2013 Hyundai Veloster W/gray Int on 2040-cars

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2019 Hyundai Santa Fe First Drive Review | Trading ‘Sport’ for spiffy

SEOUL, S. Korea — Say goodbye to the Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. For 2019, it becomes the Santa Fe — a two-row crossover that will continue to compete with the likes of the Nissan Rogue, Ford Edge and Toyota RAV4. Three-row versions coming later, which will go up against the Honda Pilot and Ford Explorer, will get an "XL" or some other, yet undisclosed moniker tacked onto the nameplate depending on the configuration. As such, it will have bigger shoes to fill in this increasingly competitive segment. The timing feels right for the crossover to come into its own, and Hyundai has done its best to make sure it pulls its weight against its rivals. View 32 Photos With the updated name comes an updated look. In the flesh, it's a handsome ute that seems more SUV than CUV: beefed up and boxy, and less overtly elegant than so many swoopy crossover profiles we see today. Its big, chiseled face conveys a Lexus-like gravitas without looking too complicated or polarizing — check out the slight pinch where the "cascading" grille meets the front bumper. The rising beltline feels modern, while the mostly horizontal roof and almost vertical rear end feel anciently familiar; maybe a utility vehicle can sate our thirst for wagons after all. Inside, the new Santa Fe has an air of quality to it, perhaps not in strict terms of materials, but in thoughtfulness. Hyundai does good things with affordable materials, and in general the interior is well laid out — specifically, the center console and its switchgear feel utilitarian and organized. We loved the smooth, tight feel of the leather wheel in our hand and the crispness of the digital display central to the instrument cluster. The seats are cozy, supportive without feeling cushy, and it was easy to find a natural seating position with little adjustment. Visibility is good, despite what you might think from looking at that high beltline from outside. There's a fixed piece of glass ahead of the side windows to improve sight lines at the bottom of the A-pillar. Checking the blind spot, the larger rear quarter window behind the second row of seating helps with visibility. It was only after spending a couple of hours in the cabin that we noticed that there's a lot going on here. The headliner in our tester had a look somewhere between chambray and denim, but felt soft to the touch. The top of the dash was a softish dark plastic — a polyurethane leatherette, to be more specific.

Autoblog Podcast #389

Episode #389 of the Autoblog podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Chris Paukert, and Mark Pereira from Autoblog Canada talk about Johan deNysschen's move to Cadillac, rumors of more BMW nomenclature changes, a second generation for the Subaru BRZ, and cars from 2004 that we miss. We start with what's in the garage and finish up with some of your questions, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Check out the new rundown below with times for topics, and you can follow along down below with our Q&A. Thanks for listening! Autoblog Podcast #389: The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience. Topics: Johan de Nysschen moves to Cadillac BMW model designations changing even more Subaru BRZ getting second generation Cars We Miss In the Autoblog Garage: 2014 Ducati 899 Panigale 2015 Hyundai Sonata 2015 Volkswagen GTI 2015 Chevrolet Silverato 2500 Diesel Hosts: Dan Roth, Chris Paukert, Mark Pereira Runtime: 01:59:10 Rundown: Intro and Garage - 00:00 Johan deNysschen - 36:12 BMW Nomenclature - 53:58 BRZ - 56:27 Cars We Miss - 01:05:07 Q&A - 01:30:09 Get the podcast: [UStream] Listen live on Mondays at 10 PM Eastern at UStream [iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes [RSS] Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator [MP3] Download the MP3 directly Feedback: Email: Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show in iTunes Auto News Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Podcasts BMW Cadillac Chevrolet Hyundai Subaru Volkswagen

Hyundai sales tank due to weak sales in China, Russia

Hyundai Motor's global volume dipped 13 percent in January to 338,035 deliveries. The drop is the automaker's first worldwide decline since July 2015, according to Bloomberg. The current slump of the once-booming Chinese market is especially hurting Hyundai's global volume, and a downturn in Russia also isn't helping the company's situation. Sales are down 1.1 percent in South Korea and 14 percent outside of the automaker's home market, according to Bloomberg. Hyundai expects the difficult situation to last much of the year. While Hyundai had a hard month internationally, the automaker's US division just reported its best January volume ever. The company delivered 45,011 vehicles, which was up one percent over 2015. The strong performance came in part from a 72-percent jump in Tucson volume and a 55-percent improvement for the Veloster. The company forecasts a strong year here in the States thanks to the introduction of the 2017 Elantra and an upcoming refresh for the Santa Fe. Hyundai already has a plan to build strength in the US and rebound elsewhere. For example, the company wants to capitalize on American's hunger for utility vehicles by adding capacity to build more of the Santa Fe Sport. It also intends to launch a B-segment CUV to challenge models like the Jeep Renegade, and the Genesis luxury sub-brand would eventually get an SUV, too. A cost-cutting strategy should help offset the downturn outside of this market. Related Video: