2012 Hyundai Genesis on 2040-cars

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Genesis designer Luc Donckerwolke talks new sedan, 'post-SUV' phase

Luc Donckerwolke's office at the Hyundai Research and Design center outside of Seoul looks like an Apple store, all polished concrete, metal and glass and a Miesian lack of ornamentation. This makes sense in an environment in which Donckerwolke, as head of design for the Hyundai and Genesis brands, is attempting to privilege transparency: enhancing communication and accessibility. "We have to break this kind of castle syndrome that the designers are in," Donckerwolke says. "It's all about opening up." This undermining of Korea's traditional orchestrated, hierarchical and executory structure is part of what has allowed Donckerwolke to create widely admired concepts such as the GV80 SUV and Essentia electric GT in just more than two years since he arrived from the VW Group leading design at Bentley, Lamborghini and Audi. And also to design the all-new G70 sport sedan that will be introduced to the U.S. market later this summer. We drove the G70 just before arriving for an exclusive one-on-one at Donckerwolke's R&D office, the first American journalists to visit. Although our time behind the wheel was brief, and we drove only the top-of-the-line, 365-horsepower, twin-turbocharged V6 version, we were impressed with the acceleration, the balance and the material quality. We also noted that the G70 is very good looking, with a distinctive, muscular and aggressive mien that feels true to the company's mission to be at once "Audacious, Progressive and Distinctly Korean." Like much of what we saw and experienced in contemporary Seoul, the car hosts a unique blend of influences from America, Europe and Asia while offering a harmony of line and a grounded sense of self that seems endemic to the peninsula. This global-but-flavored template is intentional. "We are not going to do Korean cartoons on wheels," Donckerwolke says. "We're not going to become a patriotic Korean movement. It's only about the essence of the Korean culture that we are using as an inspiration." One thing we could not help but notice is that the G70 is a sedan, joining a pair of older, Hyundai-based sedans, the G80 and G90, to complete the Genesis lineup. This feels somewhat inauspicious in the moment, especially for the American market where two-thirds of new-vehicle purchases are trucks and SUVs. "As you probably have seen when you've been driving around, sedans are extremely demanded here in Korea. And, you know, we have a huge market penetration here.

Hyundai's Genesis G90 stretches out back home in Korea

Hyundai is getting serious about competing in the luxury market with the launch of its expanded Genesis line. And in the Far East it calls home, that means stretched limousines. Enter the new EQ900L. The Korean automaker's new luxury flagship stretches the wheelbase of the vehicle we now know as the Genesis G90 – or as the Equus in its previous iteration – by an extra 11.4 inches to give the top executives at Samsung and LG extra room to stretch out while in transit from the office to the Psy concert. The elongated cabin space also allows for first-class reclining rear seats, adjustable in 18 directions and upholstered in semi-aniline leather. A long center console runs the entire length of the cabin loaded with everything from ambient lighting to a Lexicon sound system. The same 5.0-liter Tau V8 still provides motivation, channeling 425 horsepower through an eight-speed automatic transmission to all four of the 19-inch wheels. That may not be enough to keep pace with the V12-powered Mercedes-Maybach S600 we get here, but it comes close to the S500 version sold overseas. Unfortunately for those of us living outside of Korea, the EQ900L is only being offered in its domestic market for the time being, where titans of industry can pick one up for 100 million won – equivalent to $84,000 at current exchange rates. Related Video:

US expands probe into ZF-TRW airbag failure-to-deploy to 12.3 million vehicles

DETROIT — U.S. auto safety regulators have expanded an investigation into malfunctioning airbag controls to include 12.3 million vehicles because the bags may not inflate in a crash. The problem could be responsible for as many as eight deaths. Vehicles made by Toyota, Honda, Kia, Hyundai, Mitsubishi and Fiat Chrysler from the 2010 through 2019 model years are included in the probe, which was revealed Tuesday in documents posted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It involves airbag control units made by ZF-TRW that were installed in the vehicles. The control units can fail in a crash, possibly because of unwanted electrical signals produced by the crash itself that can disable an air bag control circuit housed in the passenger compartment, according to NHTSA documents. The electrical signals can damage the control circuit, the documents say. ZF, a German auto parts maker which acquired TRW Automotive in 2015, said in a statement that it's committed to safety and is cooperating with NHTSA and automakers in the investigation. The case is another in a long list of problems with auto industry airbags, including faulty and potentially deadly Takata airbag inflators. At least 24 people have been killed worldwide and more than 200 injured by the inflators, which can explode with too much force and hurl dangerous shrapnel into the passenger cabin. The inflators touched off the largest series of automotive recalls in U.S. history involving with as many as 70 million inflators to be recalled by the end of next year. About 100 million inflators are to be recalled worldwide. On April 19, NHTSA upgraded the ZF-TRW probe from a preliminary evaluation to an engineering analysis, which is a step closer toward seeking recalls. So far, only Hyundai and Kia and Fiat Chrysler have issued recalls in the case. Four deaths that may have been caused by the problem were reported in Hyundai-Kia vehicles and three in Fiat Chrysler automobiles. NHTSA opened an investigation in March of 2017 involving the TRW parts in Hyundais and Kias. The upgrade came after investigators found two recent serious crashes involving 2018 and 2019 Toyota Corollas in which the airbags did not inflate. One person was killed. Jason Levine, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, a nonprofit consumer group, said the ZF-TRW case shows the auto industry thus far has learned very little from Takata.