More than a few industry pundits have taken to calling Hyundai "the next Toyota." The spin: Hyundai is a formidable low-cost automaker whose high quality products are stealing side dishes from Toyota's table, eying the Japanese automaker's main course. As our Steven Lang has pointed out, the Sonata's lackluster U.S. sales help partially put paid to that theory. And now Chosun explodes the myth entirely. The South Korean newspaper reports that the Federation of Korean Industries has discovered that Korea's largest carmaker produced 29.6 cars per worker last year, 57 percent fewer than Toyota's 68.9 cars per worker. "Hyundai Motor’s sales and operating profit per worker were also no more than 40.8 and 22.2 percent of those of Toyota. The Korean company's productivity was worse than that of six other international automakers. Compared to the assembly productivity of 21.1 to 23.2 hours per vehicle by Ford, Honda, General Motors and Toyota, Hyundai and Kia recorded 31.1 and 37.5 hours, respectively." And here's the kicker: "Hyundai paid its workers more than Toyota, with an annual average salary per worker of W57m (US$1=W934) compared to Toyota's W55 million." 

UPDATE This just in from Deep Throat: "Methinks the Korean reporting on Hyundai is wrong. There is no way the production per worker is half that of Toyota and they get paid more. They’d be bankrupt. Also, IIRC, the Nummi plant in NorCal produces something like 400,000 units per year on 4,500 workers… but if you add sales/admin/corp staff to that, I can believe somewhere around 70 units/worker/year. And Toyota/Ford/GM take about 30+ manhours per unit of production, not in the low 20 hour range."

Chosun »

Source: Hyundai Myth Exploded… Maybe

Bookmark it:

Continue reading...

Simona Alina
Filed in: Hyundai | coupe | Hyundai Genesis

When the Hyundai Genesis Coupe will come on the US market it will be offered with turbocharged engine. But the company says this won’t be the only option available. The turbo power will be offered in other models too.

The four-cylinder turbo will come from Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance, Hyundai’s joint venture with Mitsubishi and Chrysler. It will be built at the joint venture’s plant in South Korea. The rear-drive coupe also will be available with a naturally aspirated V-6.

“We like the idea of turbo, so we’ll do others,” Krafcik told Automotive News. “I think the timing is good because no one else has a four-cylinder, rear-drive platform with a turbocharger.”

The company also confirmed that they have no plans for diesel ot hybrid at the moment as they are very expensive. Plans for a hybrid engine will start in 2013 when Hyundai plans to sell around 50000 units a year in California.

Although the RWD Genesis coupe is coming, Krafcik said Hyundai plans to keep a front-wheel-drive sporty coupe in the lineup to replace the Tiburon.

Source:Automotive News

Source: Hyundai Genesis Coupe coming with turbo power

Bookmark it:

Continue reading...

The Bugatti Veyron’s monstrous W16 engine is one of the most sophisticated powerplants currently in production, integrating two narrow-angle V8 engines on a single crankshaft and feeding this with no less than four turbochargers. This latest video gives us an inside look at the processes that go into building the heart of the Veyron supercar.

Via: Autoblog.it

Source: Video: Constructing the Bugatti Veyron’s W16.4

Bookmark it:

Continue reading...

Xavier Navarro
Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Etc., Green Culture, Green Daily, UK

The project BioReGen is a very interesting plan developed on abandoned industrial estate in the north-east of England (Durham County). Basically, the project recovers polluted land by planting specific crops - in this case, crops intended for biofuels. The process is called biorecovery (see also MSU’s project).

University of Teeside’s CLEMANCE (Clean Environment Management Centre) program achieves this recovery by planting specific trees such as willows, miscanthus, phalaris arundinacea and switchgrass. The trees are a good source for biomass (for small-scale power plants) and switchgrass can be used as a raw material to obtain biofuels.

The process has been very successful so far, but it’s got an inconvenient truth: it takes years to depollute an area, because plants have their own growing cycle. And they’ve got plenty of terrain to work on: 1,155 Ha (2,850 Acres).

[Source: Agroinformación]

Source: Project BioReGen: Planting trees to recover a damaged ecosystem

Bookmark it:

Continue reading...

Hot on the heels of the Mazda6 Mazdaspeed concept images, Mazda has revealed an early glimpse of what may become the Mazda2 and new Mazda3 MPS range.

Officially these Mazdaspeed concepts are merely a design study to showcase at the 2008 Tokyo Auto Salon, however with positive feedback we may yet see them on our roads in the near future.

Both models carry near identical modifications to the Mazda6 concept previously seen, with newly revealed features arriving in the interior in the form of two-tone bucket seats with matching sports steering wheel.

More details will follow after the 2008 Tokyo Motor Show scheduled for January 11th.

Source: New Mazda MPS range?

Bookmark it:

Continue reading...

Simona Alina
Filed in: Pontiac | suv | Pontiac Torrent

General Motors will end the life of the Pontiac Torrent in 2009 and will replace it with a new SUV from GMC. It will be called Terrain and will be built on the same Theta architecture with the future Chevrolet Equinox. It will be priced around $23.000.

Set to feature a bolder appearance than the Equinox, the 2009 Terrain will be built at the CAMI Automotive Inc. plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, which it runs jointly with Suzuki Motor Corp. That plant produces the Equinox, Torrent and Suzuki XL-7 SUV, also built on Theta.

