Monday, November 15, 2010

Happy Hyundai - Service Department Specials

Happy Hyundai - Service Department Specials

Green Car of the Year Hyundai Sonata Happy Hyundai


FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., 11/11/2010
Green Car Journal has named the 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid as a finalist for the 2011 Green Car of the Year award.  Each year, five finalists are considered for the Green Car of the Year award, an honor that recognizes fuel-efficient vehicles and the environmental leadership they bring to the auto industry. The 2011 Green Car of the Year will be announced at the Los Angeles Auto Show during the show’s second press day on Nov. 18.
“What we’re witnessing today is an auto industry that’s rising to the challenge of providing vehicles that meet increasingly stringent emissions and fuel economy goals, while listening to the voice of the customer and offering these attributes in vehicles they want to buy, “ said Green Car Journal editors. “These nominees rise above the crowd as outstanding examples that forward environmental performance in meaningful and quantifiable ways.”
Green Car Journal editors consider vehicles employing all fuels and technologies in the effort to raise the bar in environmental performance, including high efficiency gasoline internal combustion, advanced diesel, hybrids, electrics, and vehicles capable of running on alternative fuels.
“Making the cut to become a finalist for the 2011 Green Car of the Year among many other noteworthy models is an honor,” said Mike O’Brien, vice president, Product and Corporate Planning, Hyundai Motor America.  “Hyundai is firmly committed to leading the auto industry in fuel efficiency and with the introduction of the Sonata Hybrid, we are offering consumers a fun-to-drive vehicle with a best-in-class highway fuel economy, a combination that is missing from hybrids in this vehicle category.”
Finalists will be considered by the following jurors: Carl Pope, chairman of the Sierra Club; Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council; Jean-Michel Cousteau, president of Ocean Futures Society, Matt Petersen, president of Global Green USA; auto enthusiast and comedian Jay Leno, and automotive icon Carroll Shelby.  For more information about the finalists, visit http://www.greencar.com/.

HYUNDAI SONATA HYBRID NAMED FINALIST BY GREEN CAR JOURNAL FOR 2011 GREEN CAR OF THE YEAR AWARD

Friday, November 12, 2010

Happy Hyundai paves its own path with Sonata Hybrid

Hyundai paves its own path with Sonata hybrid

The Hybrid Blue Drive features a parallel-hybrid drive system that will move the car on solely electric power or with a combination of gas and electric power.
Hyundai is now in the gasoline-electric hybrid business
Globe and Mail Update
Hyundai is now in the gasoline-electric hybrid business.
Coming soon to dealerships at an as-yet unnamed price is the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid mid-size sedan. It mates a 2.4-litre engine running on an Atkinson cycle to a 30-kilowatt permanent-magnet motor. The transmission is a six-speed automatic, rather than the commonly used continuously variable transmission in competing models such as the Ford Fusion Hybrid and Toyota Camry Hybrid.
The six-speed gives the Hyundai hybrid something more of the regular feel of a mainstream sedan without the electric motor and batteries. Hyundai’s innovation is an electric traction motor hard-coupled to the input of the transmission. Drivers can choose performance or economy mode.
The heart of it all is a 43-kilogram lithium polymer battery pack developed with LG Chem. This pack is lighter, smaller and more efficient than the nickel-metal hydride batteries currently used in other hybrids, says Hyundai, adding that the 72-cell pack is more durable and stable than ones using lithium ion cells. Hyundai says the battery pack can last for nearly 500,000 kilometres worth of rechargings with only a 10 per cent loss of performance.
Hyundai Canada would like to price the Sonata Hybrid for less than $30,000, but that will be tough given the lithium pack is 15 to 20 per cent more expensive than nickel-metal hydride units.
Performance? Hyundai says the Sonata Hybrid accelerates to 100 km/h in 9.2 seconds. That makes it quicker than the Fusion and Camry hybrids. With a combined output of 206 horsepower, Hyundai’s hybrid is more powerful than the Camry Hybrid (187 hp), Nissan Altima Hybrid (198 hp) and Fusion Hybrid (191 hp).
As for fuel economy, the Sonata Hybrid at 5.6 litres/100 km in the city bests the Camry and Altima Hybrids, but trails the Fusion, which is rated at 4.6 litres/100 km. The Sonata Hybrid’s highway fuel economy of 5.4 litres/100 km is equal to the Fusion’s best-in-class rating.
Hyundai does not expect to sell many Sonata Hybrids; the hybrid market in Canada accounts for less than one per cent of total industry sales. But as a showcase for Hyundai’s engineering prowess, this car has value that far exceeds simple revenue and profit numbers.

For more information about the Sonata Hybrid or Happy Hyundai please click here.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Happy- Hyundai is a Hit at SEMA this year.

2011 Tuscon Beats out everyone in its Class.. Happy Hyundai Oak Lawn


Hyundai Tucson

Base Price: $20,999; as tested: $28,799
The Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage share many components, so I can only attribute the Tucson’s victory in this category to its styling and the fact that it has a lower base price than its South Korean kissing cousin. It has essentially the same platform and engine as the Kia and, behind the wheel, there isn’t much to separate the two. Like the Sportage, the Tucson brought to TestFest this year had a six-speed automatic transmission and a 2.4-litre, four-cylinder engine that develops 176 horsepower. This is considerably more than the third entry in this category – the Mitsubishi RVR.
Funnily enough, the Tucson actually features slightly less interior volume than the Sportage, but both come well-equipped. Elsewhere, standard equipment on the Tucson includes engineering features such as a downhill brake control and hill start assist. These two make the driving experience much more civilized; one will help you descend hills and maintain control and the other allows you to ascend hills from a dead stop without rolling backward. The Tucson also has a standard feature that should be mandatory on all cars sold in Canada: heated front seats – with two settings, no less. That said, so does the Sportage.
In terms of value for money, the Tucson has it over the Mitsubishi RVR in spades, and is probably the logical winner in this category.


Kia Sportage

Base price: $21,995; as tested: $33,195
The Sportage at TestFest came fully loaded, thus the $33,000-plus price tag. As far as I’m concerned, it’s six of one and half a dozen of the other when it comes to engineering features and driving experience. But the Sportage’s higher price tag probably made the difference here.

2011 Mitsubishi RVR
AJAC
2011 Mitsubishi RVR

Mitsubishi RVR

Base Price: $21,998; as tested: $28,498
Although it finished last, this was my choice. The RVR provided a smoother ride, had better assembly quality, a more linear power delivery and featured a nicer sense of balance. Unfortunately, it also had almost 30 less horsepower than the Tucson and didn’t really come close in terms of what you get for the money.

Happy Hyundai, Kia Cars Picked as Best Buys in U.S.

Hyundai, Kia Cars Picked as Best Buys in U.S.

Four cars by Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors were named 2011 Automotive Best Buys by U.S. magazine Consumers Digest on Thursday.  

Hyundai's Genesis and Sonata sedans were picked in the family car and luxury car categories, and Kia's Sorento R and Soul in compact SUVs and compacts.

The Genesis has won the award for three years in a row and the Soul two, while the new Sonata and Sorento R have been honored in their debut year in the U.S.
/Courtesy of Hyundai Motor /Courtesy of Hyundai Motor
Consumers Digest evaluates vehicles based on design, performance, amenities, and motoring costs and selects a couple of winners in 12 categories. This year some 250 cars were considered.

Meanwhile, Hyundai ranked first in the automotive category and sixth overall among 501 brands on the 2010 Customer Loyalty Leaders list. The ranking was released last month by Brand Keys, a New York-based market researcher that specializes in customer loyalty.