Tag Archives: Hyundai

Opinion: How Hyundai and Kia Have Made Design a Strength

Kia

I got my first, in-person taste of the upcoming Kia EV6 this past weekend in Irvine, California. It was a beautiful 77-degree day spent amid rolling hills under blue, sunny skies – even the people I met were wonderful. They were tanned, attractive, “California” people who were cheerful and engaging. No matter what California sent to distract me, though, my eyes kept turning back to the EV6.

There’s simply no escaping it. The Kia EV6, especially in the matte metallic gray finish, is an incredibly good-looking car.

Not too far away, another Korean car caught my eye. This time it was the Hyundai Ioniq 5, which I was also experiencing in production form for the first time. From a few yards away, the Ioniq 5 looks for all the world like a retro-futuristic hot hatch, low and squat and ready in the way that old rally cars seem to want to pounce off the line, and barrel towards the next curve. Then the door opens, someone steps out of the car, and your brain has to recalibrate.

It’s not a hot hatch at all. The Ioniq 5 is a medium-ish, five-passenger crossover with 21-inch wheels and high-end LED lighting. It was all a trick of the light.

“How—” I begin to ask, genuinely surprised at how small the Ioniq looks compared to how big it actually is. “How did you guys do this?”

“We hired the best people in the world,” was James Bell’s simple, straightforward response.

James Bell is Kia’s head of corporate communications and was kind enough to spend some time with me last Saturday during the Electrify Expo e-mobility festival in Irvine and help me wrap my brain around just how far Kia has come in the last two decades. Which, if you weren’t around in the 90s, let me tell you: Kia has come a long, long way.

“The company decided it was going to hire the best people it could find,” said James (I’m paraphrasing a bit here). “Not just good people, but the best people – even if that meant we had to look outside of Korea to find them.”

The team that Hyundai and Kia have put together to develop their new Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) reads like an automotive take on the Traveling Willburys.

Bell starts with Albert Biermann, who was originally hired as a chassis and suspension engineer at BMW in 1983, and who worked on every classic BMW you want while working his way up to the role of Vice President Engineering BMW M Automobiles and BMW Individual in 2008. Hyundai hired him away from BMW in 2015, specifically to ensure that the new Hyundai and Kia models built on the E-GMP platform were as good, from a dynamic perspective, as anything else.

Next, he mentions Luc Donckerwolke, a superstar car designer whose portfolio includes the all-conquering Audi R8 LeMans racer, the Lamborghini Murcielago and Gallardo, and both the 2013 Bentley Flying Spur and the EXP 10 Speed 6 concept. This guy can draw cars, in other words, and he’s proved that again and again since joining Hyundai with the 2018 Palisade, 2020 Sonata, 2021 Elantra, and G/GV80 Genesis models. He oversees the look and feel of the cars.

Finally, we get to Karim Habib, another BMW alum who penned both the BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe (swoon!) and the EV6 that’s in front of us.

“I love this car,” I tell James. “I just wrote an article about it, actually. I said it looked like a Lancia Stratos.”

“That’s a good thing to look like,” he says. “There might be some Lotus, too.”

We talked a bit about some of the other players in the EV space who have – let’s say, “struggled” with translating some traditional styling cues into a modern, crossover-y electric vehicle design language, and whether those styling cues were doing more to hurt or help those brands as they transition to EV.

“Do you think that Kia, because it’s kind of a younger brand with maybe less of a legacy, has more freedom to make really bold design choices?”

“Yeah,” James says, thoughtfully. “Yeah, I think so. The design language that Kia has is really forward-looking. When I was at GM, there were a lot of ‘competing interests’, shall we say?”

We joke a bit about Fiero/Corvette conspiracy theories and a “You can’t have a coupe; Buick just got a coupe!” mentality.

“At Kia,” he says, “there’s none of that.”

It’s clear just from the EV6 that Karim Habib is making the most of his opportunity to lead a design department that isn’t beholden to the past.

“EV6, as the first dedicated Kia EV, is a showcase of human-centered, progressive design and electrified power,” Habib said, in Kia’s official statement on its new, “Opposites United” design philosophy. “The philosophy is based on five key design pillars,” the statement continues. “‘Bold for Nature’, ‘Joy for Reason’, ‘Power to Progress’, ‘Technology for Life’, and ‘Tension for Serenity’.”

