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Hyundai Elantra's alleged unintended acceleration sends teen, police on a 113-mile ride

Back in December, one North Texas teenager received a quick lesson in car control at the hands of his 2011 Hyundai Elantra. Elez Lushaj called police, after he says his car accelerated to nearly 120 mph on Highway 183 unintentionally. Dispatchers urged the 16-year-old driver to try everything from turning the car off to standing on the brakes and putting the car in neutral, but Lushaj told them nothing was working. Flummoxed, police simply did their best to warn traffic away from the speeding compact with the hope that the car would eventually run out of fuel.
Before that could happen, Lushaj lost control on Interstate 30 after some 90 minutes as he attempted to avoid a semi truck. The Elantra rolled four times, leaving the driver conscious but with several broken bones. Police commended Lushaj for keeping the car on the road and away from population centers for as long as he did.
Hyundai, meanwhile, said that it hasn't heard anything on the case. Spokesperson Jim Trainor reported to WFAA that it was "extremely unlikely for simultaneous and spontaneous total system failures for the brakes, accelerator and transmission to occur at the same time" and notes that Hyundai would like to investigate, but this is the first they've heard of Lushaj's wild ride. You can watch a local news report on the incident below for more information.

Volkswagen Group, BMW Z4 top Total Value Awards by Strategic Vision

It was just nine months ago that Strategic Vision announced its 2011 Total Value Awards, but you don't have to wait until next year for the 2012 awards. The Volkswagen Group keeps its lead as the number one brand, with seven products taking top category spots: Golf, Jetta Wagon, CC, Eos and Audi A3 Wagon, Q5 and Q7. Strategic Vision says "true innovation" - "rich and impactful, intuitive, motivational, in-depth and is able to trigger description by the user in great specificity" - is the open secret of the brands with the strongest showings. Results are culled from 77,153 owners covering more than 350 new cars bought between September of 2011 and 2012 ranked in the Total Value Index (TVI).
Other notable winners are Hyundai-Kia following VW in the brand category and having the Hyundai Elantra and Kia Sorento among category winners, the BMW Z4 taking the premium roadster category and the highest overall score of any vehicle, the Chevrolet Volt continuing to gather silverware in the Special Category, nabbing the second-highest score of all and representative of "nearly perfect innovation," and Chrysler and Dodge being most improved.
Check out the press release below for your day's dose of jargon and all the winners.

Hyundai, Kia looking to cut costs

Hyundai and Kia are off to roaring starts in the United States this year, underscored by Kia's best sales month ever in May. But globally the situation for the South Korean siblings hasn't been nearly so positive. Recently, they reported their fourth consecutive quarter of decreasing operating profits worldwide, and now they're "making efforts to cut costs," according to a statement in a joint email obtained by Bloomberg. However, the companies aren't detailing where they would make the cuts or how much they want to save. The amount could be significant, though. An unnamed Hyundai senior executive reportedly told a South Korean newspaper that the business might be aiming for up to 30 percent in reductions. According to Bloomberg, Hyundai and Kia are facing falling total sales worldwide. Making the situation worse is that the strong Korean won versus the weaker Japanese yen gives competitors an advantage. The automakers also angered investors enough last year to prompt a stock buyback after paying $10 billion for the land for a future headquarters. The prognosis doesn't look utterly dire, though, and new products are on the way. For example, the Hyundai Santa Fe is being refreshed in South Korea, and the next-gen Elantra debuts at this year's Los Angeles Auto Show. There's also the Creta on the way for foreign markets. Additionally, several models are still awaiting the green light, including a Hyundai Genesis-based luxury crossover, a compact CUV, and the Santa Cruz unibody pickup. Meanwhile, the Kia GT is reportedly close to production, too. Related Video: