Hyundai ix20 Revealed Ahead of Paris Debut

The first images of the Hyundai ix20 have leaked onto the web today, ahead of the new MPV's world premiere at the Paris auto show this month. Originally, the company has released only a teaser sketch of the Hyundai ix20, but today, courtesy of the British press, we have the first official studio images of the Hyundai ix20.

Designed in Hyundai's Russelsheim, Germany studio, the ix20 is based on the Kia Venga compact MPV. The front fascia of the ix20 sports Hyundai's corporate hexagonal grille, as well as the signature sweeping headlights of Hyundai's "fluidic sculpture" design.

The car will be available with a choice of two diesel engines and two petrol engines. The 1.4 diesels come with either 76bhp or 89bhp. There will also be a 89bhp 1.4 petrol, as well as a 123bhp 1.6-litre petrol.

The equipment list of the Hyundai ix20 will include Start/Stop technology, Bluetooth, parking sensors, six airbags, ESP and air-conditioning. Options include a panoramic sunroof, which actually opens, and a reversing camera incorporated into the rear-view mirror.

In the UK, the Hyundai ix20 will go on sale on November 11th of this year with an estimated starting price tag of £11,395. Sales and pricing information for other European markets are to be released later.

[Source: What Car?]

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Spied: Hyundai i10 Facelift Caught in India

Thanks to the folks at Overdrive, we now have our first glimpse at the upcoming facelift of the Hyundai i10 minicar. Holding a sizable share of the minicar segment in India, it is fitting for the new i10 to have been found in that country's roads today. The new Hyundai i10 sports a number of design changes for the new year, as well as being powered by an updated version of the 1.2-liter Kappa engine.

The biggest change to the 2011 Hyundai i10 is the redesigned front fascia which now features Hyundai's corporate hexagonal grille, as well as new headlamps and lower air intakes. If the look seems familiar to you, that's because we already had a preview of the new i10 with the recently unveiled BlueOn electric car. The rear bumper and taillamps are also slightly revised for 2011, while the interior doesn't seem to have incurred any changes.

According to Overdrive, the 2011 Hyundai i10 "will be powered by an updated version of the 1.2-liter Kappa engine with VVT - variable valve timing which will give it better low end responsiveness, better fuel efficiency and tighter emission compliance." It is also expected to receive a mild 2 PS bump. The new i10 will also be available with an automatic transmission, the only other car in the segment offering that option being the Maruti-Suzuki A-Star. Hyundai will also continue offering the 1.1-liter engine, albeit at a lesser price.

Expect the facelifted Hyundai i10 to make its global debut at this year's Paris International Motor Show in October.

Many thanks to Navdeep for the hat tip!

[Source: Overdrive]

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Hyundai Unveils BlueOn, South Korea's First Electric Car

Hyundai Motor Co. joined the global race to lead the market for electric vehicles with its first full-speed electric vehicle, BlueOn, on Thursday. The vehicle, which took 40 billion won ($34 million) and about a year to develop, is based on the facelifted version of Hyundai’s subcompact i10, which is sold exclusively in overseas markets. The BlueOn gives us an early glimpse of the refreshed i10 due for debut at Paris next month.

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Fitted with an electric motor capable of producing up to 61 kilowatts of power, and 16.4 kilowatt-hour lithium ion polymer battery pack, the vehicle is an exact match to the Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric car in terms of hardware. However, by adding a number of new features including the active hydraulic booster system that recharges the battery using the energy generated while braking, the company was able to extend the driving range offered by a fully charged battery pack.

Using the technology, the company extended the BlueOn’s driving range to 140 kilometers, surpassing the Mitsubishi i-MiEV’s 130 kilometers, despite both vehicles having the same battery capacity.

The BlueOn is also fitted with a number of components such as the motor-driven power steering and electronic brake oil pressure amplifier that help to improve the battery efficiency, the company said. The vehicle is also fitted with an on-board charger that allows the battery pack to be charged using the standard 220 volt household electrical outlet. Using 220 volt outlets, the vehicle can be charged to 90 percent capacity in six hours, and to 80 percent capacity in 25 minutes using the 380 volt rapid charging system. In comparison, the i-MiEV requires seven hours using the standard system and 30 minutes using the rapid charge system.

In terms of performance, both vehicles have the same top speed of 130 kilometer per hour, but with zero-to-100 kilometers per hour acceleration time of 13.1 seconds Hyundai BlueOn offers higher acceleration than its Japanese counterpart.