Which, I mean – that’s some pretty dense PR-speak that I really want to take issue with … but I can’t. The EV6 really does look bold, and I want to put some aggressively knobbed tires on it and take it out into nature. It looks joyful in the way that sportscars look fun and thrilling, but it’s a four-door crossover that I can make a logical case for. As for power – well, Kia did debut the 576 horsepower EV6 GT by lining it up alongside a Lamborghini, an AMG, a McLaren, a Ferrari, and a Porsche for an airstrip drag race.

The Kia didn’t win that race (the McLaren won), but it wasn’t last. Not by a long shot – and that says a lot about what Kia seems to have figured out about the car business: People build cars. And, if you hire the best people to build your cars, it makes sense that you’re probably going to end up building the best cars. Or some very good ones, at least.

With handling by the guy who made BMW M into the BMW M, a forward-looking design language, and the guy who brought Lamborghini and Bentley into the modern era keeping an eye on things, it’s hard to imagine Hyundai and Kia doing anything else.

James was a very good sport and spent a lot of time talking cars and Kia with me at the Electrify Expo. I wanted to return the favor, so I asked him if there was any point or message about Kia that he’d like to add to the article. After a bit of a pause, he hit me with the following: “We believe the launch of the EV6 will be long remembered as a pivotal moment in the history of Kia here in the US.  It will be our proverbial ‘vehicle of change’ as you will never forget the first time you see one on the road, and therefore is a perfect representation of Kia’s new Opposites United design theme.”

“I love it!” I said with a chuckle.

“Hopefully you can sense that I LOVE the car biz!” he added.

I do get that sense. I love it, too.

[Images: Kia, Hyundai]

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These Automakers Now Plan an All-Electric Future

The debate about whether or not automakers will shift to electric vehicles has seemingly changed to when the change will occur.

The age of the internal combustion engine is coming to a close — or so you might think considering the latest headlines.

A growing number of countries and regions have laid out plans to ban gas and diesel engines, Great Britain recently moving its ban up to 2030. California wants to ban internal combustion engine sales by 2035.

While automakers have traditional resisted regulatory requirements, the industry is actually taking the lead, in many cases. At least 10 have laid out plans to fully electrify their product lines. Some, including General Motors, intend to switch to 100% zero-emission vehicles — which can include battery-electric, as well as hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. Others plan a mix of BEVs and hybrids.

Here’s a look at where things stand today — though you can expect to see even more news in the next year or two, other manufacturers hinting they may follow.

General Motors

The GMC HUMMER EV is designed to be an off-road beast, with all-new features developed to conquer virtually any obstacle or terrain.

The world’s fifth-largest automaker by sales — demoted one spot after the recent formation of Stellantis — is the largest manufacturer laying out plans to go 100% battery electric. The company has been accelerating plans and now expects to have 30 BEVs in global showrooms by 2025, while banning ICE power entirely a decade later. The rollout is just gaining momentum but the Hong Guang Mini EV GM is building with Chinese partners Wuling and SAIC is now the world’s best-selling BEV. Significantly, the flagship Cadillac brand will be first to go 100% electric by 2030, officials revealed.

Volkswagen

The story here is a complicated one. The German giant clearly is spending more than any competitor on electrification — more than $80 billion to bring out more than 50 BEVs by mid-decade. But its plans vary by brand. The flagship VW marque launched its first long-range all-electric model, the ID.3, in Europe last year, with the ID.4 SUV reaching U.S. showrooms in a matter of weeks. And there are plenty more coming, including the ID.Buzz microbus. But the company has not yet indicated if or when it would give up gas and diesel power with its anchor brand.

Audi

Audi RS e-tron GT - debut high angle

The new Audi RS e-tron GT is just the latest EV coming from the world’s automakers.

VW’s largest luxury division is another marque aggressively migrating to electric propulsion, just last month revealing the new e-tron GT sports car. There’s been no formal plan for eliminating gas or diesel but Audi officials have broadly hinted that could come within the next 10 to 15 years.

Bentley

Meeting future emissions and fuel-economy mandates will be difficult for luxury brands, especially ultra-premium marques known for large, high-performance products like Bentley. In a major move that caught almost everyone off guard, Bentley announced last December that it will offer only plug-based models by 2026, going entirely BEV by 2030.

Nissan

The 2021 Nissan Ariya is about the size of a Rogue SUV – but features the interior space of the bigger Murano.

As part of the broader Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, the Japanese marque battles it out for industry dominance for VW and Toyota. It was an early EV pioneer with the original Nissan Leaf. Now, after a decade delay, it is finally moving to electrify more of its line-up, the all-electric Ariya SUV launching for 2022. In January, Nissan said all products in “key markets” will use some form of electric propulsion by the “early 2030s.” This will include not only BEVs like Leaf and Ariya but also vehicles using the new e-Power range-extending hybrid system.

