Hyundai won three out of the eleven “Best New” categories when announced in October 2011. All “Best New” category winners are eligible to compete for the overall crown of either the “Canadian Car of the Year” or the “Canadian Utility Vehicle of the Year”. The Hyundai Elantra was also the winner in the “Best New Small Car over $21,000″ class.

Consumers will have a chance to win a four-year lease of the 2012 Canadian Car of the Year thanks to a “Drive to Win” contest launched today by the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA). The “Drive to Win” contest will run from February 16th to April 30th, 2012. Canadians can register on-site at the Canadian International Auto Show at the Eco-Drive Showcase presented by CAA South Central Ontario or online through the contest portal, www.caadrivetowin.ca.

CAA and AJAC announced a partnership exactly one year ago at the 2011 Auto Show. The two associations joined forces with the goal of working together to provide Canadian consumers with better access to factual, ethical and honest information on automotive topics that matter to them.
“CAA’s proud to partner with AJAC on the Canadian Car of the Year Awards program through the Drive to Win contest,” said Jeff Walker, CAA vice-president of public affairs. “The Canadian Car of the Year program is a great source of accurate, comparative information on vehicles that are new to the market and we are pleased to be drawing additional attention to this valuable initiative.”

Other highlights of the Hyundai Elantra Coupe include a voice-controlled multimedia navigation system featuring a 7-inch high-resolution touch screen, rear-view camera, iPod/USB/AUX capability and headliner-mounted microphone for voice activation, Bluetooth audio support and hands-free phone system with voice recognition, smart-key entry with electronic push-button start, Vehicle Stability Management featuring electronic stability control, traction control system, ABS with brake assist and EBD, auto-defogger, clean-air ionizer, multitude of airbags and so on.

The Elantra Coupe will go on sale in the US market by the middle of this year. We do have hopes of our local dealers in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and rest of GCC, rolling in the Elantra Coupe with barely half the features and just one airbag, later this year.

“Elantra GT is a fun-to-drive, functional, five-door compact hatchback,” said Mike O’Brien, vice president of product and corporate planning at Hyundai Motor America.

Hyundai thinks the 2013 Elantra GT can beat rivals such as Ford Focus, Mazda3 and Volkswagen Golf by offering more room inside, better mileage (28 miles per gallon city, 38 highway) and more pep.

The car has a 1.8-liter, 148 horsepower, four-cylinder engine with a six-speed automatic or manual. The car has more high-strength steel for a stiffer body than the Elantra Touring it replaces.

Redone GMC Acadia more SUV-like

General Motors’ GMC signaled a new direction in the crucial large crossover segment, unveiling a 2013 GMC Acadia with an all-new exterior designed to look more like a traditional SUV. It’s also one of the first GM vehicles to get a center air bag between the front seats.

The eight-seater’s redesign includes a new grille and more LED lighting, and Dave Lyon, GMC and Buick’s chief designer, wasn’t shy about pointing out the obvious: Acadia is going for the SUV look, thinking that buyers will perceive it as adding more utility. Buick will keep the sleeker look in its full-size Enclave crossover.

“With an award-winning combination of space, capability and fuel-efficiency, Acadia epitomizes GMC’s ‘never say never’ attitude,” Tony DiSalle, U.S. vice president of GMC marketing, said in a statement. “For 2013, our engineers and designers applied that same attitude to developing the new Acadia.”

Ford revs up 155 mph Mustang droptop

Just what America needs: a 155-miles-per-hour convertible. And it’s a Ford Mustang, not an Italian exotic, meaning it should cost a whole lot less than $100,000 when priced — and have a back seat.

Ford saved the Shelby GT500 reveal for the Chicago show because it was here 20 years ago that it unveiled the SVT Mustang Cobra. Instead of that car’s 235-horsepower engine, the new one will offer an amazing 650 horses. That’s where the 155 mph track time came in. A coupe version was introduced in November at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

“The Shelby GT500 convertible is every bit the performer that the coupe is,” said Kerry Baldori, SVT global performance vehicles chief engineer. “All of the significant changes we made in the program were instrumental in delivering a convertible that could really shine on the track but can still be driven on a daily basis.” SVT (Special Vehicles Team) is Ford’s performance unit.

Mazda dresses up MX-5 roadster

For the Chicago show, Mazda gave Midwesterners a taste of spring with a fun roadster: the MX-5 Miata Special Edition.

And instead of the old ragtop you may remember for the Miata, this time it’s a power retractable hardtop available in a second color for the first time.

To dress it up even more, there are two new exterior colors, 17-inch black alloy wheels, black exterior accents, black heated leather seats and piano black interior finishes.

