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Ward's releases 10 Best Interiors list for 2014

While we're still a ways off from the automotive awards season proper, where things like North American Car and Truck of the Year, Motor Trend's Car of the Year and Car and Driver's Ten Best are named, that doesn't mean there aren't trophies being handed out to deserving automakers. Ward's 10 Best Interiors being one of them.
As the name might imply, the magazine focuses on the very best interior treatments in the US market. Whereas some awards purposely exclude extreme, high-dollar offerings, Ward's considers them - the only requirement is that a vehicle has a "new or significantly redesigned interior."
Ward's offered up the list of winners in simple, alphabetical order, and it only seems fair to do the same:

2017 Genesis G90 First Drive

The Genesis G90, new flagship of a new brand, makes me think of Shakespeare. Specifically, the tragedy of Troilus and Cressida, one of the Bard's more obscure and difficult works. But not because that play has much to do with the G90, but because that oft-forgotten work lent the Toyota Cressida, itself an obscure thing, its name. We're playing six degrees of Kevin Bacon with old playwrights and forgotten Toyota sedans because the luxurious Toyota Cressida directly paved the way for the Lexus LS400 to emerge a few years later. Since Lexus was the most phenomenal success to emerge from the late 1980s Japanese luxury brand movement, what better template for success? Genesis's Cressida was the Hyundai Equus. Both were uniquely badged, both sat slightly apart from a much less luxurious lineup. Both were not quite translated to American tastes, attempting to pass off indigenous flavors as export bonuses. The Cressida was pinched and cramped within, and frosted with gimmicky electronics; the Equus was tailor-made to a Korean businessperson's tastes. Both tested the waters and proved to product planners that there was room for a luxury brand. Lose the battle, win the war. Don't tell that to Troilus, though. Genesis won't quit with the G90. They're planning six vehicles by 2020, and the G80 (the old Hyundai Genesis sedan) is going on sale in September. A smaller G70 sedan will follow up later on. We expect an all-wheel drive coupe (or coupeish four-door) to replace the unloved Genesis Coupe, which should be significantly more upscale and luxurious to compete with the German brands. If it looks anything like the Vision G coupe concept from 2015, that won't be hard. Erwin Raphael, brand manager in the US for Genesis, tells us that a small SUV built on the G70 platform and a mid-sized one built on the G80 platform will follow (and in this SUV-crazy market, can't come soon enough). The slide below, provided by Genesis, shows the way forward. Genesis will craft its luxury brand not only with product, but also with a few customer service pillars that are worth a mention. Genesis expects most of their cars will be leased, and so they include a bunch of perks crafted to a typical lease period, like free service. On top of that, all Genesis dealers will offer a valet-style service to pick up your car for maintenance while dropping off a loaner. Other brands and dealerships do this piecemeal, but it will be a brand-wide pillar for Genesis.

Hyundai recalls 58,000 Elantra Touring models over side-airbag concern

Hyundai is recalling 58,000 Elantra Touring wagons, after it was discovered that a metal support bracket in the headliner could become dislodged when the side-curtain airbag deploys. If this happens, occupants could suffer lacerations.
The affected models were built between December 15, 2009 and May 7, 2012 and cover model years 2010 to 2012. The problem itself was discovered in the follow-up into a 2013 recall of the Elantra Sedan, when a Touring model was found in a salvage yard with a detached headliner, despite using a different type of support than was recalled in the four-door model. No injuries have been associated with this recall.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration bulletin, the remedy for this recall is not unlike that used with the Elantra Sedan - adhesive strips will be applied to the headliner to prevent it from dislodging in the event of a crash.