The Car of the Year prizes have been dominated by the Germans with many being awarded one of Autobild’s “Golden Steering Wheel” awards. The Porsche Panamera won the luxury car category, beating the BMW 7-Series and Mercedes S Class, while the medium to large sedan category was won by the Audi A5 Sportback, followed by the BMW 5-Series GT and the Mercedes E Class.

Among the compact class, a nice win for the new Opel Astra, beating the Skoda Yeti, which came in second ahead of the Renault Megane. In its sector, the Renault Scenic emerged ahead of the Toyota Verso and Peugeot 5008, and among the small cars the Volkswagen Polo won over the Citroen C3 and Hyundai i20. The Toyota Prius took out the ecological prize, followed by the Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion and the Mercedes S400 Hybrid.

The supercar category was dominated by the new Mercedes SLS AMG Gullwing, followed by the Audi R8 Spider and the Aston Martin One-77. The finalists for overall COTY are the Citroën C3 Picasso, Mercedes-Benz E-class, Opel Astra, Peugeot 3008, Skoda Yeti, Toyota iQ and Volkswagen Polo. Take your bets now…

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According to reports, the possible arrival of the Hyundai Genesis Coupe in Europe has not been wholly exluded from company plans. The new rear wheel drive had not initially been intended for the old continent, but favourable reports from the media and general market interest mean Hyundai is reconsidering.

The Genesis Coupe debuted last year and has been a huge success, particularly in North America where it has been voted Car of the Year for 2009. There’s no denying it’s a sexy little number, and Hyundai is no doubt doing its homework as to its reception in Europe.

While Hyundai may still have some hurdles to get over in terms of the reputation of the old model, it seems the new Genesis Coupe has wiped the slate clean and has been very convincing, at least elsewhere in the world.

Hyundai Genesis coupé

Source | Autoweek.nl

Continue reading: Hyundai Genesis Coupe coming to Europe?

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Below is a gallery of the official pics of the Hyundai models presented at the Geneva motor show, including the i20 three door, the i30 BlueDrive, which presents a new range of ecological vehicles, and the ix-sonic concept - a new sports SUV with European style.

The compact i20 three door is available with seven different engines, including the new 1.2 litre petrol from the Kappa series at 78hp, with fuel consumption at 5.2l/100km and CO2 emissions of 124g/km. The most economic engine is the 1.4 diesel at 75hp, with CO2 emissions at only 116g/km and fuel consumption at only 4.4l/100km on a mixed circuit.

The i30 BlueDrive is the first model from Hyundai’s future ecological range, characterised by technological solutions to reduce consumption such as the Idle Stop & Go (ISG). The range will soon expand to include a hybrid model, which will be presented in summer in Korea. Called the Elantra, it will be the first hybrid capable of combining an LPG fuel source with battery power.

Continue reading: New Hyundai BlueDrive range, hybrid and i20 compact

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After the initial spy shots of the Hyundai Tucson, here is another set of images released from Sondrio, Italy, with the Tucson in testing in Italy.

Our reader managed to get a shot of the Tucson interior, which seems pleasingly modern, while the vehicle actually really stands out for the heavy “camouflage”. Despite this, the Tucson seems to have a dynamic style that will bring it close to the crossover niche, as seen in its similarity to the Nissan Qashqai.

The engine range has been improved in terms of fuel consumption and emissions, and will include four-cylinder units only, both petrol and diesel, to eventually exclude the 2.7L, V6 petrol. The Tucson debut should take place at the end of 2009.

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The next generation Hyundai Tucson has been photographed for the first time during cold test driving, and despite the heavy camouflage, these first images show that the external design has undergone a revolution.

The engine range has also seen some serious updates, with four-cylinders only available in both petrol and diesel. Consumption and emissions have been improved, and the line will eventually abandon the old 2.7L V6 petrol. On the transmission side, manual options at both five and six gears will be available, in addition to an automatic version.

The new model hasn’t got a date set for its presentation, but we should see it around somewhere between the end of this year and the start of 2010.

Continue reading: Hyundai Tucson: spy shots of next gen

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The United Arab Emirates have released a decree that prohibits the sale of any vehicle older than ten years, and the circulation of those more than 20 years old. This is a strong position, motivated by the need to increase road safety and help the environment, with a hopeful side effect being the increased use of public transport.

A market statistic has revealed that inside two years, a third of the cars circulating on arab roads will be ten years old. In the seven nations that form the Arab Emirates, 1.85 million vehicles are on the road, with one of the highest car-population ratios in the world. While it’s only a niche market, we wonder what they’ll do with the supercars and luxury cars in time.

Source | Quattroruote

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China has just closed its doors to the Hyundai-Kia group, one of the strong players in the promising Chinese car market, declaring an import ban on cars from the South Korean company.

The stop to imports has occurred after an apparent violation of the Chinese antitrust norms, which appears to be linked to irregularities in the local sales network, according to Reuters reports.

It’s not the end of the world for Hyundai-Kia as of the 520,000 cars sold in China every year, only 50,000 are actually produced in Korea. The rest are assembled in China through joint ventures with local manufacturers. Photos from the Hyundai Geneis Coupe launch.

Continue reading: Hyundai-Kia import ban in China due to antitrust violation

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This brief, but dare we say eloquent, commercial has been created for the Korean launch of the Hyundai Genesis Coupè, the highly anticipated rear wheel drive. The Americans, keen to get their hands on this “low cost” sports car, are doing anything to get some information and details on coupè. In fact, theories were already flying around as to the cost of this car, which should also be seen on the UK market.

In Korea, where some performance equipment could be different compared to the models destined for exports, the Genesis is available with a two litre Turbo engine at 210hp, with a price ranging from 23,000 to 28,000 dollars, while the 3.8 litre, 303hp V6 will reach about 30,000. Even with some increase, this model could be very attractive, competing in the Asian sports market against the Nissan 350Z, and also against US models such as the Mustang, Challenger and Camaro.

Source | Autoblog.com (thanks to themozz for the tip)

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Hyundai will present an important model for the company at the Paris motor show in October. The i20, which will substitute the Getz and provide greater commercial reward, will be revealed.

The i20 is a five-door with a longer wheel base providing more space for rear passengers. Sales should start at the beginning of 2009 for this smartly designed, European car. The look was developed at Hyundai’s European Style Centre, located in Germany.

Which is why it has a touch of German character about it - we even think it has a hint of Opel Corsa in the bonnet and windscreen. In addition to the i20, Hyundai will also present its i20 i-blue concept, a concept dedicated to fuel efficiency and low emissions. We will also see the Santa Fe hybrid and the iX55 sports utility that was recently shown in Moscow.

Source | Autoblog.com

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