Mazda says the MX-5 Miata is the world’s best-selling two-seat roadster. More than 900,000 have been produced since Miata made its global debut at the Chicago show in 1989.

Toyota adds 400 U.S. jobs

Toyota will invest $400 million and add 400 jobs at its plant in Princeton, Ind., to build hybrids in the U.S., starting with the Highlander crossover, Yoshimi Inaba, president of Toyota Motor North America, announced in a speech here at the Economic Club of Chicago as part of the auto show.

Beetle diesel unveiled

Volkswagen, already the diesel champ in the U.S., is adding a diesel variant of the Beetle. The 2013 model was unveiled at the show — though the TDI (VW’s term for diesel) Beetle looks about the same as the gasoline model — and is due on sale in August.

Price isn’t set yet, but other Volkswagen diesels run roughly $1,500 more than similar gasoline models. It’ll be the first diesel Beetle since the 2006 model. VW also offers diesels in its Golf, Jetta and Passat models.

About 20% of all Volkswagens sold in the United States have diesel engines.

VW forecasts a fuel economy rating of 29 mpg in town, 39 mpg on the highway. Look for some sniping by automakers who sell gasoline cars rated higher than that.

The Beetle TDI — which stands for, approximately, “turbocharged direct injection” — will be available with a six-speed manual or a dual-clutch DSG transmission.

Hatchbacks were basically dead in America until the last couple of years, when they’ve starting catching on again in smaller models. Hyundai officials point to the Toyota Prius, and its more than 100,000 sales a year, as proof that a hatchback can catch on.

“Elantra GT is a fun-to-drive, functional, five-door compact hatchback,” said Mike O’Brien, vice president, Product and Corporate Planning, Hyundai Motor America. “Elantra GT is the latest example of how Hyundai is redefining the compact car and setting new standards in automotive design, efficiency and functionality.”

Hyundai thinks the 2013 Elantra GT will be better than competitors such as Ford Focus, Mazda3 and Volkswagen Golf by offering more room inside, 28 miles per gallon in the city/38 mpg on the highway and more pep.

The car will have a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine with a six-speed automatic or manual. The engine develops 148 horsepower. The car has more high-strength steel for a stiffer body than the Elantra Touring it replaces.

BY THE NUMBERS: The Korean automaker sold 42,694 vehicles in January, up from 37,214 in the same month of 2011. Hyundai said it was a sales record for January.

TOP SELLER: Sonata midsize sedan at 14,489, up 9 percent.

HOT MODELS: In addition to the Sonata, the new Veloster coupe was hot. The company sold 1,693 Velosters as it carved out a new market. Also, the Elantra compact car was a big seller at 10,900, up nearly 13 percent.

Hyundai Motor Co. said Wednesday that its U.S. sales rose nearly 15 percent in January, driven by the Sonata midsize sedan and Elantra compact.

BY THE NUMBERS: The Korean automaker sold 42,694 vehicles in January, up from 37,214 in the same month of 2011. Hyundai said it was a sales record for January.

TOP SELLER: Sonata midsize sedan at 14,489, up 9 percent.

HOT MODELS: In addition to the Sonata, the new Veloster coupe was hot. The company sold 1,693 Velosters as it carved out a new market. Also, the Elantra compact car was a big seller at 10,900, up nearly 13 percent.

Winterkorn’s praising a small hatchback that starts at €15,490 ($19,990) in Germany—10 percent less than VW’s best-selling Golf—says a lot about the aggressiveness of Hyundai’s strategy. The Seoul-based company has made its name selling quality cars that are priced less than the competition. Hyundai has used that combination successfully in the U.S., where it and Kia Motors, the sister brand it has controlled since 1998, have leapt to the No. 2 spot among foreign carmakers. In the U.S. last year, Hyundai and Kia sold 1.13 million vehicles—more than triple Volkswagen’s 324,401.

Now the carmaker is targeting Europe just as the region’s debt crisis is making consumers more cost-conscious. Over the past five years, Hyundai has opened and expanded plants on the Continent, tailored its product line to match European tastes, and reached out to European buyers by sponsoring the World Cup and enlisting German soccer icon Jürgen Klinsmann as a brand ambassador. “It’s very important for Hyundai to be successful” in Europe, says Allan Rushforth, Hyundai’s chief operating officer for the region. “Europe is a top priority because it affects how the company is perceived elsewhere.”

Hyundai’s mix of value, reliability, and longer-than-average new-car warranties has helped it more than double global deliveries since 2004, beating VW’s 60 percent growth, according to researcher IHS Automotive (IHS). Hyundai and Kia increased their total European market share last year to 5.1 percent from 4.5 percent, putting them ahead of Toyota Motor (TM), Daimler’s (DAI:GR) Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo, and making the Korean brands bigger in the region than the combined share of Honda Motor (HMC), Mazda Motor, Mitsubishi Motors, and Suzuki Motor, which together controlled just 4.2 percent of the European car market. Volkswagen dominates the region with a 23.3 percent share, including 12.4 percent for the VW brand.

