2012 Hyundai Sonata Gls on 2040-cars

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Did Lexus make a BMW? Or did BMW make a Lexus? This and other 2017 surprises

It's that time of year again. The calendar is about to reach its end, Star Trek Cats 2018 is about to take its place, and I'm reflecting about all the cars that graced my driveway this year or summoned me to exotic places. You know, like Stuttgart or Phoenix. In 2017, I drove at least 57, and as I perused the list of them, I started to notice a common refrain: "This car surprised me." Most were pleasant surprises, but there were a few head scratchers and facepalms for good measure. In both cases, it was generally the result of car companies seemingly trying to break out of an existing mold. Nowhere was that more apparent than the pair of Lexuses slathered in Infrared paint: The LS 500 that left me this week and the LC 500 that was my favorite car of 2017. Though Lexus has been trying to shake its crusty, gold-packaged reputation for some time now, its efforts always seemed like an old man choosing Hollister to redo his wardrobe after realizing it hasn't been updated since 1987. I fell in love with the LC, genuinely floored by its near-perfect take on the GT. It's characterful in sound, appearance and tactility. It was at home in the city, in the mountain and on the open road. It was both comfortable and thrilling, and after driving the mechanically related LS 500, I can report that the LC's talents aren't an outlier. The LS 500's turbo V6 may make different noises than the LC's naturally aspirated V8, but it nevertheless invigorates the cabin when the car is placed in Sport+ mode. The steering is truly communicative, body motions are kept in miraculous check, and I absolutely forgot I was in an enormous luxury limo ... and a Lexus one at that. It was everything that the BMW 530e was not. I drove that on the exact same roads and was utterly bored the entire time. Generally doughy, lifeless steering, more distant than Planet 9. And no, the plug-in hybrid powertrain had nothing to do with that. At least it shouldn't. The Porsche Panamera S e-Hybrid I also drove this year proves that, as do the Hyundai Ioniqs, which are surprisingly adept and fun little cars regardless of what powers their wheels (Hyundai + hybrid = fun really blew me away). I would drive that Lexus LS F Sport over the BMW 5 Series any day of the week, which seems like a shocking thing to say in relation to either car. While Lexus is seemingly breaking out of its old crusty mold, BMW seems to be climbing into one.

Hyundai teases new Tucson ahead of Geneva [w/video]

Hyundai is giving us a pretty thorough tease of the design for the next-gen Tucson in sketch form ahead of the model's debut at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show on March 3, thanks to a newly released video and image. Up front, there's the latest version of Hyundai's chrome-framed hexagonal grille, and the squared-off wheel wells lend a more rugged appearance. According to the Korean brand's design boss Peter Schreyer in the CUV's announcement, the shape is meant to be a combination of flowing surfaces and sharp lines. The styling definitively takes some cues from the Hyundai Intrado concept from last year's Swiss show. While the grille is larger now, the two of them share similar shapes for the squinting headlights and more pronounced, bulging proportions overall, compared to the current Tucson. Also, judging by the additional shots in Hyundai's teaser video, the rear drops the show car's boomerang-shaped taillights and tiny hatch opening for more conventional features. While no interior looks are included, the clip suggests a more muted hue than the Intrado's eye-searing orange. Show full PR text HYUNDAI MOTOR SHOWS FIRST DESIGN IMPRESSION OF ALL-NEW TUCSON 03/02/15 Design sketch created in new teaser video Hints at bold and athletic SUV presence Global name underlines significance of new model Teaser video can be viewed at http://youtu.be/PzAJaWYRmdw High Wycombe, 3 February 2015 - Hyundai Motor has today unveiled its first hints about the design of the upcoming All-New Tucson, compact SUV, which will premiere at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show, on 3rd March. Commenting on the All-New Tucson, Peter Schreyer, President and Chief Design Officer of Hyundai Motor Group, said: "Our new compact SUV will be a big step forward for the Hyundai brand globally. The All-New Tucson has a bold and athletic presence and a proud stance. Its design is characterised by flowing surfaces, bold proportions, sharp lines and – most important – our brand signature hexagonal grille." The strong, sporty SUV appearance is enhanced by the upright silhouette and sleek character line. At the front, Hyundai Motor's distinctive chrome-framed hexagonal grille is connected to the headlamp clusters creating a powerful impression. With more than one million SUV sales in Europe since the introduction of the first Santa Fe in the early 2000s, Hyundai Motor has established its credibility in the SUV segment.

2016 Hyundai Sonata PHEV will be a 50-state car, sort of

Technically, the upcoming 2016 Hyundai Sonata Plug In Hybrid will be available in all 50 states. It will just be a lot easier to get in the ten ZEV states. That's because in the 40 states that do not follow California's Zero Emission Vehicle regulations, Hyundai dealers will not be stocking the plug-in version of the Sonata when it goes on sale in the fall of 2015. In the ten ZEV states (California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont), Hyundai will stock and sell the PHEV Sonata just like any other model, with numerous colors and trim levels available on dealer lots. In the other 40 states, "we're not going to encourage dealers to stock them," because the company expects demand to be low, said Mike O'Brien, Hyundai's vice president of corporate and product planning. O'Brien was speaking at a launch event for the two new Sonatas in California this week. Hyundai has a reason for choosing the ZEV states as a starting point, O'Brien said. "The ten states are spending more money on charging infrastructure, so you can park at work, you can park while you're in the grocery store, and you can charge your car while you're doing it." In any other state, where the plug-in infrastructure is weaker, a customer can order a PHEV Sonata just as if they were going to get a specific color Veloster that the local dealer didn't have in stock, O'Brien said. "It's really no different." "If you just look at the sales, basically all our competitors, over half of their plug-in hybrid sales are right here in the state of California," O'Brien said. "Usually, much more than half. If you cover the ZEV states, you're going to cover over 85 percent of the sales already. And we're going to make sure that our dealers can accommodate and customers that wish to buy outside those states." In other ways, the PHEV buying process will be similar. The customer can choose, at time of purchase, to rely on standard 110-volt outlets or to work with the dealer to install a Level 2, 240-volt charger at their home. Hyundai will train its dealers to offer a preferred partner's charger (Hyundai would not specify which company it will be working with). With 110, an empty-to-full charge of the 9.8-kWh lithium-ion polymer battery will take around nine hours, but with Level 2 it'll be around three hours. "The essential technical elements [of the PHEV] are the same as the hybrid," O'Brien said.