Hyundai and Kia Target 7 Million Sales in 2012

Despite the global economic crisis, Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia have seen a rapid rise in global sales, thanks in part to their value for money offerings but also a new range of models.

As a result of the new sales records and increased demand, the two carmakers that currently form the world's fifth largest automotive group, increased the shifts in some of their plants and reevaluated their 2011 overall target to 6.6 million, up from 6.33 million units in the beginning of the year.

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Kia Prices 2012 Rio Sedan from $14,150*, $200 Lower than the Hatchback

About a month after announcing pricing for the new 2012 Rio five-door hatchback, Kia today released prices for its four-door sedan sibling that starts from $13,400 or *$14,150 if you include a $750 destination and handling fee, for the base model with a manual gearbox. That's $200 less than the equivalent 5-door variant.

If you prefer to not to change gears manually, the automatic transmission version of the base Rio sedan begins at $15,250.

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Kia Sets New U.S. Sales Record, Wants to Focus on Dealer Network Next Year

Among the many “rag to riches” tales that took place in the business world this past decade, is the meteoric rise of the Korean carmakers.

In 2010, Kia sold 356,268 vehicles in the U.S. By September 2011, it had already surpassed that number having made 367,405 deliveries. This marks an increase of 37% compared to the same period last year, and it also means that 2011 will be a record-setting year for the Korean carmaker.

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NBA Star Blake Griffin Returns for New Kia Optima Slam Dunk TV Spot

Los Angeles Clippers forward and 2010-11 NBA Rookie of the Year Blake Griffin made headlines at February's NBA Slam Dunk Contest when he leaped over a parked Kia Optima and performed an impressive slam-dunk after an alley-oop pass through the car's open sunroof from Baron Davis.

Apparently, Kia was equally impressed as the South Korean automaker signed up the 22-year old player for a new commercial staring – what else- the latest Optima sedan.

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Kia Moves Production of Venga from the Czech Republic to Slovakia

South Korean car manufacturer Kia Motors said on Thursday that it has begun assembly of the Venga small MPV at its factory in the city of Zilina in Slovakia, which also builds the Cee'd family of C-segment models and the Sportage SUV.

Up until now, Kia produced the B-segment MPV at sister company's Hyundai Motor other European plant in the Czech Republic.

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Hyundai Announces New 1.6-liter Turbo Gasoline and Euro6 2.0 Diesel Engines

They have been a long time in the making but the Hyundai Motor Group finally presented its highly anticipated Gamma 1.6 T-GDI petrol and Euro6 R-2.0 diesel engines today.

The presentation was made during ‘The 11thHyundai-Kia International Powertrain Conference’ that takes place on October 19 and 20 at the Rolling Hills Hotel, located near the Hyundai-Kia Motors R&D Center in Korea.

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Red Light Sinner Repents: You have to Watch this Video…

Dear Carscoop readers, we would appreciate your input with this one. Please watch the video after the break and tell us what the heck could be going on in the head of the person behind the steering wheel of this silver Kia Rio sedan.

Agreed; we've all seen drivers run a red light either by mistake or because they don't give a damn about the own or other drivers' safety. But seriously, have you ever seen someone do anything like this? The only thing missing from the clip is the Benny Hill background music...

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Kia's Facelifted 2012 Soul Lands in Britain

The refreshed for the 2012 model year Kia Soul is on sale in the UK with on-the-road prices ranging from £12,495 for the basic petrol model to the £17,795 for the fully equipped diesel variant.

The most important change for the 2012 Soul is the presentation of a new 1.6-liter petrol engine and a revised version of the 1.6-liter turbo diesel, both hooked up to a six-speed manual gearbox that replaces the previous five-speed unit. Furthermore, the diesel model is optionally available with a new 6sp auto in place of the former 4sp transmission.

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Bob Lutz Says General Motors, Volkswagen and Hyundai are the World's New Big Three

It's fall again, time for Bob Lutz to make headlines. Less than a month after "Maximum Bob" made his official comeback to General Motors as a consultant, the semi-retired car executive and onetime Marine pilot gave an in-depth interview to German monthly Manager Magazin.

Lutz was questioned about a variety of subjects that mainly concentrated on Opel and its relationship with General Motors, but he was also asked about the future of the industry in general, and whom he sees as being the major players.

According to Captain Lutz, the new big three in the automotive industry are General Motors, the Volkswagen Group and –wait for it- the Hyundai Group. And what about Toyota and the rest of the Japanese carmakers like Honda? According to the GM exec, Japanese automakers have lost it… Follow the jump for his (translated) response as well as the original Q&A.

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Kia will Focus on Quality, not Quantity says co-CEO

Kia Motors does not intend to build new plants despite increased worldwide demand for its products, the automaker’s co-CEO, Lee Sam-ung told Autonews in a recent presentation. The Korean company will instead focus its efforts on quality.

