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Hyundai readying Juke rival with 'edgy, dynamic styling' for 2017

Love it or hate it, the Nissan Juke has drawn attention to itself and to its maker. Little wonder, then, that Hyundai wants to follow a similar formula.
According to our compatriots over at Edmunds, Hyundai has a whole raft of new products in the works - as you'd expect from the world's fourth-largest automaker - including replacements for the current Tucson and Elantra sometime next year, but also a subcompact crossover to target the Juke, not to mention tiny softroading rivals like the forthcoming Chevrolet Trax. Details at this point are few and far between, but it appears Hyundai is committed to making it as zany as the Nissan it will target. The Korean automaker revealed the Curb concept (pictured above) along similar lines at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show.
Hyundai Motor America CEO Dave Zuchowski tells Edmunds not to expect a mini Tuscon, but to "Think of maybe something that looks like a Juke or something that has edgy, dynamic styling." Considering how off-the-map Hyundai went with the Veloster and its unconventional array of doors, we know the Korean automaker can think outside the box for this Gen-Y crossover. Whether the edge tiny CUV market has space for more than the Juke, however, is another matter. One way or another, look for the tiny Korean crossover to arrive sometime in 2017.

Hyundai puts its hydrogen development program on hiatus

UPDATE: According to Pulse news in South Korea, Hyundai denies that it has paused development of hydrogen fuel cells. Instead, the report suggests the team was reshuffled as technological hurdles have slowed down progress. Time will tell which version of the report is factual. Hydrogen technology has reportedly lost one of its biggest and most vocal proponents, at least for now. Citing a long list of hurdles, Hyundai has allegedly stopped developing the hydrogen-electric powertrain it planned to put in several of its cars (including Genesis models) in the coming years. Anonymous sources told South Korean publication Chosunbiz that executives pulled the emergency brake after analyzing the results of a feasibility study. Nothing is official at this point, and the report stresses that the pause is temporary. However, the issues reportedly found are relatively serious: they include unspecified technical problems and a lack of marketability due in part to cost-related concerns. The news comes as a surprise because Hyundai has invested a tremendous amount of resources into making hydrogen a viable alternative to gasoline without many of the inconveniences associated with EVs, like long charging times and limited driving range. It's one of the few carmakers in the world that sells a hydrogen-electric car (the Nexo; pictured), and it announced plans to build about 130,000 hydrogen-powered cars annually by 2025. And yet, the Nexo is a tough sell, even in hydrogen-friendly markets like South Korea; 8,206 units were sold there through November 2021. The 671-horsepower Vision FK concept unveiled earlier in 2021 will seemingly remain at the prototype stage. Interestingly, a separate unverified report claims that Hyundai has also shuttered its engine development division. If both are accurate, it means that the Hyundai group (which includes Kia and Genesis) will exclusively develop electric powertrains starting in the near future. Several car companies have tried to pelt hydrogen-powered cars into the mainstream over the past decade and most have failed. Some of the issues facing the technology include the lack of a charging infrastructure and governments with a single-minded focus on EVs. There are 48 hydrogen charging stations in America, according to the United States Department of Energy, and 47 of those are located in California. While that's great news for Californians, it makes the Nexo completely useless for someone driving from Salt Lake City to Seattle.

Hyundai planning N-badged Genesis performance models

Speaking with Australian media ahead of the launch of the new Genesis G90 at the Detroit Auto Show this week, Albert Biermann, performance chief at Hyundai, confirmed that there will be N-badged versions of both Hyundai and Genesis models. And he ought to know. Biermann was recently poached over to South Korea after having served as chief engineer at BMW's M division. "N is a sub-brand and with N high-performance cars we work for both brands — so you have to be ready for N versions for Hyundai and for Genesis," said Biermann. "We have a nice roadmap for the next five years... There will be Genesis cars included" that will offer "the full package... real racetrack-going high-performance cars." The first model that the N division is expected to fettle is the next-generation i30 hatchback – Hyundai's challenger to the likes of the Ford Focus and Volkswagen Golf. That ought to give the Korean automaker a solid rival to the Focus ST and Golf GTI, and a venue for Hyundai to showcase everything it's learned in the World Rally Championship. But that's not all Biermann and company have in store. Hyundai is working on a new Genesis G70 that will take on the BMW 3 Series and its many competitors. The G70 would make a prime candidate for the N treatment, and with the benefit of Biermann's expertise, it could prove the sweet-handling and hot-performing Korean sports sedan we've been waiting for. We wouldn't at all be surprised, either, to see N performance versions of the new G90, the G80 that was launched just recently as the Hyundai Genesis sedan, and other future products under both brands – particularly a successor to the Genesis Coupe. Related Video: