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Hyundai looking to add plant in Mexico

Mexico is rapidly becoming the go-to place for North American auto production, and companies including Toyota, General Motors, and Audi are all building new plants, expanding or shifting some production there. Now, Hyundai is investigating joining them in the future. "I'm sure that over the years we'll see production of Hyundai products in Mexico," Pedro Albarran, managing director for the automaker in Mexico, said to Bloomberg. Albarran indicates that a likely location for such a factory might be the state of Nuevo Leon, where Kia also has a forthcoming $1 billion plant. The site would be an ideal location near suppliers. It's probably going to be a while before any of Hyundai's models start coming out of Mexico. According to Bloomberg, the automaker wants to wait to make a final decision until sales there reach around 50,000 annual units, and that benchmark isn't expected until 2018. While Kia's plant is slated to have a capacity around 300,000 vehicles a year when it opens in 2016, Albarran thinks Hyundai might start smaller at just over 100,000 annual examples. Some of those would likely include subcompact models for the Mexican market. The Korean automaker was rumored to be looking into a factory south of the border as far back as 2013.

Dealership worker takes Kia Soul for 200-mile joyride

Most often, dealership road-test capers in customer cars involve exciting metal - an employee totals a Chevy Camaro ZL1, or a does the same thing with a Dodge Viper. Or tapes himself wringing out Italian exotics at triple-digit speeds on public roads. That kind of horseplay rarely involves mass-market metal because it's not worth getting caught running red lights in a 2001 Mitsubishi Montero - except that actually happened, too. But we still don't understand the mechanic at Peak Kia North in Windor, CO, who used a customer's Kia Soul as his own car for four days and put 200 miles on it. Owner Veronica Pief discovered the nonsense when she downloaded the 17 hours of driving video from her dashcam. She dropped the Soul off to have its speed-volume control fixed, but got it back with the extra mileage and the volume problem still hadn't been remedied. It got worse when she said of the dealership, "Afterwards, they just blew us off. They didn't care. They didn't show any concern." Sometime between that disrespect and Denver's KUSA 9NEWS doing a story on it, the dealer decided it should fix the situation. Pief said she wanted the dealer to buy her car back and pay off the loan, which sounds extreme, but she might have been thinking about the verbiage in her owner's manual. Kia is one of the automakers that's strict about voiding warranties if it deems a car has been abused. Peak Kia North gave Pief what she wanted just one day after the original story ran, buying the car back from her with plans to auction it and donate the proceeds to charity. And yes, the mechanic was fired. You can watch the local news report above. Related Video: News Source: Detroit Free Press, 9NEWS Auto News Kia Car Dealers Hatchback Videos viral video colorado

Kia previews upcoming Niro hybrid crossover

Kia is gearing up to launch a new hybrid crossover. Called the Niro, it's touted as the first of its kind in South Korea. And here we have our first glimpse of what it will look like. Previewed in this pair of teaser renderings, the Niro will be a dedicated hybrid crossover. The automaker says that the powertrain will be based on a 1.6-liter version of Hyundai's Kappa engine producing 105 horsepower and 108 pound-feet of torque. That seems a little low to us for an engine that size, considering that the same size engine in the Rio produces 138 hp and 123 lb-ft, but we'll see how the final specs work out. It's slated to be paired to a six-speed dual-clutch transmission, an electric motor good for another 47 hp, and a 1.56-kWh battery pack. The hybrid powertrain will be packed into a compact crossover with what looks to be a fairly sleek design. Up front, you'll see the brand's signature tiger-nose grille, angular headlights, sculpted flanks, a relatively high belt line, and an aggressive rear end. Of course, the wheels on the final version won't fill the wheel wells quite as much, and you can expect them to be wearing narrower tires with low rolling resistance, as befits a dedicated hybrid. The Niro name was previously applied to a more rounded crossover concept unveiled at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show. The production model with its hybrid powertrain will form part of Hyundai-Kia's endeavor to reduce its average fleet fuel consumption by 25 percent by 2020. It's slated to launch in some markets in the first half of next year. Related Video: