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Hyundai to fight $248M judgment over fatal Montana crash

A Montana jury has levied a $248 million ruling against Hyundai in the case of a crash that killed two occupants in July 2011. The automaker plans to appeal the ruling.
Cousins Trevor and Tanner Olson were driving a 2005 Hyundai Tiburon when they hit another vehicle head-on. According to lawyers representing their family, the steering knuckle on the car cracked and this allegedly caused it to lose control. Hyundai claimed that fireworks had been let off inside the vehicle, which caused the driver to swerve. The company alleges that evidence that could have proved its innocence was barred from the case.
The jury found in favor of the family and awarded them about $8 million in damages after a two-week trial. It claimed that Hyundai had shown "actual malice," according to Reuters. The jurors also slammed Hyundai with a further $240 million in punitive damages.

Hyundai hits milestone with 10 million cars sold in US

Hyundai entered the US market in 1986, and initial success with the Excel was followed by a difficult period of quality woes. The company refused to bow out of the country, and began a turnaround. Now after nearly 30 years, the automaker is a highly respected player in the market and is celebrating the milestone of selling its 10 millionth vehicle in the US. Amazingly, just five models make up nearly 85 percent of Hyundai's lifetime US sales, and unsurprisingly the Scoupe isn't one of them. The brand's bestselling model in that time is the Sonata with nearly 2.5 million examples on the road and 24.98 percent of the company's total volume. At 24.85 percent of deliveries, the Elantra barely squeezes into second place, and the Santa Fe is a somewhat distant third with about 1.25 million deliveries. Rounding out the top five are the Excel – Hyundai's first US model – at 11.47 percent and the Accent at 11.03 percent. Since opening in 2005, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama has been responsible for a healthy portion of those 10 million total sales by assembling 2.66 million vehicles, including the Sonata and Elantra. "About 56 percent of the cars Hyundai sells in the United States are made here," company President and CEO Dave Zuchowski said in the milestone's announcement. Take a look at where Hyundai is today and at some of its vintage models in the gallery above. With volume up consecutively for the last seven years, it probably won't take another three decades for the automaker to celebrate the 20 million mark. Milestone Marks Automaker's Continued Investment in U.S. Market and Economy FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Oct. 28, 2015 – Hyundai marked a monumental milestone today, selling its 10 millionth vehicle in the United States. Having started in 1986 with a single nameplate, reaching 10 million sales is a significant achievement that showcases the success of Hyundai's continually expanding lineup. "The United States has been a key region of focus for nearly three decades, and this landmark achievement comes after years of accelerated growth and the strategic rollout of our product line," said Derrick Hatami, vice president of national sales, Hyundai Motor America. "Today serves as a testament to the design, quality and value of Hyundai's product portfolio. The American car market continues to be on the rise, with more than 17 million new car sales expected in 2015.

How the Koreans are cracking the luxury market

South Korea's two largest automotive brands are no longer the same companies they were when they first entered the world stage.
Anyone who visits Seoul after a few years absence is likely going to be in for a shock. What was, not that long ago, a decidedly third-world city is today a thriving, sprawling metropolis increasingly on a par with the world's most modern cities.