2014 Hyundai Elantra Limited on 2040-cars

Auto blog

VW planning to push Hyundai for World Cup eyeballs

Adidas was an official sponsor of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, but the German sportswear company got drowned out of early advertising buzz by Nike, which wasn't a World Cup sponsor. The American company's Write the Future ad put it at the top of Nielsen's study of online buzz, ahead of Adidas. The same thing happened to official World Cup sponsor Budweiser when it got drummed out of the top ten in Nielsen's buzz ratings, while Danish brewer Carlsberg - not a Cup sponsor - ranked sixth.
Volkswagen hopes to score the same goal on Hyundai during this year's World Cup in Brazil. Hyundai and Kia have been official sponsors of the global soccer federation FIFA since 2002 and are official sponsors of the World Cup through 2022. VW has "a major ad buy" planned to run on ABC, ESPN and Univision as well as digital and social media channels during the competition, which begins June 12, to promote the GTI. VW of America's VP of marketing said the Cup's attraction to young males and Hispanics makes it the perfect place to promote the hot hatch.
The sparring between Hyundai and VW has already begun. Volkswagen's Gol compact, named for the Portuguese word for a soccer goal, has been the best selling car in Brazil for 27 years, and the German company sponsors the national soccer team. When Hyundai Brazil began a promotional campaign promising to extend its five-year warranty for six if the Brazilians won a sixth world cup, Volkswagen of Brazil complained to the soccer federation, which asked Hyundai to pull the campaign. As of this writing, that hasn't happened, so we expect it'll be boots on, gloves off, on and off the pitch this summer.

Hyundai Genesis to get twin-turbo V6 in 2017 or 2018

Hyundai is looking to turbocharged power as ways to downsize its engines for better emissions and fuel economy while maintaining power. Among the new mills slated to launch is a twin-turbo V6 that's likely going into the Genesis in a few years. "You're going to see smaller displacement, more use of turbocharging. A lot of it is weight-related, all of it is CAFE-related," Hyundai Motor America CEO David Zuchowski said to Automotive News about the company's powertrain future. The Korean brand is hardly alone in this move towards downsizing, though, and practically every major automaker is moving in this direction, even Honda with the next Civic. According to Zuchowski, the twin-turbo V6 will make its way into the Genesis sedan in 2017 or 2018. The company is aiming for power to be on par from the luxury model's current 420-horsepower, 5.0-liter V8. The new engine should weigh less, though. The shift towards turbos is planned for the entire model lineup, not just Hyundai's higher-end vehicles. For example, the recently announced US-spec version of the 2016 Tucson now offers a boosted 1.6-liter four-cylinder with 175 hp and 195 pound-feet of torque. Several years ago, there were rumors about a possible turbocharged V6 for a future Genesis Coupe.

Edmunds ranks the best used cars for 2013

When people ask us what car we would recommend for them, it's usually not easy to answer. To make a useful recommendation we must consider which of the numerous vehicle segments fits their needs best, and then choose one of the many vehicles offered in each segment. For some people, new cars don't meet their expectations of value, because they lose so much of it the moment they are purchased and driven off the dealer lot. For them, there's always the used-car market, where great deals can be found, but cars' histories of reliability and maintenance records - and perhaps that Certified Pre-Owned warranty - become ever-important factors playing into purchase choice.
To help out, Edmunds has done us the favor of assembling a list of the best used vehicles money can buy, covering model years 2006-2011, according to what it considers the most important criteria when shopping for used autos: reliability, safety, value and availability. That means unreliable, unsafe, super-expensive or limited-edition models don't appear on the list, but instead cars from each segment that are more likely to satisfy the general population.
There are some real goodies on the list, including but not limited to vehicles such as the capable Honda Fit, the cultish Honda Accord coupe (which can be had with a 240-horsepower V6 and a six-speed manual transmission some years), and the powerful Chevrolet Corvette. While Edmunds' choice of the Volvo C70 for best used convertible baffled us at first (not that it's a bad car), it redeemed itself by stating that the Mazda MX-5 still is an unofficial top choice if you don't require more than two seats.