“The Terrain will add an opportunity for GMC dealers to win some business in a market that we’re not in right now,” says dealer Mike Bowsher, a partner in Carl Black Automotive Group in Kennesaw, Ga. Bowsher also is the national dealer council chairman for Buick-Pontiac-GMC.

The 2009 Terrain was presented to dealers about eight months ago and is said to have the same dimensions as the Jeep Liberty.

Source:Automotive News

Source: Pontiac Torrent to be replaced in 2009

Bookmark it:

Continue reading...

Simona Alina
Filed in: Mclaren | Supercars / Exotic cars

McLaren will launch their newest supercar, codenamed P11, in 2010. It will be priced around £195,000 and even if it is not ready yet the company already has lots of orders for it. McLaren is targeting the Ferrari 430 Scuderia and Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera.

McLaren new baby will get a new name in 2010 when will be launched, so forget about the P11. It will use the latest materials, including carbonfibre and aluminum, like Lewis Hamilton’s company car.

The P11 will be powered by a V8 Mercedes engine, probably the 6.3 liter AMG one with around 500bhp. This will help the supercar to make the 0 to 60 mph sprint in less than 4 seconds and hit a top speed of 200 mph.

Regarding its dimension, the P11 will be placed between the Audi TT and R8 supercar. It will also feature: carbon brakes and alloy wheels.

Source:CarMagazine

Source: McLaren P11 - latest informations

Bookmark it:

Continue reading...

Perhaps the single most influential car design and coachbuilding firm in history, Pininfarina has penned lines that define automotive beauty. Cars like the Ferrari P4/5, the 330GTC, the Testarossa and the 410 Superamerica are classics, both modern and vintage, that shape our concept of what cars should look like. Now Pininfarina is introducing a new concept car, its first since the Maserati Birdcage 75th Concept (pictured) shown for the first time three years ago.

The Sintesi is a cutting-edge technology showcase. According to the project’s design director, the Sintesi “embraces innovative technologies that allow us to explore new typologies of mobility, active safety and packaging solutions.” While that may be something of a mouthful, it does intimate that the concept will be futuristic and unique, tracing the outline of what is to come over the next few decades of automotive design and development.

Sport and function are not lost in the high-tech fusion, however. The Sintesi is still a Pininfarina design, after all, and the passion and purity of vision that goes into every Pininfarina will show through in the Sintesi. The company has yet to favor the world with any pictures as yet, but hints at an upcoming online teaser campaign this January. The car will make its global debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March, 2008.

Source: Pininfarina Sintesi concept coming to Geneva

Bookmark it:

Continue reading...

To this day hybrid vehicles still don’t offer sufficient improvements in fuel-economy, performance and reliability to justify their cost over regular petrol and more efficient diesel powertrains, a factor that’s made Porsche execs more wary of launching petrol-electric versions of its own cars. While sister brands VW and Audi are pushing ahead with the launch of a new hybrid system co-developed between the three companies, Porsche will hold out until at least the end of the decade.

“Though there is still no decision on the planned introduction date of the hybrid version of our Cayenne SUV, I’m sure we’ll only introduce the new system with the start of the next SUV generation in 2010,” a Porsche manager told Automobilwoche. Audi, meanwhile, will launch a hybrid version of its Q7 early next year.

Porsche’s upcoming Panamera sedan, due in 2009, was also tipped to get a hybrid option but this too has been delayed. “We want to have time to analyze the experience with the Cayenne and, depending on what we find, launch the Panamera with hybrid drive then or perhaps as late as 2013,” the Porsche insider said.

According to another Porsche exec, the chances for hybrids in the US are not as great as originally thought. “The most optimistic forecast still only calls for a market share of 5%,” said Klaus Berning, Porsche’s head of distribution.

Source: Porsche skeptical about hybrids, delays ‘green’ Cayenne

Bookmark it:

Continue reading...

John Neff
Car Buying, Coupes, BMW

The 1-Series has officially joined BMW’s line up in the United States, having finally been added to the brand’s official website. Along with its place among the Ultimate Driving Machines online, the 1-Series also gets officially pricing, which turns out to be exactly what we thought it would be. The 135i will have an MSRP of $34,900 plus a $775 charge for delivery and all the whatnots involved with a purchasing a car. The 128i, meanwhile, will start at $28,600 and carry an identical $775 charge for destination and delivery.

The 128i is powered by BMW’s 3.0L inline-six producing 230 horsepower, while the top shelf 135i is motivated by the superlative twin-turbo 3.0L inline-six producing 300 HP. Both are, of course, rear-wheel drive, small, and relatively light weight at around 3,200 lbs. - the purest coupes from BMW we’ve seen in a while. We optioned up a 135i with everything and arrived at an MSRP of $48,995 (that’s it above - how you like the Cashmere Silver Metallic?). Frankly, that’s ridiculously expensive for a car this size, regardless of what wheels are being driven or the engine under the hood. Do you think they’re worth the high asking price? Answer in our poll below.

Thanks for the tip, Boris!

[Source: BMW]

Gallery: BMW 1-Series Coupe

Source: 1-Series on BMW website with official pricing

Bookmark it: