2012 Hyundai Accent Priced at $ 13,205.00

2012 Hyundai Accent

Base Price: $13,205.00

Powertrain: 138-hp, 123-lb-ft, normally aspirated, gasoline-direct-injection inline-four; FWD, six-speed manual and automatic transmissions

Curb Weight: 2,396-2,630 lb

Hyundai Accent features

The latest subcompact from Hyundai comes in sedan and five-door hatch forms and picks up the sculpted design language successfully promoted by its bigger Elantra and Sonata siblings. The fresh shapes are accompanied by new drivetrains consisting of all-aluminum "Gamma" 1.6-liter, direct-injection inline-fours with class-leading power and fuel-consumption claims, hooked to six-speed manual or automatic transmissions.

As usual with Hyundai, the model variants offer advantageous pricing strategies when compared with similarly equipped rivals and push the size and space envelope into the next EPA category, being classified as compacts rather than subcompacts from the standpoint of official definition. Also in keeping with this ambitious carmaker's aspirations are interior trappings significantly more upscale than those of the competition. If the domestic and Japanese manufacturers aren't already worried about Hyundai, this might be a good time to start.

How’s driving experience with Hyundai Accent?

With spacious driver's accommodations and good seats, the new Accent once again reminds us that good small cars are their own reward. Careful attention to sound insulation (including a special exterior-mirror gasket) provides a ride quieter than anyone has a right to expect from a subcompact. Similar engineering efforts in the body-structure-design arena lend a distinct sense of solidity without unwanted weight increase.

Boasting 138 hp and the broad torque spread brought about by variable valve timing on both cams, the Accent is a pretty sprightly performer. The only thing blunting its road-going verve is the electronic throttle control, which dilutes the kind of throttle response you find in Hondas. But it does allow the implementation of an eco-program that smoothes driver input to optimize fuel economy.

The electric steering assist has the expected magnetic on-center feel but retains decent weighting when the car is driven hard, and its path control is keen and intuitive. Both manual and automatic transmissions operate well, the latter offering manual override as well as hill-start control as a bonus not usually found on subcompact cars. With generous storage areas, a sliding-armrest console cover, premium audio options and a high level of interior trim, the new Accents bring serious ordnance to the subcompact war.

The subcompact class has a peculiar demographic spread. There are first-time buyers on one end and mature drivers wanting reasonable transportation for minimal outlay at the other. As someone nearer the latter condition than the former, one can see the appeal. With reasonable performance, good looks, decent appointments, frugal fuel consumption and a great warranty. This is another great experience with Hyundai Motors

 

 

 

Hyundai Motor workers disciplined for online Activities at work

An internal audit by Hyundai Motor Co. revealed that 97 workers have accessed Internet gambling sites at work, leading the company to discipline them for improper use of company computers, corporate officials said Sunday.

Facebook and Youtube access are also ban since March 2011.

The audit was launched in April after the company received a whistle-blower's tip that some employees on production lines were betting online with office computers while they were on the job, company officials said.

Thirty-five workers at Hyundai's plant in Asan, about 100 kilometers southwest of Seoul, were disciplined for accessing gambling sites, and another 62 workers at Hyundai's main plant in Ulsan will soon be punished, officials said.

"While the fact of cyber gambling was uncovered by an internal tip-off, the number of employees who gamble over the Internet at work appears to be higher (than reported figures)," a company official said on the condition of anonymity.

In particular, the audit found that 13 former and current union representatives were among the workers accused of accessing Internet gambling sites.

The audit comes as Hyundai Motor has been at loggerheads with its powerful union over its move to cut the number of its full-time union members under a new labor law that took effect last year.

Earlier this month, Hyundai Motor's Asan plant was forced to halt output for two days after unionized workers walked off the job after one of their colleagues committed suicide.

Police confirmed that the 49-year-old union representative, identified only by his surname Park, hanged himself in a bathroom of the plant, leaving a suicide note that blamed Hyundai's management for interrupting his duties as a union member.

 

Hyundai Heavy's 500-KW Tidal Prototype completed

Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's biggest shipbuilder and Korea's largest green energy provider, completed the site trial of a prototype 500 kW tidal current power system at Uldolmok Passage in Jeollanam-do, southwest Korea last June 10, 2011.

 Tidal current power is a form of hydropower that converts the kinetic energy of the tidal currents into electricity using turbines. This type of green energy is now in the spotlight thanks to its weather-proof and sustainable power generating capability.

Hyundai Heavy's prototype tidal current power system directly connects a tidal turbine, a gearbox, and a generator for power transmission.

The system can operate regardless of current direction using a specially designed turbine system. After completing factory and basin tests last year, the Company successfully produced target power generation from site trials this May.

Based on the data collected from the trials, Hyundai Heavy plans to pursue tidal current power farm projects by scaling up power generators. The Ulsan-based company is also part of the government-backed National Project for Developing MW-class Tidal Current Power Farm with other Korean companies. The project is due to be completed in 2014.

 

Hyundai Heavy Industries will bid to control back the Hyundai Hynix

Hyundai Heavy CEO Mong Joon CHUNG brother of Hyundai Motors CEO Mong Koo CHUNG plan to take control over Hynix Semiconductor the formerly part of the Hyundai group which span off in 1997 during the Asian economic downturn.  Hyundai Hynix creditors plan to approach investors this month to sell a stake in the South Korean chipmaker and could offer loans to potential bidders after failing to find a strategic buyer for 3 times.

Creditors rescued Hynix after it almost collapsed in 2001 under the weight of its debts. However, they have since struggled to find a local strategic buyer for Hynix, having excluded foreigners from the auction because of worries about sensitive technology information leaking outside of the country.

State-run Korea Finance, the chipmaker’s largest shareholder with a 5.5 per cent stake, said creditors aimed to sell their 20 per cent holdings, worth about Won3,120bn ($2.5bn) by current market value, by the end of this year.

Korea Finance said that to help overcome financing concerns, creditors would offer a credit line to a buyer to reduce their investment burden.

Creditors are eager to sell their remaining stake to recoup an original investment worth $4.6bn, as Hynix shares have gained 15 per cent this year after more than tripling in 2009 on rising chip prices.

Creditors have had tried three times in the past year to sell their stake in Hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker. But concerns about the huge investments required after acquiring the company are believed to have deterred potential buyers

The only company to have shown firm interest in buying Hynix was Hyosung, a mid-sized Korean conglomerate focused on fibre and chemicals. However, Hyosung dropped its bid for Hynix last year because of financing problems.

In March the creditor group offloaded a 6.7 per cent stake in Hynix for Won923.2bn through a block sale.

Creditors have said that if they cannot find a buyer for the rest of their stake by the end of this year, they plan to sell it to a private equity fund or in the market.

Hyundai’ Hynix recently announced a plan to raise its capital expenditure by a third to Won 3,050 billion this year to take advantage of a strong recovery in the global technology sector. It came after industry leader Samsung Electronics doubled its investment in semiconductors to Won11, 000 billion in an effort to cement its technology lead over rivals.

Unconnectedly, creditors are also looking to begin the sale this month of a stake in Hyundai Engineering & Construction, South Korea’s biggest builder. The Korea Finance-led group – which holds a controlling 38.6 per cent stake – aims to select a preferred bidder by as early as September.

Creditors took over Hyundai Engineering & Construction in the wake of the Asian financial crisis at the end of the 1990s. Korea Finance is the builder’s largest shareholder with an 11.2 per cent stake.

Shares in Hyundai Engineering have fallen more than 20 per cent so far this year due to the slump in the local construction industry.

Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world’s largest shipbuilder, is considering a bid for a controlling stake in Hynix Semiconductor worth about $2.8bn as creditors launch another attempt to sell the leading memory chipmaker

“We are looking at the sale with interest,” a Hyundai Heavy said, responding to market rumors that the shipbuilding giant would take over its former affiliate

Hyundai Heavy is looking to diversify their interests away from shipbuilding into electric power generation, but analysts say the deal could also reflect its desire to rebuild the family conglomerate, or chaebol. Hynix was formerly known as Hyundai Electronics.

Nine creditors-turned-shareholders, including Korea Exchange Bank, are planning to launch a sales process this month for a 15 per cent stake in Hynix, in their third attempt to find a strategic buyer in as many years.

