2012 Hyundai Sonata Gls 4dr Sedan 6a on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Hyundai Ioniq EV coming with 110-mile range in US

We've known for a while that the new Hyundai Ioniq line of vehicles will come in three variants: hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery electric. As we get ready for more information on the trio at the New York Auto Show this week, we've learned that t he EV, which is slated to go on sale in South Korea in June and in the US towards the end of the year, will have a 28-kilowatt-hour battery pack that's similar to the Kia Soul EV. The Sould EV has a single-charge range of 93 miles, but the Ioniq EV will be able to go as far as 110 miles on one charge, In discussion with Hyundai's Kim Choong, Automotive News learned that despite earlier talk of a 155-mile range for the EV, the 110-mile figure is what the Ioniq will get on the US EPA test cycle, Hyundai spokesman Jim Trainor confirmed in an e-mail to AutoblogGreen on Monday. The longer range figure is what the Ioniq EV will be rated at on the more lenient European cycle. Hyundai revealed its "three-pronged" plan for the Ioniq at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this month. We now know that the EV model will have paddle shifters so the driver can control the level of friction in the car's regenerative brake. Additionally, the EV, as with the hybrid and plug-in hybrid, will have an "eco-routing" navigation system that to make best use of either the range on the EV or the fuel economy on the hybrids. The Ioniq Hybrid debuted in South Korea in January. That variant has already received some attention because Hyundai's Lee Ki-Sang told Automotive News that the hybrid itself will have "standard" and "eco" variants, and that the "eco" version will have a combined fuel-economy rating of 56 miles per gallon, putting it well ahead of the Toyota Prius's fuel economy. That is, if these numbers are all on the same test cycle. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric: Geneva 2016 View 14 Photos News Source: Automotive News-sub.req. via Green Car ReportsImage Credit: Drew Phillips Green Hyundai Electric Hybrid ioniq

Hyundai, union reach tentative labor deal

According to Reuters, South Korea's labor unions may have reached a tentative deal with Hyundai following a compromise between the two sides on wages. Workers have staged a number of stoppages since August 20, which have cost the South Korean giant 1.02 trillion won - around $1.1B US. It also represents just over 50,000 units of production. That vehicle total sounds like a lot, but it's a small enough figure that Hyundai can apparently catch up with weekend and overtime shifts. We'd wager that this is why US inventories haven't been hit quite so hard aside from the battering already taking place. The proposal will now go before the union's rank and file.
If ratified, the new agreement will see workers getting a 5.14-percent raise in base salaries, along with 8.5-million-won (roughly $7,800) bonuses. Those concessions are a far cry compared to what the union was initially demanding, though. Early proposals included a 56.25-gram gold medal for each employee (worth about $2,400) and a 10-million won bonus (about $9,100) for employees whose children chose not to attend college. The union also sought a bonus worth two months' salary for workers that have been with the company for over 40 years, but this was negotiated down to a flat rate of six-million won ($5,464).
Based on Reuters' report, the work stoppages must have taken a real toll on Hyundai - its domestic sales dropped 20 percent last month, while exports were down nine percent. Those startling figures must have put some fire under the Hyundai bargaining team.

Hyundai Motor shares slide following U.S. probe of airbag failures

SEOUL — Shares in Hyundai Motor tumbled on Monday on a U.S. probe into why airbags failed to deploy in some of its Sonata sedans, with investors fretting about potential recall costs for the once popular cars. The probe, which follows crashes that reportedly killed four people and left six injured, will review the 2011 Sonata sedan as well as the 2012-2013 Forte made by affiliate Kia Motors, encompassing some 425,000 vehicles. It marks the second investigation by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into the South Korean duo in less than one year, exacerbating headaches for Hyundai which reported in January its worst annual earnings in seven years. Hyundai has issued a recall for more than 150,000 U.S. Sonatas after incidents of non-deployment were linked to electrical overstress in the airbag control unit, but said it did not have a final fix. "What I am concerned about is that the recall will be expanded to other markets," said Ko Tae-bong, an analyst at Hi Investment & Securities. The Sonata and Forte sedans were responsible for driving sales for Hyundai and Kia in key markets in recent years, although they are no longer as popular as they once were. Ko estimated the U.S. recall could cost as much as $575 million if airbags were replaced in 425,000 vehicles under review and the automakers were found responsible for the problem. Hyundai Motor shares tumbled 4.8 percent while Kia Motors lost 3.7 percent. Parts supplier Hyundai Mobis fell 5.4 percent while the broader market was down 0.7 percent. Hyundai declined to comment on whether the recall would be expanded. Kia said it has not confirmed problems with the airbags but added it would "act promptly to conduct a safety recall, if it determines that a recall would be appropriate." The automakers told the South Korean regulator that the Sonata and Forte models sold in the domestic market were not affected, an official at South Korea's transport ministry told Reuters. The U.S. regulator said the airbag control units were built by ZF Friedrichshafen-TRW, a German auto supplier that acquired TRW Automotive in 2015, adding that it would determine if any other manufacturers used similar airbag control units and if they posed a safety risk. The NHTSA also said that electrical overstress appeared to be the root cause in the 2016 recall by Fiat Chrysler America of 1.4 million U.S. vehicles for airbag non-deployments in significant frontal crashes.