Hyundai HDC8 Concept Car

Hyundai unveiled the concept vehicle from the Hyundai Kia Design and Technical Center for 2004, the stylish and functional HCD8 sports tourer. The HDC8 is the newest concept vehicle from the Hyundai Kia Design and Technical Center Design studio and is the first concept vehicle to come from Hyundai’s new $30 million Design and Technical Center in Irvine, Calif.

Highlighting the exciting design elements is the Ballistic Yellow tri-color paint from Nippon. The body color is complemented with anthracite color ground effects trim and road wheels. The exterior trim is polished nickel. The interior is finished with two-tone Vapor Gray leather seating surfaces accented by wood flooring and wood and aluminum accented steering wheel rim and shift lever knob. The aluminum trim is accented with a nickel finish.

The HCD8 with its supercharged 2.7-liter V6 engine, 6-speed manual transaxle and tuned dual exhaust provides performance to match its styling. For real world driving, the driver can adjust the ride height a total of four inches through the air suspension. The vehicle can sit low for high-speed touring or can be raised to handle inclement weather, avoid parking wheel stops, handle a car wash or any other situation where additional ground clearance is needed.

The HCD8 also features state-of-art lighting. The LPI-supplied optics use Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology from Osram Opto Semiconductor to illustrate how future automotive lighting systems will work. The LED lights burn brighter, and are more energy efficient than current lighting systems. In addition, they are expected to last for the life of the vehicle. Unlike incandescent bulbs, LED lighting performance does not deteriorate during its life.

Hyundai Scores Early With Cash for Clunkers

Hyundai became the first automaker to honor the government's Cash for Clunkers program-officially called Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) — even though program rules were just released on Friday morning. At that same time, dealers began to sign up to administer the vouchers, which range from $3,500 to $4,500.

Even though processing for the vouchers does not begin until Monday, Hyundai began honoring the CARS incentives on July 2, by backing dealerships with short-term cash advances as the rules were being written for the program. Since then, the Cash for Clunker trades have accounted for about 11 percent of Hyundai's sales so far this month, the company said.

The Hyundai Elantra was the most popular model purchased under the new CARS program, making up nearly 33 percent of sales. With manufacturer incentives and a full CARS rebate for a qualifying "clunker," consumers can purchase a new Elantra for as little as $8,620, Hyundai noted.

Behind Elantra, the Hyundai Sonata was the next most popular at 27 percent of clunker trade-ins, followed by the Accent at 19 percent.

Hyundai Motor America said its early statistics on Cash for Clunker trades show an average 59-percent fuel economy gain between the clunker and the new vehicle purchased.

Hyundai reports that 86 percent of the initial trades taken were a truck, SUV or van, and those trade-ins were replaced with a car. The average age of a trade-in model was nearly 14 years old; the average odometer reading was more than 140,000 miles. The average "clunker" achieves about 16 miles per gallon according to EPA data, while the average new car sold under the program achieves more than 25 mpg.

Hyundai's data shows 32 percent of the trade-in models reported by dealerships were Ford vehicles, followed by Dodge at 23 percent.

In addition to being credited for the government's clunker voucher, Hyundai buyers are covered by Hyundai Assurance, which allows buyers to return the vehicle if they lose their income and the Hyundai Assurance Gas Lock program, which offers a year's worth of gas at a guaranteed price of $1.49 per gallon.

The Cash for Clunkers program received $1 billion from Congress in funding and runs through November, or whenever the money runs out. Some buzz in Washington has the program being expanded with more funding beyond that point.

Hyundai: Veloster new star in Hyundai universe

Hyundai's new three-door is aimed at the younger

Hyundai has announced that its three-door Veloster will be re-engineered to suit both right- and left-drive markets, despite the enormous additional cost required. The coupe has three hinged doors, but the third will now open to the pavement in every market - unlike the Mini Clubman, in which the extra door opens to the traffic in right-drive vehicles.

Veloster - which replaces Hyundai's aged coupe - is a two-plus-two car that will share parts of the front-drive i30 platform. It will be powered by a range of four-cylinder engines from 1.6 to 2.0litres in capacity, and the 1.6 turbo with stop-start from Hyundai's ix-onic concept is also under consideration. Hyundai NZ says the car will also get the 156kW 2.0-turbo from the Genesis coupe.

Veloster's focus will be very similar to VW's Scirocco - a hatch with cutting-edge looks and a sporting flavour to its everyday abilities.

The car - named from a combo of "velocity" and "roadster" - aims to impart a younger flavour to the brand. The concept variant first appeared in 2007, with the production car expected at September's Frankfurt Motor Show.