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First 2014 Hyundai Equus shipment adrift in Pacific Ocean

To all you Hyundai dealers and customers eager to plunk your posteriors into the broad, leather-lined seats of the redesigned 2014 Equus, we have some bad news: Your ship hasn't come in - literally. According to USA Today, a Korean freighter with the first 61 examples of the luxury sedan packed away in its belly has lost engine power in the western Pacific Ocean, and is adrift.
The ship, Morning Spruce, has apparently been without power for several days and is floating in the Sea of Okhotsk. It isn't clear when it will be repaired or reach US shores to divulge its contents. As a result of the wandering Spruce, Hyundai has reportedly had to reschedule some of its planned marketing efforts for the new model.
The 2014 Equus receives a suite of changes inside and out, including freshened styling, revamped center stack controls, a new instrument cluster and additional tech. Underneath, the rear-drive sedan gets a reworked suspension and a new sport mode to ease some of its nautical-by-nature handling. The 5.0-liter Tau V8 and eight-speed transmission - updates for 2012 - stay the course for 2014.

Hyundai announces N performance sub-brand at WRC launch

It's been well over a year since Hyundai revealed its initial prototype for the i20 WRC at the 2012 Paris Auto Show. Now it's revealed the final version (pictured above, complete with Shell Helix livery) and it's also announced the full team that will field it next year in the World Rally Championship, including Thierry Neuville and additional drivers Juho Hänninen, Dani Sordo and Chris Atkinson. That's plenty exciting for rally fans, but the news that caught our attention was buried deeper in the press release.
That is the announcement of Hyundai's new N performance sub-brand. Named after the company's R&D facility in Namyang, South Korean, the N brand "will be used to symbolize Hyundai's high performance technology," not just on the rally car but also "future mass-produced high performance cars" for the road. The WRC car wears the logo that we'd expect to represent that new cadre of performance Hyundais.
Having hinted at the emergence of a European performance sub-brand a couple of months ago, the Korean automaker hasn't revealed any further details on which those road cars might be, but promises to transfer lessons it learns from the rally stage to the marketplace. We're looking forward to finding out more, but a roadgoing i20 hot hatch would be a good first bet. Here's hoping the North American product lineup won't be left out.

Hyundai spooks investors by paying $10B for new Gangnam HQ location

Doing things Gangnam style apparently costs a serious chunk of change, because Hyundai is reportedly paying roughly $10 billion for 19.6 acres (79,342 square meters) of land in the trendy district of Seoul, South Korea, to serve as the location for its new headquarters. That eye-popping number represents the highest amount ever paid for a plot of land in South Korea, according to Reuters. The hefty price tag reportedly scared investors enough for stock prices to sink dramatically.
Shareholders were apparently upset because the massive outlay could instead have been put back into the company for research and development or other improvements. Instead, the company reportedly bid triple the land's appraised value, says Reuters. The announcement caused Hyundai's stock price to plummet a massive 9 percent, and there were losses from Kia and the company's parts arm, as well. All told, the three of them lost nearly $8 billion in value from the falling share prices - almost enough to pay for the controversial land.
Hyundai currently has its headquarters on the outskirts of Seoul, but seems keen to move to the high-end Gangnam district to show off its rising status. It plans to build a new office complex, hotel, convention center and theme park on the site. According to an analyst speaking to Reuters, that could all cost an additional $6 billion to complete.