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Hyundai Motor heir Euisun Chung takes over from father after 20 years in waiting

SEOUL — Hyundai Motor Group appointed Euisun Chung as group chairman on Wednesday, cementing his succession from his octogenarian father in a move likely to give impetus to the world's fifth-largest automaker's push into electric vehicles and flying cars. In the first generational handover at the South Korean automobile giant in 20 years, Chung, 49, said he hoped to lead change at South Korea's second-biggest conglomerate as it battles to stay ahead of the pack in a time of rapid technological innovation in the global auto industry. "Carrying on their bold and innovative legacies, I feel privileged, yet also a sense of great responsibility for opening a new chapter of Hyundai Motor Group," Chung said in his inauguration speech to employees. Chung identified autonomous driving, electrification, hydrogen fuel cell, robotics and Urban Air Mobility (UAM) — industry jargon for flying cars — as his initiatives for the future. Hyundai Motor shares were trading up 0.3% after rising as much as 2.5% after the appointment, while the wider market was down 0.6%. Kia Motors and Hyundai Mobis fell 1.6% and 1.1%, respectively.   Legacies Hyundai Motor Group earlier on Wednesday said Chung had been promoted to chairman from executive vice chairman, replacing his father, Mong-Koo Chung, who was made honorary chairman. Key affiliates of Hyundai Motor Group, including Hyundai Motor, endorsed his inauguration unanimously. The appointment makes Chung the latest third-generation leader to take over one of South Korea's family-led conglomerates, which have been credited with lifting the war-stricken country out of poverty since the 1950s. His father took the wheel of the group in 2000 and transformed the company, once mocked for poor vehicle quality, into the world's No.5 automaker. The 82-year-old has been stepping back from frontline operations in recent years, and gave up his board seat in Hyundai Motor earlier this year. Euisun Chung has played an increasingly visible leadership role since September 2018 when he was promoted to executive vice chairman. Hyundai Motor Group invested $1.6 billion in a self-driving technology joint venture with U.S. Aptiv, forged a partnership with Uber on electric air taxis and invested in ride-hailing firm Grab. In July, Chung set a goal to win more than 10% of the global market for battery EVs by 2025.

All new Hyundai Elantra revealed in Korea

After thoroughly teasing the next-generation Elantra, Hyundai is finally unveiling its latest sedan for the South Korean market (where it's called the "Avante"). While the names might be different, expect the revised model to look just like this for the North American debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November. Although, the powertrain range might be tweaked when crossing the Pacific. Hyundai is reworking the swoopy Fluidic Sculpture design language into a sleeker, simpler shape for the latest Elantra, and the company calls the new direction "Modern Premium." Up front, there's a big hexagonal grill to grab attention, and it's matched with squinting headlights on each side. The roof now simply flows back elegantly to the trunk, and the sides are left largely unadorned beyond an understated crease along the shoulders. At the rear, narrowing taillights stretch horizontally across the trunk. Also, while the upgraded styling is meant to make the Elantra look low and wide, the dimensions grow less than an inch in length and width. Beneath the upgraded design is a revised platform that's made of 53 percent advanced high strength steel, versus 32 percent before. The result is a stiffer frame that Hyundai claims leads to better crash test results and lower NVH. Drivers get added security from a safety suite that includes autonomous emergency braking, high beam assist, blind spot detection, and rear cross traffic alert. Hyundai is clear that powertrains can vary with region, but South Koreans get three choices in the Avante. A 1.6-liter gasoline-fueled four-cylinder offers 130 horsepower and 119 pound-feet of torque, and a 1.6-liter diesel makes 134 hp and 221 lb-ft. There's also a 2.0-liter petrol mill running on the Atkinson cycle that produces 147 hp and 132 lb-ft. Rumors suggest North America might get the turbocharged 1.6-liter from the latest Tucson with 175 hp and 196 lb-ft. Hyundai Motor Holds World Premiere of All-new Elantra in Korea 09 September, 2015 • Hyundai Motor's best-selling model evolves with innovative design • Award-winning compact sedan inspires driver confidence with enhanced performance and stable handling • Class-leading convenience and safety features are tailored to customer needs September 9, 2015 – Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea's largest automaker, today unveiled the 'All-new Elantra (named Avante in Korea)', a sophisticated evolution of the brand's long-established compact sedan.

Genesis wins J.D. Power Tech Experience Study for third straight time

The results are out for the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Tech Experience Index (TXI) Study, which "focuses on the user experience with advanced vehicle technology as it first comes to market and is an early measure of problems encountered by vehicle owners." Its measurement metric is problems per 100 vehicles (PP100), same as with the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS). The takeaway this year isn't that owners aren't using advanced technologies, as was the case with the 2022 study, or that they're having more problems with them overall. It's that owners of battery-electric vehicles are having more problems with advanced tech than owners of ICE-powered vehicles. According to the study, 17 of 21 features that can be had on both propulsion types — such as remote parking assistance and gesture controls — get lower satisfaction ratings by owners of BEVs, in some cases nearly 20 PP100.  The survey organization says this tracks with what its found in the IQS, where total vehicle problems were "46% higher among BEVs (excluding Tesla) than ICE vehicles and satisfaction is lower among owners of BEVs across nine of 10 APEAL categories than among owners of ICE vehicles." Findings regarding biometric measurements are among those that go against the overall study findings. Whether a fingerprint reader or an eye tracker, car owners in general said "they do not consider them to be useful." In terms of ease-of-use and satisfaction, plug-and-charge capability on EVs gets good marks. This allows EV owners to plug into a public charger and have payment taken care of automatically; the vehicle communicates with any charging station compatible with an automaker's plug-and-play system, so the vehicle can automatically submit a bill for the charging session to a central owner account with no further action needed at the station. Survey respondents noted a mere 6 PP100 and an 88.9% satisfaction.    Among manufacturers, repeat winners took the top prizes. Genesis earned the highest rank for innovation overall and among premium brands for the third straight year. Hyundai not only won the tech innovation banner for mass market brands for the fourth straight year, ahead of Kia, GMC, Ram and Subaru, Hyundai finished in second in the overall standings. On that overall chart, the top five are Genesis, Hyundai, Cadillac, Lexus and BMW. On the premium chart, Genesis is followed by Cadillac, Lexus, BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the top five. It wasn't close from the first to the rest, though.