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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:

Hyundai and Kia introduce new predictive transmission tech

Hyundai and Kia have announced that the two have developed a new transmission control system that optimizes shift logic to both improve efficiency and reduce "gear hunting." The system utilizes real-time traffic data, built-in 3D navigation and the same sensors that feed the cars' advanced safety and driver assist tech to proactively choose the right gear — even neutral in some cases — to reduce both fuel consumption and wear-and-tear. The Korean sister brands call it the "Information Communication Technology Connected Shift System," or "ICT" for short, and Hyundai says it delivers not just improved frugality, but a better all-around driving experience. ICT programming allows the transmission control unit to collect and interpret traffic, camera, sensor, navigation route, elevation and topographical data.  "Using all of these inputs, the TCU predicts the optimal shift scenario for real-time driving situations through an artificial intelligence algorithm and shifts the gears accordingly," the announcement said. "For example, when a relatively long slow down is expected and radar detects no speed irregularities with the car ahead, the transmission clutch temporarily switches to neutral mode to improve fuel efficiency." While this sounds like a primarily green play, there are quality-of-life improvements too. For example, ICT can also optimize gear selection and shift points for safer highway merges, effectively implementing the equivalent of a "Sport Mode" driving profile when a little extra punch is called for.  Hyundai says the resulting decrease in shifts was significant; in some test scenarios, such as roads with lots of curves, the number of shifts executed by the transmission was reduced by almost half. As an added bonus, these vehicles also utilized their brakes less often (11%), which would reduce wear (and accompanying maintenance costs) over time.  ICT is somewhat future-proof, too, as it was developed to incorporate vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) data should such networks improve down the line.  The announcement did not say when the new tech would reach customers, committing only to introducing the technology "on future vehicles." If we're betting, the smart money says it will probably on a new Genesis model and trickle down from there. Related Video:

2014 Kia Sorento garners five-star NHTSA rating

The 2014 Kia Sorento has just earned a five-start crash-test rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, as well as a Top Safety Pick rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
According to Kia, the new Sorento scored well in both frontal and side-impact crash tests, while also netting high marks in rollover testing. Orth Hedrick, Kia's American director of product planning said, "Already a compelling entry in the compact CUV category, earning a five-Star rating from NHTSA makes the Sorento an even stronger contender within its segment while underscoring Kia's overall commitment to delivering safety and exceptional value to our customers."
The Sorento joins the Sportage within the Kia range, and the Honda CR-V, Hyundai Santa Fe Sport, Mazda CX-5 and Subaru Forester in netting a five-star score in the small, CUV segment. Take a look below for the official press release from Kia.