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Auto blog

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.

These cars are headed to the Great Crusher In The Sky

It happens every year. We bid adieu to some cars and trucks that will be missed, and say good riddance to others wondering how they stayed around so long. Whether they're being killed off for slow sales or due to a new product coming along to replace them, the list of vehicles being discontinued after 2012 is surprisingly long and diverse.
CNN Money has compiled a list of departing vehicles, to which we've added a few more of our own. In the slow sales column, cars like the Lexus HS 250h, Mercedes-Benz R-Class and the full Maybach lineup appear, while the Ford Escape Hybrid, Mazda CX-7 and Hyundai Veracruz are all having their gaps filled with more modern and more fuel-efficient alternatives. Obvious exceptions to the rule include models that still sell in decent numbers like the Jeep Liberty and the Chrysler Town & Country (which will eventually be replaced by a crossover-like vehicle).
Check out our gallery of discontinued cars above, then scroll down for more information.

Hyundai ix25 Concept foreshadows B-segment CUV

Hyundai introduced an all-new crossover concept to the crowds at the 2014 Beijing Motor Show, showing the ix25, a near-production concept that heralds the arrival of a new compact CUV for the People's Republic.
Boasting Hyundai's "Fluidic Sculpture 2.0," the ix25 is a handsome little soft-roader that we could see slotting in nicely below the vehicle we call Tucson (the rest of the globe knows it as the ix35), and would serve as the entry point for Hyundai's Chinese CUV range. Under hood sits a familiar 2.0-liter, "Nu" four-cylinder, which we've sampled in assorted Hyundais and Kias over the years.
At 168 inches long it's ten inches shorter than a Ford Escape and five inches longer than the Soul, from sister company Kia. Despite these differences, the ix25 Concept's wheelbase is less than an inch longer (eight-tenths to be exact) than the Soul's 101.2-inches. More notably, the ix25 is roughly the size of the new Chevrolet Trax.