Hyundai and Kia Target 7 Million Sales in 2012

Despite the global economic crisis, Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia have seen a rapid rise in global sales, thanks in part to their value for money offerings but also a new range of models.

As a result of the new sales records and increased demand, the two carmakers that currently form the world's fifth largest automotive group, increased the shifts in some of their plants and reevaluated their 2011 overall target to 6.6 million, up from 6.33 million units in the beginning of the year.

Read more »

Kia Prices 2012 Rio Sedan from $14,150*, $200 Lower than the Hatchback

About a month after announcing pricing for the new 2012 Rio five-door hatchback, Kia today released prices for its four-door sedan sibling that starts from $13,400 or *$14,150 if you include a $750 destination and handling fee, for the base model with a manual gearbox. That's $200 less than the equivalent 5-door variant.

If you prefer to not to change gears manually, the automatic transmission version of the base Rio sedan begins at $15,250.

Read more »

Kia Sets New U.S. Sales Record, Wants to Focus on Dealer Network Next Year

Among the many “rag to riches” tales that took place in the business world this past decade, is the meteoric rise of the Korean carmakers.

In 2010, Kia sold 356,268 vehicles in the U.S. By September 2011, it had already surpassed that number having made 367,405 deliveries. This marks an increase of 37% compared to the same period last year, and it also means that 2011 will be a record-setting year for the Korean carmaker.

Read more »

NBA Star Blake Griffin Returns for New Kia Optima Slam Dunk TV Spot

Los Angeles Clippers forward and 2010-11 NBA Rookie of the Year Blake Griffin made headlines at February's NBA Slam Dunk Contest when he leaped over a parked Kia Optima and performed an impressive slam-dunk after an alley-oop pass through the car's open sunroof from Baron Davis.

Apparently, Kia was equally impressed as the South Korean automaker signed up the 22-year old player for a new commercial staring – what else- the latest Optima sedan.

Read more »

Kia Moves Production of Venga from the Czech Republic to Slovakia

South Korean car manufacturer Kia Motors said on Thursday that it has begun assembly of the Venga small MPV at its factory in the city of Zilina in Slovakia, which also builds the Cee'd family of C-segment models and the Sportage SUV.

Up until now, Kia produced the B-segment MPV at sister company's Hyundai Motor other European plant in the Czech Republic.

Read more »

Hyundai Announces New 1.6-liter Turbo Gasoline and Euro6 2.0 Diesel Engines

They have been a long time in the making but the Hyundai Motor Group finally presented its highly anticipated Gamma 1.6 T-GDI petrol and Euro6 R-2.0 diesel engines today.

The presentation was made during ‘The 11thHyundai-Kia International Powertrain Conference’ that takes place on October 19 and 20 at the Rolling Hills Hotel, located near the Hyundai-Kia Motors R&D Center in Korea.

Read more »

Red Light Sinner Repents: You have to Watch this Video…

Dear Carscoop readers, we would appreciate your input with this one. Please watch the video after the break and tell us what the heck could be going on in the head of the person behind the steering wheel of this silver Kia Rio sedan.

Agreed; we've all seen drivers run a red light either by mistake or because they don't give a damn about the own or other drivers' safety. But seriously, have you ever seen someone do anything like this? The only thing missing from the clip is the Benny Hill background music...

Read more »

Kia's Facelifted 2012 Soul Lands in Britain

The refreshed for the 2012 model year Kia Soul is on sale in the UK with on-the-road prices ranging from £12,495 for the basic petrol model to the £17,795 for the fully equipped diesel variant.

The most important change for the 2012 Soul is the presentation of a new 1.6-liter petrol engine and a revised version of the 1.6-liter turbo diesel, both hooked up to a six-speed manual gearbox that replaces the previous five-speed unit. Furthermore, the diesel model is optionally available with a new 6sp auto in place of the former 4sp transmission.

Read more »

Bob Lutz Says General Motors, Volkswagen and Hyundai are the World's New Big Three

It's fall again, time for Bob Lutz to make headlines. Less than a month after "Maximum Bob" made his official comeback to General Motors as a consultant, the semi-retired car executive and onetime Marine pilot gave an in-depth interview to German monthly Manager Magazin.

Lutz was questioned about a variety of subjects that mainly concentrated on Opel and its relationship with General Motors, but he was also asked about the future of the industry in general, and whom he sees as being the major players.

According to Captain Lutz, the new big three in the automotive industry are General Motors, the Volkswagen Group and –wait for it- the Hyundai Group. And what about Toyota and the rest of the Japanese carmakers like Honda? According to the GM exec, Japanese automakers have lost it… Follow the jump for his (translated) response as well as the original Q&A.

Read more »

Kia will Focus on Quality, not Quantity says co-CEO

Kia Motors does not intend to build new plants despite increased worldwide demand for its products, the automaker’s co-CEO, Lee Sam-ung told Autonews in a recent presentation. The Korean company will instead focus its efforts on quality.

“Quantitative growth is important, but qualitative growth is also important. We plan to focus on improving product quality and our brand," Sam-ung said at the launch of the new Rio.

Read more »

Report: Hyundai Will Offer 10-Speed Auto Gearbox from 2014

Can you count to 10? Well done, so does Hyundai, and in particular the Korean company’s engineering team responsible for car transmissions. According to a Bloomberg News report, Hyundai Motor Group president Park Seong Hyon said that 10-speed automatic transmissions will become available in the group’s luxury models from 2014.

Only a few years ago, six-speed automatic gearboxes were available only in top-of-the-line cars. Then the gear count started to increase gradually: first at seven, which seemed like a novelty, and quite recently at eight, which most luxury carmakers rushed to adopt.

Read more »