“Quantitative growth is important, but qualitative growth is also important. We plan to focus on improving product quality and our brand," Sam-ung said at the launch of the new Rio.

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Report: Hyundai Will Offer 10-Speed Auto Gearbox from 2014

Can you count to 10? Well done, so does Hyundai, and in particular the Korean company’s engineering team responsible for car transmissions. According to a Bloomberg News report, Hyundai Motor Group president Park Seong Hyon said that 10-speed automatic transmissions will become available in the group’s luxury models from 2014.

Only a few years ago, six-speed automatic gearboxes were available only in top-of-the-line cars. Then the gear count started to increase gradually: first at seven, which seemed like a novelty, and quite recently at eight, which most luxury carmakers rushed to adopt.

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All-New 2012 Kia Rio 5-Door Hatch Priced from $14,350* in the U.S.

Unveiled earlier this year alongside its four-door sedan counterpart at the 2011 New York International Auto Show, the all-new 2012 Kia Rio 5-door hatchback launches in the States with a starting price of $13,600 for the manual gearbox model, not including a $750 destination and handling fee (*total $14,350).

If you prefer an automatic transmission, the starting price is $15,450, while the range-topping SX trim will set you back $18,750, with all prices including the $750 destination fee.

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Kia to Add Third Shift at Slovak and US Plants Due to High Demand

To keep up with rising demand for Kia models in Europe, the South Korean has decided to introduce a third shift at its Zilina plant in Slovakia and hire another 1,000 new employees. The company expects the recruitment process to be completed by December and have the three-shifts operational in the first quarter of 2012. Read more »

IAA 2011: Kia's RWD GT Concept Hints at Production Version [Updated Gallery]

The all-new Kia GT Concept that will made its world premiere at the 64th IAA is the South Korean company's first ever attempt to create a rear-wheel drive model. It is also the most powerful thanks to a 3.3-liter turbocharged V6 engine that delivers an output of 390HP and 534 Nm (393.8 lb-ft) of torque that are sent to the rear wheels via an 8-speed automatic gearbox.

Even though development of the concept began less than a year ago, in November 2010, Kia’s European design team has been considering a rear-wheel drive car for quite some time.

The South Korean manufacture's chief designer Peter Schreyer explains: “This concept allows us to explore exciting new design directions, as using a rear-wheel drive layout creates very different proportions compared to a front-wheel drive car".

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IAA 2011: Kia Enhances Rio's Presence in Europe with New Three-door Version

Although five-door versions of most B-segment cars are more popular in most markets, in order to satisfy those customers that don’t need the practicality of the two extra doors and prefer a more dynamic look, Kia launched a three-door version of its new Rio at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show. Read more »

We Hear: New Kia GT Concept gets V6 Turbo Engine, May Inspire a Production Model

Continuing our flow of stories from the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show, we now have some fresh news on the Kia GT sports saloon concept, new pictures of which we showed yesterday.

The South Korean maker had told us the GT will feature a traditional layout with the engine mounted up front and power being delivered to the rear wheels, however, we knew nothing about the motor lurking under the hood. Up until now, that is.

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New Photos of Kia's RWD GT Sports Sedan Concept

Apparently, the release of the first official batch of photos of Kia's Frankfurt Motor Show-bound concept car couldn't keep the floodgates from opening as today, a fresh group of pictures were posted online.

Aside from providing us with a better view of the exterior and a first look at the interior design, the new images also reveal that Kia's so-called four-door coupe concept is aptly named GT.

While Kia is keeping most details under cover, the South Korean car manufacturer has disclosed that the concept sports a front engine, rear-wheel drive layout.

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Kia's Hamsters Are Back to "Share Some Soul" in New Ad

Kia's groovy Hamsters are back with a new commercial to promote the cosmetically refreshed and mechanically upgraded 2012 Kia Soul which goes on sale with prices starting from $14,650 after a $750 destination and handling fee.

The commercial is set in a dark, futuristic videogame world in which the South Korean firm's rodents turn the battle between alien robots and humanoids into a dancing party under the sounds of electro-pop group LMFAO's summer hit, "Party Rock Anthem".

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Kia Clarifies that All UK Market Picantos have ESC as Standard

After Euro NCAP released yesterday the results of its latest round of crash tests, the Kia Picanto was the only one out of the 10 cars tested that was awarded four, and not five, stars. The reason being that the electronic stability control system (ESC) was not standard across its range, as the Euro NCAP tests mandate.

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The Truth About the Relationship Between Hyundai and Kia

Hyundai and Kia have a strange, symbiotic relationship. They share factories, parts as well as engineering knowhow and product testing duties. And yet they remain separate entities with their own marketing, distribution and styling departments.

Michael Sprague, Kia’s VP for marketing and communication describes their relationships to the New York Times likes this:

“Kia Motors America operates as a completely separate sales, marketing and distribution organization in the United States. [Hyundai and Kia share engineering efficiencies] similar in many ways to other global automakers.”

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