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Hyundai and Kia announce $3.1-billion investment in US facilities

Update: A US spokesperson for Hyundai had no further information, but called the reports about the automaker's investments accurate. Hyundai and Kia announced this morning a plan to invest $3.1 billion into its US facilities over the next five years. According to Automotive News, the new investment is a 50-percent increase over what Korea's two largest automakers have brought to the US in the last five years. The automakers already have several large-scale manufacturing bases in the US, but the new investment could bring another plant into the fold. There is the possibility of producing a Genesis product in the US or building a new plant for a US-specific crossover. The announcement is the latest US investment plan as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office Friday. Trump has singled out automakers for not building cars in the United States, and Ford, General Motors, and Fiat Chrysler all announced plans to invest in the US since the beginning of January. Skeptics say these moves would have to be years in the making, though Trump has been quick to take credit for them. Not all of the new money will go toward building new plants. Hyundai and Kia could simply expand the already busy plants in Montgomery, AL, and West Point, GA. Beyond that. The automakers could further their research into electric and autonomous vehicles. Like many other automakers, the two Korean giants have backed down from planned expansions into Mexican manufacturing. Although many automakers currently build or were planning to build new vehicles in Mexico, threats of importation fees appear to be causing caused automakers to refocus some of their efforts toward US production. With all this new investment in the US, Kia and Hyundai said there will be no jobs moved to Mexico. Meanwhile, this morning GM announced plans to bring truck axle manufacturing back from Mexico. As with all of the recent announcements, Hyundai and Kia stated that Trump's upcoming presidency played no part in the decision to reinvest in the US. Related Video: News Source: Automotive News Plants/Manufacturing Genesis Hyundai Kia Mexico Trump jobs investment

Volkswagen Group, BMW Z4 top Total Value Awards by Strategic Vision

It was just nine months ago that Strategic Vision announced its 2011 Total Value Awards, but you don't have to wait until next year for the 2012 awards. The Volkswagen Group keeps its lead as the number one brand, with seven products taking top category spots: Golf, Jetta Wagon, CC, Eos and Audi A3 Wagon, Q5 and Q7. Strategic Vision says "true innovation" - "rich and impactful, intuitive, motivational, in-depth and is able to trigger description by the user in great specificity" - is the open secret of the brands with the strongest showings. Results are culled from 77,153 owners covering more than 350 new cars bought between September of 2011 and 2012 ranked in the Total Value Index (TVI).
Other notable winners are Hyundai-Kia following VW in the brand category and having the Hyundai Elantra and Kia Sorento among category winners, the BMW Z4 taking the premium roadster category and the highest overall score of any vehicle, the Chevrolet Volt continuing to gather silverware in the Special Category, nabbing the second-highest score of all and representative of "nearly perfect innovation," and Chrysler and Dodge being most improved.
Check out the press release below for your day's dose of jargon and all the winners.

Hyundai brings 1,000-hp Genesis Coupe to SEMA, and plenty more [w/video]

Hyundai has a thirst for horsepower. How else could we explain the scene you see above, in which there exists a 708-horsepower front-wheel-drive Sonata tuned by Bisimoto (black and white, above left) powered by Hyundai's 2.4-liter Theta II engine? Or the little red number you see hiding in the background, which, at an even 1,000 horsepower, is "the most-powerful 2.0-liter Genesis Coupe ever built," says Hyundai?
In addition to those two powerhouses, the white Sonata (above right) was styled by John Pangilinan to "[connect] Los Angeles street art culture with automotive enthusiasts," whatever that means, and it joins an ARK Performance-tuned Genesis Sedan meant to go head-to-head with Mercedes AMG and BMW M and another Genesis Sedan tuned by Toca Marketing Group with a twin-turbo'd 5.0-liter Tau V8.
All in, that's five heavily modified vehicles being shown at the 2014 SEMA Show by Hyundai (not to mention any more customs not actually sponsored by the automaker itself), and each of them is pretty successful as far as we're concerned. Check them all out for yourself in the image gallery above, and read all the details in the press release below, where you'll also find a video of the builders discussing each of their creations.