Hyundai is definitely making a lot of noise lately in the industry, and this might be their biggest boast yet. Today, they announced that Christopher Chapman has been named chief designer of the Hyundai Design Center located in Irvine, California. Chapman, who was BMW’s Design Director will be responsible for new vehicle and concept designs for Hyundai.

Chapman began his career in 1989, joining Isuzu Technical Center of America and was the designer for the exterior of the XU-1 show car which won Best Concept back in 1993 at the Tokyo Motor Show. From there, he joined the BMW Group at DesignworksUSA in 1994 where he worked on a variety of projects and vehicles including the X5 Sport Activity Vehicle and X Coupe concept car. Chapman and his family also spent two years in Munich, Germany in order to soak in the BMW culture and subsequently, the European one as well. From there he designed the CS1 concept and the 1-Series production Coupe and its variants.

“Christopher Chapman is an outstanding addition to the design team at HATCI,” said John Krafcik, president and chief executive officer, 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.”

Culturally diverse and clearly well-rounded, Chapman has worked for both a Japanese and German automotive manufacturer and now joins the ranks of a headlining Korean one. It will definitely be interesting to see his designs infused with Hyundai’s DNA.

With the companies current shift towards inspired design, Kia motors will produce the GT concept which was first shown at the Frankfurt auto show in 2011. The GT’s slick design is clearly aimed at competing with European luxury brands such as Audi.

Kia is saying that the introduction of the GT will not be a one off model but will be followed possibly by a two-door coupe and even a station wagon thus adding a new family of vehicles to the already growing brands ranks. The GT shown at the Frankfurt show was presented with a 390 horsepower turbocharged V6 which seems like part of the ploy to convert a few Audi and BMW owners over to the Korean brand. Kia wants to present the GT as a cheaper alternative to those interested in buying a luxury car at a cheaper than luxury price.

Peter Schreyer, Chief designer for Kia has even hinted that he would like to design a budget sports car for the brand that would compete with the Mazda MX-5. Although the general direction of the company as of late would suggest that this could be a reality, there is nothing concrete to say that it is.

[Source: InsideLine]

MINI‘s hopes for capturing the 2012 World Championship Rally title took a big blow before the effort even started. Mini has missed the deadline for signing up for next years championship, which expired at midnight, last night.

The Mini rally car, which is based on the Countryman model is prepared by Prodrive in Banbury, U.K. Now Prodrive, Mini and its parent company BMW are in talks with the FIA to seek an extension to the deadline.

The driver’s for the Mini WRC; Kris Meeke and Dani Sordo made no comment on this situation, but sources say that the team has a strong desire to compete in the WRC 2012 season.

Despite the setback, Mini is expected to make a return to the Monte Carlo Rally next year, an event that made the Mini a legend back in the 1960′s.

Will the FIA grant Mini the extension it needs? We’ll keep you posted on any developments.

[Source: Autosport]

GM has revealed a new Touring Package for the Cadillac CTS, designed to give the standard CTS a bit of its bigger brother CTS-V’s styling. The touring package will include HID headlights, sport-tuned suspension, spoiler for the taillight, 18- or 19-inch wheels, and interior accessories.

Two packages are available, one for the 3.0L V6 found in the CTS sedan and wagon, and another for the 3.6L V6 that’s found in the CTS coupe and optional on other models. The 3.0L V6-equipped CTS will get 18-inch wheels, dual exhaust tips, darkened front grille on the outside while the interior receives suede trim on the seats, steering wheel and shifter, dark wood trim, and metal sport pedals. The 3.0L V6 package is priced at $2,065.

The 3.6L V6 package includes the previously mentioned parts but upgrades them with 19-inch wheels and Recaro bucket seats. That package runs $2,810.

GALLERY: Cadillac CTS Touring Package

To make room for expanding model research and development on the home front, Toyota Motor Corp has appointed its European division to lead global product planning for small cars.

Vested with this major responsibility, extensive reorganization in Toyota Europe’s sales and marketing operations were put to effect in hopes to best approach the new mission. According to Toyota Motor Europe CEO Didier Leroy, “It is essential to bring focus to this mission and the product planning division will play a key role in this integrated strategy, together with our designers.”

Alain Uyttenhoven, head of product planning and marketing, will shift his responsibilities to focus on product planning specifically and will be in charge of overseeing the global potential of the future Aygo minicar, Yaris/Vitz subcompact, as well as the Auris/Corolla compact.

Taking Uyttenhoven’s old marketing duties is Daniele Schillaci of Toyota-France. Schillaci’s new role as Toyota’s general manager of sales and marketing, according to Didier Leroy, will allow Toyota, “… to respond in the fastest and most efficient way to market volatility and changes in customers’ expectations.”

To replace Daniele Schillaci’s former role as Toyota France CEO is Pascal Ruch, who currently holds station as Toyota’s general manager of sales and production efficiency in European distribution.

Finally, Miguel Fonseca will become the vice president of business integration. While this is a major managerial shift within Toyota, Ford and Fiat-Chrysler rely on its European operations to develop future products in the minicar, subcompact and compact segments as well.

[Source: Automotive News]

Last week, the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety announced that 2012 earned a record number of “top safety picks,” but the automotive industry is looking to set the record number even higher.

