2011 Hyundai Sonata Limited Sedan 4-door 2.4l on 2040-cars

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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.

US Congress lets $8,000 hydrogen vehicle tax credit expire

When Toyota introduced the 2016 Mirai last month in preparation for a launch late next year, it said that the hydrogen car will have a $57,500 MSRP and that there will be a federal tax credit available worth up to $8,000. The problem, as we noted at the time, is that that federal credit was set to expire at the end of 2014. The technical language of the current rule says that someone who buys a fuel cell vehicle, "may claim a credit for the certified amount for a fuel cell vehicle if it is placed in service by the taxpayer after Dec. 31, 2005, and is purchased on or before Dec. 31, 2014." With the 113th Congress now finished up for the year and legislators headed home for the holidays, we know one thing for certain: the federal tax credit for hydrogen vehicles was not updated and will end as we're all singing Auld Lang Syne next week. All of this isn't to say that Mirai buyers won't be able to take $8,000 off the price of the car 12 months from now. For proof of that, we only need to look at other alternative fuel tax incentives and realize that this Congress simply isn't moving fast enough to deal with things that are expiring right now. One of the last things that the 113th Congress did in December was to take up the tax credits that expired at the end of 2013 and renew some of them. Jay Friedland, Plug In America's senior policy advisor, told AutoblogGreen that PIA and other likeminded organizations worked with Congress to extended the electronic vehicle charging station (technically: EVSE) tax credit that was part of the Alternative Refueling Tax Credit in IRS Section 30(C) through the end of 2014. "Individuals can deduct 30 percent of the cost of purchasing and installing an EVSE up to $1,000; businesses, 30 percent up to $30,000," he said. "This tax credit is applied to any system placed into service by 12/31/14 and is retroactive to the beginning of the year. So go out and buy your favorite EV driver an EVSE for the holidays," he said. An electric motorcycle credit was killed at the last minute as Congress was getting ready to leave, but H.R. 5771 did extend the Alternative Fuels Excise Tax Credits for liquefied hydrogen and other alternative fuels. These sorts of tax credit battles happen all year long. In July, Blumenthal introduced the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Infrastructure Act of 2014, which never got out of the Finance Committee. Back to the hydrogen vehicle situation.

2024 New York International Auto Show not-so-mega photo gallery

The 2024 New York Auto Show press preview is in the bag and the public show has begun, and that means only one thing: Our work here is done. But really, we've been done since about mid-morning on Wednesday. As you'll see from the paltry selection of galleries below, the 2024 New York Auto Show wasn't much of one. And what there was? Well, in a word, it was Hyundai.  As you scroll through the galleries below, you'll note that we have items from essentially two global conglomerates. In one corner, there's Hyundai, Genesis and Kia. In the other, we have Nissan and Infiniti. But that's being a bit generous to Nissan and its luxury subsidiary, because while this is the first chance we really had to see the Nissan Kicks and Infiniti QX80 in person (and that's not even entirely true of the latter), they weren't actually revealed at the show.  New York has never been America's biggest "international" auto show, but it has been the venue for some big unveilings. In 2012, the new SRT Viper debuted to great fanfare at NYIAS; the Lincoln Aviator made a big splash in 2018; how about the Alfa Romeo 4C in 2014? And those are just cherry-picking from the past decade. By comparison, the 2024 show feels a bit uninspired. Yes, we would have liked to have seen some Vipers. Sue us.  But we'll stop dwelling on what we can't resurrect. There's plenty to see at the show this year if you're planning to go in person, so don't let our negativity deter you. For those who can't be there, here's what you're missing: Genesis G80 Magma View 9 Photos 2025 Genesis G80 Magma Genesis GV60 Magma Concept View 10 Photos 2025 Genesis GV60 Magma 2025 Hyundai Tucson XRT View 14 Photos 2025 Hyundai Tucson 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz XRT View 11 Photos 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz InfinitiQX80-Z63-051 View 39 Photos 2025 Infiniti QX80 2025 Kia K4 Live View 7 Photos 2025 Kia K4 Sedan 2025 Nissan Kicks View 10 Photos 2025 Nissan Kicks     New York Auto Show Genesis Hyundai Infiniti Kia Nissan