The stake has a stock market valuation of $2.4bn but analysts estimate it is worth about $2.8bn because the rest of the shares are widely dispersed, giving the owner the chance to control the company.

Hyundai Heavy declined to comment on why it would be interested in Hynix but analysts said the shipbuilder apparently wants to rebuild parts of the former Hyundai family conglomerate, which had been split up in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis in 1997 or Hyundai Heavy is just planning to continue their diversification as Hyundai Motor Groups did after acquiring the Hyundai Engineering & Construction .

“Some say that Hyundai Heavy wants Hynix for its renewable business such as solar power but it seems a little far-fetched,” said Jae Lee at Daiwa Securities. “There seems to be no clear business link but the company may want to take back part of the former Hyundai empire, like in the case of Hyundai Engineering & Construction.”

Hyundai Motor Group, a former affiliate of Hyundai Heavy Industries, this year took over Hyundai Engineering & Construction Last April 2011.

 

 

Jung Soo-hyun - New President of Hyundai Engineering & Construction (HDEC)

Jung Soo-hyun – New President of the Hyundai Engineering & Construction (HDEC)

Hyundai Motor Group named Hyundai Amco president Jung Soo-hyun to lead the Hyundai Engineering and Construction (HDEC).

Just last week Mr. Joong Kyum Kim president of Hyundai Engineering & Construction (HDEC) filed his resignation after few year of service to the Korea’s largest builder.

The Hyundai Motor Group acquired Hyundai Engineering & Construction, the nation’s top builder last April 2011. Hyundai Amco is the construction affiliate of the Hyundai Motor Group.

The 59 year old new president is also a veteran who has worked in the construction industry for more than 30 years since he graduated from Seoul National University. He took charge of Hyundai Amco earlier this year.

The Hyundai Motor Group also promoted Sohn Hyo-won, vice president of Hyundai Engineering & Construction, to lead the Hyundai Amco.

Cars of Hyundai Motors and Kia Motors take 10% of U.S. market

Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. saw their U.S. market share exceed 10 percent for the first time in May, mainly thanks to robust demand for new models.

The automakers under the wing of Hyundai Motor Group sold 107,426 vehicles in the United States last month, up 21 percent from a year earlier.

They captured 10.1 percent of the American market, where the total sales of global automakers came to about 1.06 million units.

Kia Motors sold 48,212 units, posting a growth rate of 53.4 percent. Hyundai Motor posted 21 percent in yearly growth with sales of 59,214 vehicles.

“We had brisk sales in overseas markets including the U.S.,” a Hyundai company spokesman said. “By strengthening power as a global enterprise, we will continue to achieve the sales goal.”

The Genesis sedan’s sustained growth trajectory continued with May representing the 23rd consecutive month of year-on-year sales increases for Hyundai’s premium car.

The Equus sedan continued its strong launch, with sales and market share exceeding targeted levels.

While Hyundai sales were strong in all states of the U.S., California was the brightest spot, with sales up 95 percent for the first five months, compared to 2010.

But performance was below predictions from research centers that the Korean automotive group would grab third place in the sales rankings in May.

U.S. auto giant General Motors topped the list with sales of 221,192 units, followed by Ford Motor with 191,529, Chrysler with 115,363 and Japan’s Toyota Motor with 108,387.

“While we’ve still got a lot of work to do, we’re getting good responses to our consumer-driven Hyundai recipe ― assurance programs like Trade-In Value Guarantee and America’s Best Warranty, industry-leading fuel economy, and the freshest designs in the industry,” Hyundai Motor America’s president and CEO John Krafcik was quoted by a foreign news agency as saying.

During the first quarter of the year, Hyundai Motor Group’s share of the U.S. market for midsized sedans rose to a record high, industry data showed.

Meanwhile, according to industry data, 66,554 units of Hyundai Motor’s Sonata and Kia Motors’ K5, known as the Optima in overseas markets, were sold in the U.S. during the first three months of the year, giving the companies a combined midsized sedan market share of 15.1 percent.

In terms of units sold, Hyundai Motor Group’s first quarter midsized sedan sales increased 62.3 percent compared to the 41,013 units ― the Sonata and the previous Optima which was marketed as the Lotze in Korea ― sold during the same period last year.