall of $27.6 billion came from the auto sector, an issue the United States is expected to press hard in the Washington talks. A quick deal could give Trump his first trade victory at a time when NAFTA negotiations are dragging on without agreement and pressure on China to change trade practices has yielded little progress. The talks, led by Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Michael Beeman and Yoo Myung-hee, director general for FTA negotiations at South Korea's trade ministry, begin at a time of heightened tensions with Pyongyang. A trade ministry official in Seoul said South Korea was waiting for Washington's formal proposals and substantial negotiations would not take place on Friday over a deal Trump has repeatedly threatened to scrap. "The U.S. brought up lowering non-tariff barriers, especially for their auto industry. At the moment, we are not sure whether the U.S. will ask that but we will be prepared (for the U.S. demand)," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to the press. A top priority for the Americans is maintaining a 25 percent tariff on Korean pickup truck imports, which was meant to have been phased out from 2019 under the current deal, according to a U.S. official and a South Korean car industry source. South Korea has two major automakers, Hyundai and Kia, both of which are heavily reliant on exports due to the small size of their domestic market. Critics charge that South Korea discriminates against imports with a range of non-tariff barriers. South Korean auto companies believe that Washington will also seek to increase the 25,000-vehicle per U.S. automaker threshold for U.S. car shipments to South Korea that can enter the country without meeting Seoul's domestic industry regulations. The official at a South Korea auto company, who was not authorized to speak to the media, also said the United States was interested in easing Seoul's vehicle emissions targets. These are viewed as discriminating against U.S. autos.

Hyundai Elantra GT N Line expands N performance lineup with mild upgrades

Down with the Hyundai Elantra GT Sport, long live the Elantra GT N Line! For 2019, Hyundai is ditching the Sport moniker for its Elantra hatchback in order to align with the naming for its new N performance kingdom. So, technically, the GT Sport isn't going anywhere, as it's essentially the same model. With slight aesthetic, powertrain, and chassis upgrades, the GT N Line marks history for the Hyundai as the introduction of the mildly spicy N Line trim to the U.S. market. Hyundai sees itself as having five different tiers of vehicles. It starts with the base models, the next-highest are the N Line vehicles, and N performance automobiles are above that. Atop all three of these vehicles will be a halo car that Hyundai considers a "brand shaper," with motorsport cars representing the top-level pinnacle of development. An option for custom N features will also be available across the base, N Line, and N vehicles. In theory, the structuring is roughly similar to that seen on some Volkswagen vehicles. VW only offers an R high-performance model on the Golf. Several other vehicles in the lineup, however, are available in R-Line trims, which option the models with more attitude. Now that Hyundai has introduced the Veloster N high-performance model, Hyundai will offer the lower-tier N Line trim on multiple vehicles. The Elantra GT N Line is sensibly the first. Make no mistake assuming Hyundai stopped at simply changing the name of the car. Using the 2018 Elantra GT Sport as the bar, Hyundai claims it has increased the engine mount stiffness by 6.3 percent, trans mount stiffness by 24 percent, and the "rollroad" mount stiffness by 37.1 percent. The springs were also stiffened up 14.3 percent in front and 21.9 percent in the rear. The stability bar diameter drops from 24 mm to 23 mm in the front but increases from 14 mm to 17 mm in the rear. The shocks and steering also received fresh tunes, but Hyundai does not list the car's increase in overall rigidity. The cherries on top are new 18-inch Michelin Pilot Sport 4 summer tires on the manual model that replace the old GT Sport's old 18-inch Hankook all-seasons. The car's performance remains the same. It carries over the 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that makes 201 horsepower and 195 lb-ft of torque. It is offered with a six-speed manual transmission for $24,185 or a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission with paddle shifters for $25,285.

Is it time for the car-based trucks to return?

Back in 1957 Ford began producing the Ranchero. In 1959 the El Camino made its debut. In time, other manufacturers would execute their own version of the "Car Truck" anomaly. Dodge, Subaru, and Volkswagen would all join in the category before eventually ceasing production for the United States. Although production ran longer overseas, including Australia, where the "utes" were very well received, in the United States the last ute offering, the Subaru Baja, would cease production in 2006. The manufacturer offerings were very diverse. Powerplants ranged from 4 to 8 cylinders. The number of driving wheels were also diverse. Some were 2 wheel drive, others 4 wheel drive. Even more differentiation could be found in how the manufacturers decided to pursue the utility portion of their vehicle by providing either a unibody architecture for improved mileage, or a solid chassis for extra load bearing capacity and better towing ratings. Here's a brief (not comprehensive) production history of ute history in the United States... Chevy El Camino/ GMC Caballero: 1959-1960 then 1964-987 Dodge Rampage/ Plymouth Scamp: 1982-1984 Ford Ranchero: 1957-1979 Subaru Brat: 1978-1987 Subaru Baja: 2003-2006 Volkswagen Rabbit Sportruck: 1978-1984 That brings us to 2017. Trucks are huge sellers for manufacturers. However, miles per gallon ratings are huge concerns for those same manufacturers. So, automakers are looking to increase the efficiencies of their products to make them more palatable to the increasingly green conscience buying public. Enter a ute revival. A reborn unibody ute would meet that need as it would have the mileage numbers more closely tied to a car than a truck. It seems that I'm not the only one thinking this way. Hyundai has identified the emptiness of this car truck niche, looked at its own portfolio, and recognized the lack of pickup trucks. Fixing that emptiness is one of their concerns. So, they have viewed the active traditional pickup market, while also watching the unibody Ridgeline sales over in the Honda camp and determined that the niche needs to be filled with their own twist. They are rumored to have green lighted the 2019 Hyundai Santa Cruz for sales beginning in 2018. Hyundai's twist however, is that their vehicle would be based on a crossover chassis, possibly the Tucson. Remember, this is a rumor. So, it could change to a red light from the manufacturer or just as easily change to a Genesis chassis overnight.