Cadillac‘s 2012 SRX crossover and CTS sports sedan and wagon models received a crash safety rating of 5-star overall. According to the National Highway Traffic Adminstration, only 21 vehicles earned the overall high score for 2012.

The SRX and CTS sedan and wagon were tested under NHTSA’s revised New Car Assessment Program first put to effect for the 2011 model year. This revision requires vehicles to pass frontal, side and rollover tests. The 5-star overall rating takes into account the combined results of all the tests.

GM executive director of Vehicle Safety Gay Kent expresses, “Receiving five stars under the new rating system is an impressive feat– on that clearly demonstrates the strength of the SRX and CTS advanced structure, overall crashworthiness and effectiveness of the models’ state-of-the-art safety technologies.”

Hit the jump to watch the video:

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When drivers find a car repair shop they like, they stick with it… and that’s because they trust the mechanics will do a good job. A recent study finds that about 50 percent of people completely trust their garage to fix their cars.

The survey, which was conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, sheds some interesting light on car owners, who are now keeping their vehicles for an average of nine years. That means that if drivers want to keep their cars on the road longer, they need to find a trustworthy garage to carry out repairs. Of those questioned for this sutdy, 77 percent said they take their car to a garage to keep it maintained. Of those shops, 37 percent of respondent prefer small, independent shop, 30 percent go to dealerships and 11 percent take their car to get serviced at a brand-name repair chain.

Women, older drivers and more affluent households are much more trusting when it comes to a garage fixing their car, with 91 percent saying they trust their repair shop. When it came to authorizing whatever work the shop recommended to repair their vehicle, 73 percent of those polled had no worries giving mechanics the go ahead. And to finish off this feel-good survey, 83 percent of said they are confident they’ll get the right repair work done for the right price.

Do you have a preferred car repair shop you visit on a regular basis? Do you trust them with your car or do you go to them because you haven’t found any garage more trustworthy? Let us know in the comments section below.

[Source: Consumer Reports]

Honda is offering an extended 10-year/120,000-mile warranty to 2006-2011 Civic Hybrid owners due to a possible gas leak. And while it’s a little strange that there’s no recall for the 80,000 or so impacted vehicles, we’re pretty sure owners are going to be just fine with such a nice and lengthy warranty from Honda.

The gas leak issue is a minor one according to Honda. The potential leak is located where the fuel filler meets the tank and it appears to not be anywhere near an ignition source. Regardless, if owners smell gasoline vapors or spot a small amount of gas on the ground, they should take their vehicle in to a dealership immediately so that the gas tank can be replaced.

It’s probably not set in stone that there won’t be a recall on the matter. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration hasn’t made any rulings yet in regards to this matter and are still investigating it.

A recall has been issued by Infiniti on the 2011 FX crossover and the 2012 M coupe. A faulty oil filter component is being cited as the culprit of the problem.

Infiniti says that certain bolts that connect the engine oil cooler to the oil filter were not manufactured to the specific strength specifications which are causing the failure. If these bolts fail it causes a major oil leak in the system which leads to engines seizing, loss in oil pressure and one great big mess.

Some Nissan models are tangled up in these oil leak issues as well. These weak bolts also affect the 2011-2012 Frontier, 2011-2012 Xterra, 2011-2012 Pathfinder and 2012 Nissan NV.

Owners of all vehicles listed above will be contacted to have their faulty bolts replaced free of charge. If anyone is looking for more information, feel free to contact Nissan at 1-800-647-7261.

For many of us, brake squeal is something that can really get on our nerves. You’re traveling along a busy thoroughfare, you hit the brake pedal and screech! Not only is it irritating, but also embarrassing, since on warmer days, motorists in other surrounding vehicles usually know that its you.

The thing is, brake squeal happens to be incredibly common and although is often associated with worn pads, can also afflict anchors that are in decent working order, since it is a by product of frequencies caused by vibration, which happens every time the pads touch the surface of the rotor.

And until now, there wasn’t really much of a cure for it. Well General Motors is hoping to address that and currently has a group of the companies engineers working on a solution to the problem. However, like much in the automotive universe, the idea isn’t actually a new invention at all.

The Coulomb friction damped disc brake (based on a damping mechanism design originally created by 18th century Physicist Charles Agustin de Coulomb), uses a thin ring of metal that’s actually embedded in the brake rotor, designed to absorb vibrations when the pads hit the rotor and thus significantly reduce squealing.

The new disc design follows on from corrosion resistance technology developed by GM and while still undergoing testing, could become available on certain cars and trucks in the General’s lineup within two to three years.

In addition, because the Coulomb design means engineers have to worry less about brake noise, it could, according to GM brake expert Jim Webster, allow engineers to develop future brake systems that use new materials with higher coefficients of friction. This would enable brake rotor designs that provide more powerful clamping force than those on the market today, but ones that would be smaller and lighter, thus increasing safety  while enabling vehicle weight savings.

And given that automakers are looking every which way they can to shave vehicle mass in order to meet mandated higher fuel economy standards, such a concept as smaller brakes would no doubt be welcomed on that front too.

For more information on brake squeal reduction, click on the link below:

http://bcove.me/mm9gy6wp