2011 Hyundai Sonata 2.0t Limited Sedan 4-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Joyrider nearly collides with kids, chased down by cops

A 14-year-old joyrider was able to outrun police in Utah but couldn't make it around a protective parent in a pickup truck. According to KSTU Fox 13 News in Utah, the thieving youngster's grandfather reported the white Hyundai Veloster missing, and police were already searching for it. As it turns out, his grandson had taken it and was driving like a crazy person. He even sped through a park where children were playing and into a neighborhood (video below).
Eventually, one of the parents at the park had enough. When the Hyundai appeared to be coming back to the park, he hopped into his pickup to stop the out of control teen and put himself in harm's way. After the violent way he was stopped by an oncoming truck, the kid might think twice about stealing any more cars. Bystanders got most of the incident on cell phone videos, including the crash, and you can scroll down to watch them and the news report for a little more backstory.

Why BMWs are cheaper than Hyundais in Korea

Bloomberg reports shifting tariff regulations have upended the traditional automotive pecking order in Korea. Thanks to cheaper import taxes, foreign brands have seen market share jump from 28 percent to 41 percent over the last two years. BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi have all capitalized on the shift, with domestics like Hyundai and Kia suffering at the hands of their German rivals.
Taxes on European imports have fallen from 8 percent in 2011 to just 3.2 percent today. Over the next few years, tariffs will all but be eliminated for most imports, and taxes on US-made vehicles are expected to fall to just 4 percent in 2014. By 2016, that number will be zero. Needless to say, Hyundai and Kia are concerned about the shift.
Hyundai has seen profit fall by 15 percent last quarter, and the company says it is on pace to see the slowest sales growth since 2007. The company's shares have fallen by 12 percent. In order to stem the losses, Hyundai has discounted its midsize sedans and started working on diesel engine options.

Hyundai swims against the current with new i20 Coupe

Coupefying hatchbacks is all the rage in the European market these days. Its what Opel and Vauxhall did with the latest Astra, and what Renault did with the Mégane, and now Hyundai is preparing to follow a similar formula, only in a smaller form.
While the i30 is the model with which Hyundai competes with the aforementioned Astra and Mégane, to say nothing of the Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus, it's the smaller i20 - recently introduced in five-door form - which the Korean automaker plans to give the coupe treatment.
Previewed in the teaser image above, the upcoming new i20 Coupe will enter a somewhat shrinking market for three-door superminis. Though the VW Polo, Ford Fiesta, Peugeot 208 and Opel Corsa are still available with three portals, their forms are otherwise no more coupe-like than their five-door counterparts. (Mini has tried a similar approach with its Coupe, and Citroën has forked the C3 five-door and DS3 three-door, but those are decidedly more upscale offerings.) Alongside the Seat Ibiza, Hyundai is one of the few mainstream automakers offering three-door superminis significantly distinguished from its five-door versions.