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Weekly Recap: Hyundai scores NFL sponsorship after GM exits

Hyundai replaced General Motors as the official automotive sponsor of the NFL with a four-season deal that was announced this week. Hyundai gets exclusive sponsorship rights for mainstream and luxury cars, though not for pickups – as it doesn't have one in its current portfolio. "There may be another automotive truck sponsor, but not one that competes with our vehicle lineup," a Hyundai spokesman said in an email. That leaves the door open for another truckmaker to enter the fray. GM used the NFL to promote its GMC division, which makes pickups and sport-utility vehicles. The Detroit automaker decided to quit the sponsorship, which it had held since 2001, a GM spokesman said. Financials were not released, but ESPN said the sponsorship will cost Hyundai $50 million a year, double what GM paid. It gives Hyundai access to NFL trademarks for use in its marketing and advertising, and Hyundai will provide promotional vehicles to the league for the Super Bowl and other events. Hyundai celebrated the agreement by lighting up its Fountain Valley, CA, headquarters this week with a football field and the NFL logo. Hyundai's sister company, Kia, is the official automotive sponsor of the NBA. "We are huge football fans at Hyundai and feel there is no better venue to reach consumers, increase consideration, and tell the Hyundai brand story," Hyundai Motor America CEO Dave Zuchowski said in a statement. Hyundai will officially kick off its sponsorship when the NFL season begins on Sept. 10 with a primetime game featuring the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. OTHER NEWS & NOTES Toyota Mirai rated at 67 mpge, 312-mile range The Environmental Protection Agency gave the Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell electric car a 67-miles-per-gallon-equivalent rating. The figure is for city, highway, and combined driving. The EPA also said the Mirai will have a 312-mile range. The sedan will arrive in dealerships in California this fall and will cost $57,500, though incentives can drop the price significantly. The Mirai will also be offered as a $499-per-month lease. Both come with three years or $15,000 worth of free fuel. Toyota plans to expand sales to the Northeast United States later. Toyota's top female exec resigns in wake of arrest Meanwhile, in other Toyota news, the automaker's communications chief and top female executive, Julie Hamp, resigned.

Jaguar-Land Rover builds millionth vehicle at Halewood

Jaguar-Land Rover is not what you'd call a volume automaker by any stretch of the imagination. But in the dozen years since it started manufacturing at its Halewood plant near Liverpool, England, the automaker has already built its millionth vehicle.
The landmark vehicle is a Range Rover Evoque, done up in white with red roof and mirrors, black wheels and a red and black interior. The crossover is set to be donated to Cancer Research UK, which will auction it off next year to help fund its projects in the north-west of the country.
Halewood started manufacturing the Jaguar X-Type in 2001, then went on to assemble the Land Rover LR2 / Freelander 2 before taking on production of the Evoque a year and a half ago. The facility reached the 300,000-unit milestone just last year as production moved to a 24-hour cycle for the first time in either marque's history.

Jaguar Land Rover says half its models will be hybrids or all-electric by 2020

Neither Jaguar nor Land Rover has ever been mistaken for big-time green-car brands, but their parent company is trying to change that. Jaguar Land Rover looks to have as many as half of its models be of the hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or battery-electric variety by 2020, CEO Ralf Speth said at the Los Angeles Auto Show last week. Speth made the announcement while showing off the I-Pace concept compact crossover. The green-car expansion would mark a natural extension of Jaguar Land Rover's decision last year to double the headcount in its advanced-engineering department. As for the five-seat I-Pace, that model will be Jaguar Land Rover's first production electric vehicle when it starts sales in 2018. The car will have a 90-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack that will deliver a single-charge range of about 220 miles. Boasting more than 400 horsepower, the car will also be able to go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in about four seconds. What's also notable is that Jaguar says the model has been designed to be an electric vehicle from the ground up, and hasn't been converted from the platform of an existing model. Of course, Jaguar late last year said it would enter a team in the FIA Formula E electric-vehicle open-wheel racing circuit, so the British badge has made recent noise about upping its green-car quotient. As for the I-Pace, the automaker hasn't revealed pricing on the model, but it's safe to say that it will be quite high. Check out a three-minute video of Speth's presentation here. Related Video: