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2015 Hyundai Sonata confirmed for New York debut

Despite receiving a host of improvements for the 2014 model year, the next-generation Hyundai Sonata is right around the corner. During a technical briefing today, Hyundai's North American CEO, John Krafcik, has confirmed to Autoblog that the 2015 Sonata will debut at the 2014 New York Auto Show in April.
The Sonata will be one of Hyundai's three major launches coming in the first half of 2014. First will be the 2015 Genesis sedan, which will bow at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show, and also coming in 2014 is a new fuel-cell vehicle from Hyundai.
Despite the current Sonata's age relative to key rivals, it's still doing rather well for Hyundai. Krafcik told us that the sedan currently has a 42-day dealer supply, which is lower than its fresher competitors. The nipped/tucked 2014 Sonata should help keep that momentum going until this all-new 2015 model arrives next year.

Where is Hyundai's upscale Genesis brand going, and what is it, anyway?

"Genesis is the beginning, where everything sprung from. That's where the light is, and that's where we see ourselves." Manfred Fitzgerald. A genesis is an origin story, a new start. So when Hyundai had accomplished its original mission of achieving near parity with the top Japanese marques in the middle-class car market and decided to attempt to move upscale into the profitable luxury automotive sector a few years ago, it made some sense that this was the moniker it bestowed to its spinoff brand. "Genesis is the beginning, where everything sprung from," says Manfred Fitzgerald, the global brand chief. "That's where the light is, and that's where we see ourselves." But now that genesis has turned to germination. A pair of production sedans have been launched, the G80 and G90 luxo-barges. A smaller, 3 Series-fighting sedan, the G70, was previewed as a concept in last year's New York Auto Show. And now, last week in New York, the brand showed something in the all-important crossover category, the GV80. Powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, it's a look ahead at what Genesis' SUV line could be like, though the fuel-cell element faces hurdles. View 2 Photos "We have great resources with our brand partners in fuel-cell technology, so when it came to alternative propulsion, this was a natural," says Fitzgerald. "Not just for the US market, but looking at this globally, this is the best technology, but there are a lot of pain points to overcome, especially in terms of infrastructure." Genesis has promised us a handful more cars by 2020, including a coupe and another crossover. Expansion into additional vehicle realms ought to help flesh things out a bit. Though the brand can't really flesh things out any less. Only Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Smart, and Bentley sold fewer cars so far this year, and two of those brands are a century old and Italian, one is a century old and extremely exclusive, and the other is irrelevant in the United States. Given that company, where does that place Genesis? After a recent test drive in a G90, we have to say that we're not sure. The styling is acceptable, if a bit derivative and anodyne. The level of delight is quite lackluster. And the ride is cushy, quiet, and competent, but no better than a contemporary Buick. In a category in which excellence and exquisiteness are the point of entry, what does Genesis represent, what is its category-killing feature or component or capability? "We are known for being audacious.

2014 Hyundai Veloster Turbo gets stripped-down, lower-cost R-Spec model

We Autoblog staffers have had our ups and downs with our long-term 2013 Hyundai Veloster Turbo, but there's no question that the cheeky three-door hatchback has got its proponents. Case in point: at the recent driving event for the fire-breathing SRT Viper TA, none other than Ralph Gilles sauntered over to have a closer look at the matte grey Veloster we'd driven out to the track that day. Gilles had lots of praise for the Veloster styling; not out of line with similar sentiments we've heard all year long.
We digress slightly, but the larger point is that there still seems to be a lot of interest in the Veloster, and Hyundai has plans to fully explore potential new marketplace niches for the car with this all-new, 2014 Veloster Turbo R-Spec.
Following on with the formula for R-Spec models to date, the new Veloster is not a higher-performance Turbo, but rather one that is more affordable. The theory goes that a de-contented Veloster Turbo hits the sweet spot for those who are interested in tuning the car for performance, a group that will probably not need the higher spec comfort and connectivity content that the standard Turbo ships with.