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Hyundai unveils new i10

Hyundai has just revealed the new i10, the sub-Accent five-door sold in Europe. The diminutive city car first went on sale in 2007, but received a light facelift in 2011, to bring it more in line with Hyundai's then-new styling theme. The new model is an even more style-conscious offering, with a gaping front fascia, integrated LED running lights (because, why not?), and a stylish side strakes integrated into the doors.
The new model is longer (80 millimeters or 3.14 inches) and wider (65 mm or 2.5 in) than the car it replaces, but is 50 mm (2.0 in) lower than the old i10. The result is a purported best-in-class legroom and cargo space, while the lower overall height should lead to a slightly better driving experience. The wheelbase has been stretched an inconsequential five millimeters as well, as part of its move to a new platform.
Hyundai hasn't announced any engines just yet, although we'd suspect the regular suite of three- and four-cylinder engines, with both gas and diesel options will be available. The new i10 begins production in September, and will do battle with A-segment stalwarts like the Fiat Panda, Renault Twingo and Volkswagen Up!.

Honda, Hyundai and Kia get best word-of-mouth recommendations in US

Forget advertising, incentives and, yes, even our excellently crafted vehicle reviews, sometimes the best way for automakers to sell cars is still good ol' fashioned word of mouth. In an attempt to measure this "word of mouth" power, The Boston Consulting Group, a management consulting firm, has created a new study called the Brand Advocacy Index (BAI). The index takes a look at how various industries perform from person to person. Those industries include automotive, smartphones, grocery, mobile telecommunications and banking.
The study polled more than 32,000 individuals across Europe and in the US to come up with the top 55 brands in these various industries. On the automotive side of things, the top brands in the US were Honda, Hyundai and Kia, all tied at 63 percent. On a global scale, Volkswagen and Toyota scored the highest with a 65-percent BAI rating (both in France). The average BAI for auto industry players tallied 50 percent.
As for companies in other industries, Apple's iPhone was the index's top-rated smartphone, Trader Joe's was the highest recommended grocery store, Virgin was sat atop the mobile telecom industry and USAA was the top retail bank. Scroll down for the full press release on the new study.

Google shows off its Android Auto system

Cars fitted with the Apple CarPlay system should be in dealerships next year, available as a delayed option on the 2015 Hyundai Sonata and eventually expected to be available on Volvo, Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari vehicles. Google isn't that far behind with its Android Auto, and after Hyundai showed it off at the LA Auto Show, Google Developers used their Dev.Bytes program give us a better look at it. Any phone with Lollipop 5.0, the latest version of Android, will be able to interface with the system after being plugged into the car's USB port. The Google Now cards you're familiar with on the phone will appear on the infotainment screen, and from there you're in a mobile Android world. A report in Edmunds says that Whatsapp will be an option from the start, and nifty Google tricks like "contextual search via voice control" respond to queries based on what's being discussed. Although Bloomberg recently did a video examining the Google vs. Apple question, your choice won't be binary; in Hyundais, at least, both systems will be fitted, plugging a phone in will decide which one comes up on screen. We don't know when we'll see it dealerships, but the video will give you a glimpse into your Android future.