Toyota

This company, proud of its leadership in hybrid technology, has long been skeptical of pure electric propulsion. For now, it is committed to offering hybrid and plug-in versions of all its product lines by around mid-decade. Facing increased competition, as well as regulatory pressures, Toyota is readying a modest number of BEVs but could move fast, officials have hinted, if it sees EVs as inevitable. It has hinted this could happen by 2040. Significantly, it is investing heavily in next-generation solid-state batteries. It also wants to be a leader in hydrogen fuel-cell technology.

Hyundai Motor Group

The Hyundai Ioniq 5

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is the company’s new all-electric sub-brand with a new design language.

The automaker is reserving space for internal combustion engines though, even here, it is moving towards hybrids and plug-ins. The Korean carmaker, which includes the Hyundai, Kia and Genesis brands, expects to have 23 all-electric models in global showrooms by 2025. A number of them will be sold through the new, battery-car sub-brand, Ioniq. It soon could announce a move entirely to Zero-Emission Vehicles. But, like Toyota, that would include both BEVs and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.

Ford

An early pioneer in electrification, Ford announced last month that it will offer only plug-in hybrids and pure battery-electric vehicles in Europe by mid-2026. It has yet to lay out plans for the U.S., China and other key markets but Ford is ramping up spending on battery programs and will launch some significant products over the next several years, including an all-electric version of the F-150 pickup. It’s off to a good start, the Mustang Mach-E winning honors as North American Car of the Year for 2021, while generating significant sales.

Volvo

Volvo C40 Recharge front

Volvo’s rolled out its second battery-electric model, the C40 Recharge.

The Swedish automaker and its Chinese parent Geely are making hefty investments in electrification. It launched its first long-range BEV, the XC40 Recharge, for 2021, and this month unveiled a second all-electric model, the S40 Recharge. Volvo had been planning on a mix of BEVs and plug-in hybrids but, by the end of the decade it will abandon those PHEVs and only sell BEVs.

Daimler/Mercedes-Benz

The leading global luxury brand is another brand moving aggressively into electrification while not quite ready to lock down a hard date to ban ICE technology. At the moment, that appears likely to happen before 2040. Mercedes already is moving in that direction with the launch of its EQ line-up. That sub-brand will cover a broad spectrum of sedans, SUVs and other body styles with products like the EQB and EQS coming out during the next several years. A significant development came with news that the high-performance AMG arm also will begin electrifying.

Smart

smart EQ fortwo

Smart was the first company to make the switch to an all-electric line-up with its fortwo.

Daimler’s city car brand became the world’s first to formally commit to switching from gas and diesel to all-electric propulsion back in 2018. The move is seen as a logical choice for the sort of buyers targeted by products like the little fortwo. The shift was already underway by the time the German parent decided to pull Smart out of the American market.

Stellantis

The merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and France Groupe PSA instantly created the industry’s fourth-largest automaker. It left many questions lingering about what the newly created Stellantis might be planning for electrification. Brands like Peugeot and Citroen were adding BEVs and hybrids and are looking to accelerate the shift. The big uncertainty is on the old FCA side. That said, the Fiat brand is set to have 60% of its offerings either hybrid or fully-electric by the end of this year, and may push even further.

Maserati

Then there’s Maserati. The high-performance arm of the old Fiat Chrysler said last November the new Ghibli Hybrid is just the start of its electrification program. Last November, CEO Davide Grasso declared, “All our line-up will be electrified in the next five years.”

BMW Chairman Oliver Zipse with iX and i4

BMW Chairman Oliver Zipse revealed the new i4 alongside the iX — three months early.

BMW

Another early pioneer, with products like the i3 BEV and i8 plug-in sports car, BMW appeared to be debating strategy for a few years before launching two long-range all-electric models, the new iX and i4. And there are plenty more in the pipeline. But the near to mid-term strategy calls for a mix of hybrids and BEVs, which will generate 50% of BMW’s global sales by 2030, Chairman Oliver Zipse said last week.

Mini

The British-based Mini brand is a different story. Here, parent BMW isn’t wavering. This month it confirmed that Mini will become an all-electric brand by 2030 “in every region of the world.” That’s a fast changeover considering that the very first Mini BEV, the SE, just came to market this past year. Significantly, the next-generation Mini Countryman will be produced both in gas and all-electric versions when it comes to market shortly.