Prices will start at £14,495 on-the-road for the entry level Classic model and this will come with insurance ratings from Group 7E, making it one of the most cost-effective C-segment cars to own and run.

The launch of the car comes on the back of the popularity of its predecessor which was launched back in 2007. The new generation i30 will bring with it a new level of style, interior quality and technology. It will be available in four main trim levels, including Classic, Active, Style and Style Nav.

Customers will also be able to choose between petrol or diesel engines. This will include Hyundai’s latest efficient 1.6-litre diesel unit that emits less than 100g/km of carbon dioxide.

New features include voice-activated Bluetooth, LED daytime running lights, multi-function steering wheel, electrically adjustable and heated door mirrors and one-touch indicators.

But Hyundai is not the only car manufacturer to be making progress. The first of Kia’s new global standard Red Cube showrooms has opened in Arnold Clark Northwich in Cheshire, featuring bright red cladding and distinctive architecture. The Red Cube concept has been created to deliver a visual representation of Kia’s “design-focused brand strategy”.

Simon Hetherington, dealer development director at Kia Motors UK, says: “The Red Cube gives us real stand out at new build and landmark sites and I would expect another five or six such showrooms in the UK over the course of the next year.”

The South Korean group continues to inject its brands with foreign designer and the latest one to join the brand is BMW’s Christopher Chapman who was appointed as the Chief Designer for the Hyundai Design Center in Irvine, California. Chapman will be directly responsible for new vehicle and concept design.

“With over 22 years of experience in the industry working on esteemed automotive brands, Chris provides a level of talent that will help further our design portfolio,” said SukGeun Oh, Head of Design, Senior Executive Vice President Hyundai Design Center. “We are thrilled to have Christopher Chapman as chief designer for Hyundai and look forward to continuing the strong momentum of our vehicle designs.”

Chapman began his career in 1989 at the Isuzu Technical Center of Americas in California. His XU-1 model won the Best Concept car at the 1993 Tokyo Motor Show. The following year Chapman joined the BMW Designworks studion in California. His first design to emerge as a production vehicle was the game changer X5 Sports Activity Vehicle, a car that took the BMW brand into new segments. Chapman also designed the X Coupe Concept. Next, Chapman penned the BMW CS1, the base of the current 1 Series Convertible. Chapman is also credited with the first-generation BMW 1 Series hatchback, known internally as the E87, which wasn’t sold in the United States.

In 2002, Chapman becomes the Director of Automotive Design at DesignworksUSA. He has been in charge of recent models like the Z4 sports car and the redesigned X3 crossover. More recently, he has been head of the transportation department at DesignworksUSA, which also serves clients in areas outside the car industry, since 2008. The department designs aircraft interiors, yachts and metro trains, among other projects.

“Christopher Chapman is an outstanding addition to the design team at HATCI,” said John Krafcik, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America. “We are proud to add such a talented individual to lead the team of dedicated designers at HATCI that will continue to develop innovative vehicles for both the United States and global auto markets.”

“With over 22 years of experience in the industry working on esteemed automotive brands, Chris provides a level of talent that will help further our design portfolio,” said SukGeun Oh, Head of Design, Senior Executive Vice President Hyundai Design Center, in a press release. “We are thrilled to have Christopher Chapman as chief designer for Hyundai and look forward to continuing the strong momentum of our vehicle designs.”

After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Transportation Design from Art Center College of Design, Chapman began his career at the Isuzu Technical Center of America in California in 1989. He designed the Isuzu XU-1 concept car and won Best Concept at the 1993 Tokyo Motor Show.

He joined the BMW DesignworksUSA in 1994. Chapman is responsible for the design of such projects as the bodies of the X5 Sport Activity Vehicle and X Coupe concept car. He spent two years in Munich, Germany where he designed the CS1 concept for the 2002 Geneva Auto Salon. Next he designed the production 1 series Coupe.

Chapman was appointed BMW’s Director of Automotive Design in 2002. He is responsible for many concept and production vehicles including the new X5, X3, Z4, and 1-series E87. In 2008, he began directing the Transportation Design Department.

“Christopher Chapman is an outstanding addition to the design team at HATCI (Hyundai America Technical Center, Inc.),” said John Krafcik, president and chief executive officer, Hyundai Motor America, in a press release. “We are proud to add such a talented individual to lead the team of dedicated designers at HATCI that will continue to develop innovative vehicles for both the United States and global auto markets.”