Hyundai, which hailed the car as South Korea's first full-speed electric vehicle, said that it plans to deliver 30 of them on a test basis to various South Korean government organizations by October and aims to manufacture 2,500 by the end of 2012.

[Source: Hyundai]

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EXCLUSIVE: 2012 Kia Morning/Picanto Spied for the First Time

We have obtained the first spy shots of the next-generation 2012 Kia Morning/Picanto subcompact hatchback today. Set to be unveiled and going on sale in 2011, the all-new Picanto is expected to be a real looker if the series of Kia's latest designs is any indication.

From our spy shots, it is very clear that the new 2012 Kia Picanto is designed after the larger Kia Venga multi-purpose vehicle. The cab-forward design and the stretched headlamps characteristic of the Venga are visible on this Picanto prototype. Note the projector headlamps that are unheard of in the subcompact segment, so kudos to Kia for that. The side profile is nothing revolutionary for the segment, but nonetheless clean. The rear, meanwhile, is totally up to our imagination as it is completely clad in camo at the moment.

Other than the spy shots we have for you today, little information is available on how the next Picanto will shape up. Rumors of a possible electric-powered variant surfaced some months ago, but were promptly denied by the folks at Kia. For now, we will keep you on the tab with the latest info on the 2012 Kia Picanto when it becomes available to us.

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EXCLUSIVE: Next Hyundai Azera/Grandeur (HG) Caught In Korea

UPDATE: New spy shots of the HG have been added.

We have just gotten a hold of the latest spy pictures of the next-generation Hyundai Azera/Grandeur, code-named "HG". Due to be launched later this year (though word is that unveiling might occur within a month), the new Grandeur is gearing up for a significant redesign for the 2012 model year.

As of this posting, details on the new Grandeur are relatively slim. We do know that it will share the front-drive configuration platform with the Kia K7/Cadenza sedan. Powertrain details are ballpark guesses at this point, but judging by the new Grandeur's position in the Hyundai line-up - slotting between the Sonata and the Genesis - we can definitely expect the 3.5L or 3.8L Lambda II V6 (280-300 hp) powerplants as plausible options. With Hyundai's efforts for better fuel economy, the turbocharged gasoline direct-injected (GDI) 4-cylinder found in the Sonata is also a possible candidate.

In addition to the new Azera/Grandeur, we have a lone spy photo (found after the jump) of a Hyundai prototype that we can't quite put a finger on as to what it is. The subcompact test car is a near dead-ringer of the already-unveiled 2012 Accent/Verna, yet the front fascia sporting a new design arouses questions as to what the prototype is really. Leave us your guesses as to what it might be in the comments below!

[Source: THECARBLOGGER/HGMania]

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Kia Recalls 56,000 Souls, Sorentos in US and S. Korea

Kia Motors said on Friday it had started a recall of some 56,000 Soul and Sorento vehicles sold in the United States and South Korea due to defective wiring harnesses that could cause fires. Some harnesses supplied by Johnson Controls for lighting in 2010 model-year Soul cars and 2011 model-year Sorento SUVs were improperly soldered, leading to possible electrical shorts, Kia said in a letter to U.S. safety regulators on August 30.

There were no reports of accidents or injuries due to the issue, which was identified in June, said Kia, an affiliate of South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. Kia determined that a recall was needed on August 23.

The U.S. recall covers 23,972 Soul cars produced from September 7, 2009, through June 8, 2010, and 11,213 Sorento vehicles built from October 23, 2009, through July 30, 2010, according to the notice filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In August, NHTSA launched a probe into possible steering defects in the 2010 model-year Soul after a driver said a steering shaft detached from the steering wheel in a two-month-old vehicle and fell onto the driver's side floor, causing a complete steering loss and limited braking.

[Source: Reuters/Kia]

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2010 Paris Preview: Hyundai ix20

Hyundai is set to unveil an all-new production model, dubbed the ix20, at the Paris Auto Show later this month, in the form of a subcompact crossover that will share its platform with the i20 and Kia Venga, revealed late last year.

The ix20 is the latest of Hyundai's new models to adopt the company's 'Fluidic Sculpture' design language, already visible on the likes of the Sonata-replacing i45 and the Tucson-replacing ix35.

Designed and developed at Hyundai's German studios, the ix20 is described as a "striking departure from the boxy 'minivan' image typically associated with the segment."

Hyundai is keeping technical details close to its chest for now, but we can likely expect the ix20 to share the same 1.4 litre diesel and 1.1 and 1.4 litre petrol engines as the Venga.

[Source: Hyundai]

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