Jaguar Land Rover

The Jaguar I-Pace hastened the brand’s shift in to the “Reimagine” program.

The Jaguar side of the British carmaker got a jump on competitors like BMW and Mercedes with its I-Pace model. A second all-electric SUV is now in the works. And CEO Thierry Bollore last month said that JLR’s “Reimagine” program will see the Jaguar side go 100% BEV by 2025, well ahead of key competitors. Surprisingly, though, the BEV version of the flagship Jaguar XJ sedan has been scrapped. As for the Land Rover side, the company plans to retain a mix of electrified powertrains, though it believes battery-only models will deliver 60% of total sales volumes by 2030.

Plenty of startups

We’ve focused on mainstream U.S., European, Japanese and South Korean brands. Expect to see a number of Chinese marques to lay out all-electric strategies, as well. That will include market leaders like Volvo parent Geely. It also will include a long list of Chinese start-ups. According to analyst Michael Dunne, more than 100 potential EV entrants hope to get licensed by the Beijing government, alongside other recent startups. There are plenty of other EV wannabes in the U.S. and Europe, such as Rivian, Lucid, Bollinger and Lordstown Motors.

Then there’s the EV market’s 800-pound gorilla. Tesla continues to dominate the market, though it has begun losing ground to a few competitors. The Ford Mustang Mach-E took 12 points of market share away from Tesla in the U.S. in recent months. The Wuling microvan is outselling all Tesla models combined.

The real question is whether consumers will back all the investments in electrification. All battery-based models combined still account for barely 6% of global new vehicle sales, BEVs roughly 2%. But industry forecasters see big jumps coming, especially if regulators continue to lay out plans banning internal combustion engines.

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Genesis Unveils Teaser Look at new GV70 SUV

Just a day after saying the brand would doublets offerings, Genesis revealed its second SUV, the GV70.

Less than a day after Genesis officials in the U.S. talked about plans to double the company’s product portfolio, including adding to SUVs, the company offered an early look at the smaller of the two SUVs: the GV70.

Heavily camouflaged in the photos from the luxury brand, the new midsized ute will be the company’s second, following the GV80, which is expected to arrive in the U.S. later this year. Officials noted that the GV70 will do its on-road testing in South Korea for a month starting today.

“We are thrilled to share this early sneak preview of our second SUV, the Genesis GV70,” said Genesis official. “It telegraphs an exciting new design and reinforces the core brand values that run through our line-up. We look forward to sharing full details on GV70 with everyone in the near future.”

(Genesis set to double line-up in next 12 months.)

The GV70 will be tested on public roads for the next month — in South Korea.

The generate some excitement among potential buyers, the company is allowing people to learn more about vehicle’s G-Matrix camouflage pattern by scanning a QR code. The only problem is that the code is embedded in the car’s camo pattern so unless you happen to be in South Korea sometime during the next month, internet updates will be the way to go.

While specific details are presently hidden by the bespoke G-Matrix camouflage pattern, the continued evolution of Genesis’ signature “Athletic Elegance” design language is noticeable, the company noted.

G-Matrix is inspired by the diffused reflection of light from precision cut diamonds and is a core part of the Genesis brand identity. Drivers can look forward to the creative application of the pattern on the GV70 in different ways, emphasizing the details that are emblematic of the Genesis brand.

(Genesis offers closer look at GV80 — its first SUV.)

Mark Del Rosso, Genesis’ U.S. CEO, said during a Monday media webinar, the brand will have six models in the U.S. in the coming year, including the two aforementioned Genesis SUVs, as well as its first all-electric model – which is also going to be a crossover, two company officials told TheDetroitBureau.com on background.

The grille and head lamp of the new GV70 are obscured by G-Matrix camouflage.

Barely five years old, the Genesis brand has faced plenty of challenges, especially after announcing that it would ask dealers to set up separate showrooms and no longer sell its products alongside more mainstream Hyundai models.

With all the new product coming, said Del Rosso, dealers will be asked to invest even more in the brand, adding “They realize they’re going to have to invest to develop the brand even further.”

(Next-generation Genesis G80 makes its digital debut.)

For the moment, Genesis has to get by with just three sedans, a challenge in an SUV-crazed U.S. market. Even so, and despite the sharp downturn in sedan sales, Genesis has fared well, gaining market share with models such as the flagship G90 and the near-luxury G70, a compact sports sedan that was named North American Car of the Year.

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Hyundai’s 2021 Veloster Comes in Three Flavors, but North of the Border, It’s a Very Different Story

The Hyundai Veloster remains an automotive oddity in a vehicle landscape rapidly shunning nonconformity, and for that, we give Hyundai credit. The car still exists. You author can still recall the first time he ever encountered one in the wild — in historic Vieux-Québec, with the “three-door” hatchback resting quietly under a streetlamp on those cobblestone streets.

A second-generation model landed in the latter part of 2018, with newfound power coming by way of the first N-badged Hyundai. With 250 horses and 260 lb-ft of torque, the Veloster N was a vehicle worthy of the hot hatch banner. And come 2021, it’ll be the only Veloster offered north of the border.

As reported by Driving, the base and mid-level Velosters will disappear from Canadian dealerships for the upcoming model year. That means buyers will no longer have the choice to outfit their oddball hatch with a fairly tepid entry-level 2.0-liter (147 hp, 132 lb-ft) or stouter 1.6-liter turbo (201 hp, 195 lb-ft).

In Canada, the Veloster will only exist to enhance the brand’s performance cred. And performance buyers shall receive, as the 275 hp Performance Package becomes standard for the coming year.

<img data-attachment-id=”1608572″ data-permalink=”https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2018/07/new-details-spilled-on-hyundai-veloster-n-additional-performance-variants-to-wear-n-badge/large-31074-2019velostern/” data-orig-file=”https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Large-31074-2019VelosterN-e1516039100436.jpg” data-orig-size=”3429,2160″ data-comments-opened=”1″ data-image-meta=”{“aperture”:”11″,”credit”:”Bruce Benedict”,”camera”:”Canon EOS 5DS R”,”caption”:””,”created_timestamp”:”1513094385″,”copyright”:”\u00a9 Bruce Benedict 2017″,”focal_length”:”59″,”iso”:”125″,”shutter_speed”:”0.125″,”title”:””,”orientation”:”0″}” data-image-title=”Hyundai Veloster N” data-image-description=”

Image: Hyundai

” data-medium-file=”http://automotivezen.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hyundais-2021-veloster-comes-in-three-flavors-but-north-of-the-border-its-a-very-different-story-2.jpg” data-large-file=”http://automotivezen.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hyundais-2021-veloster-comes-in-three-flavors-but-north-of-the-border-its-a-very-different-story.jpg” class=”aligncenter size-large wp-image-1608572″ src=”http://automotivezen.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hyundais-2021-veloster-comes-in-three-flavors-but-north-of-the-border-its-a-very-different-story.jpg” alt=”Hyundai Veloster N” width=”610″ height=”384″ srcset=”http://automotivezen.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hyundais-2021-veloster-comes-in-three-flavors-but-north-of-the-border-its-a-very-different-story.jpg 610w, http://automotivezen.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hyundais-2021-veloster-comes-in-three-flavors-but-north-of-the-border-its-a-very-different-story-1.jpg 75w, http://automotivezen.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hyundais-2021-veloster-comes-in-three-flavors-but-north-of-the-border-its-a-very-different-story-2.jpg 450w, http://automotivezen.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hyundais-2021-veloster-comes-in-three-flavors-but-north-of-the-border-its-a-very-different-story-3.jpg 768w, http://automotivezen.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hyundais-2021-veloster-comes-in-three-flavors-but-north-of-the-border-its-a-very-different-story-4.jpg 120w” sizes=”(max-width: 610px) 100vw, 610px”>

Reasons? Hyundai isn’t saying, but one needs only look at the model’s sales figures to guess why. In all of 2019, Hyundai Canada sold just 1,420 Velosters. Compare that to the model’s debut year, where 5,741 Canucks lined up to look offbeat — and that was in the absence of any N-derived heat. In the first seven months of 2020, Veloster sales amounted to just 572 vehicles.

With an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic arriving for 2021, the hottest of Hyundai’s hatches opens itself up to buyers who never wanted, or never learned, to row their own. Sadly, the elimination of the lower-end Veloster comes at the same time as two other discontinuations in that northern market. The Accent, available only in five-door hatch form in Canada, vanishes from that market come 2021 (the sedan-only model remains in the U.S.), and the same goes for the Elantra GT in North America as a whole.

The latter model was available in turbocharged N Line guise, replacing the identically-equipped Sport model. Replacing all of these affordable hatchbacks? An affordable crossover of diminutive proportions (and power). For an automotive brand that introduced itself to the North American market through its hatchbacks, Hyundai seems to want to get rid of them in a hurry.

[Images: Hyundai]