Hyundai‘s U.S. CEO John Krafcik has said that “because the brand resonates with families,” and feels “this is a segment where we have the lowest market penetration,” company product planning, at least in the short term, is focused on crossovers, especially seven-seater CUVs which seem to be the hottest thing going right now.

As a result, the possibility of a Hyundai van or pickup isn’t something that’s likely in the cards. That said, given that Hyundai and sister company Kia are attempting to differentiate their lineups to avoid stealing sales from each other, there’s a better chance of the latter introducing a truck, as Kia attempts to become a bit more of a “niche” brand with sportier and slightly more off-beat product offerings. Kia isn’t entirely a stranger to trucks, having unveiled a mid-size concept back in 2004 called the KC-4 Mojave (shown above).

However, due to shrinking demand for smaller trucks and fluctuating gas prices, the Mojave was left stillborn. Nonetheless, with the recently unveiled utility themed Soulster concept creating a buzz and Kia more firmly established as a legitimate player in the U.S. volume vehicle segment, could the idea of a pickup be floated again?

With the retirement of the Ford Ranger and fuel prices creeping upwards, the idea perhaps makes more sense now than it did in 2004, especially as today, Kia also has far more resources and engineering expertise at its disposal.

[Source: Pickup trucks.com]

Paice LLC, a company whose founder says he developed a high-voltage electrical system to power hybrid vehicles, filed a lawsuit against Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia on the claim that they infringed upon patents held by the company.

This follows on from another long running legal battle  between Paice and Toyota, also over Hybrid technology patents, which endured for some eight years and was finally settled in 2010.

As for the latest suit, Paice claims that it repeatedly tried to contact Hyundai as early as 2004, in order to discuss its patent Hybrid technology, but says that with the development and market introduction of the Sonata Hybrid sedan, the automaker infringed upon three patents owned by Paice.

The technology company  says it wants cash compensation for the infringement as well as an order that will require automakers to get permission before they can use the proprietary technology from Paice.

Ford Motor Company, which has also employed hybrid technology for vehicles such as the popular Escape SUV and Fusion midsize sedan, agreed to use Paice’s technology under license in order to avoid legal issues.

[Source: Auto News]

In the auto business, 2011 proved to be the year of the Koreans; both Hyundai and affiliate Kia sold a record number of vehicles, while their shares outperformed those of other automakers, including the likes of heavyweights such as General Motors, Toyota and Volkswagen.

That said, some of the sales in new vehicles from the Koreans actually cannibalized others within their ranks, notably the Kia Optima (K5 in South Korea), which after its latest redesign saw orders triple, though some of that came at the expense of Hyundai’s Sonata, which only saw demand increase by some 5.2 percent in the same period.

There’s every chance the same thing could happen again with Kia planning to launch the more upmarket K9, designed to go after the same customers as the Hyundai’s Genesis and Equus.

Frank Ahrens, a spokesman for Hyundai said the car-to-car rivalry between the two brands extends to all segments. Further complicating matters is the fact that although Hyundai and Kia are overseen by the same chairman (Chung Mong Koo) and share a development center, they are run as two separate companies and arch rivals at that.

There’s no question that Hyundai’s original 51 percent purchase of Kia Motors back in 1998 rejuvenated the brand and helped it grow into a purveyor of world-class vehicles with competitive prices. All the same, the companies need to sort out their differences now more than ever because it seems global competition is going to intensify in 2012 especially with Honda and Toyota returning to pre-disaster capacity.

This will likely mean Hyundai and Kia will need to develop a successful alignment strategy for their respective product lines, for example: focusing one brand on premium products and the other on volume sales. In doing so, they stand a greater chance of stealing sales from Japanese, American and European rivals instead of each other.

It seems that signs of greater product differentiation between Hyundai and Kia’s offerings are afoot; Kia’s European COO, Paul Philpott, said during a recent interview that “Hyundai will become the mainstream brand with Kia [functioning as] the sportier, dynamic little brother.”

[Source: Bloomberg]

Kia Motors America’s motorsports program hit a new high last year grabbing the Team and Driver titles in the 2011 Street Tuner (ST) class in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. Now they’re looking forward to 2012 with new driver pairings for both the number-10 and number-12 Infinity Audio Forte Koups.

The first race of the 2012 Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Championship season will be on January 27, 2012 at Daytona International Speedway and Kia will have Andy Lally and Nic Jönsson to lead the way. Lally returns to the Kia Racing program fresh off his 2011 Sonoco Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year performance, reuniting with ST Driver Champion Jönsson. Both drivers were last seen capturing Kia’s first-ever Grand-Am podium at Daytona in January 2011 before Lally went off to NASCAR.

Both drivers are extremely excited and looking forward to the start of the new season and defending the Driver and Team championships for Kia Racing.

Kia Motors America has announced that it’s recalling 145,755 vehicles today. The two models affected are the 2006-08 Optima sedan, specifically those manufactured between September 29, 2005 and January 29, 2008, and Rondo MPVs (pictured above) built between September 13, 2006 and March 21, 2008, for issues with the cars’ supplementary restraint system.

The problem concerns the clock spring in the airbag assembly, which can apparently become damaged over time. Failure of the clock spring contact assembly, will result in high resistance in the airbag electrical circuit, meaning that in the event of an accident, the airbag will fail to deploy, likely resulting in greater risk of injury to vehicle occupants.

Kia says it will be notifying owners of the affected vehicles, suggesting them to take the vehicle to an authorized dealer who will replace the airbag clock spring assembly. Kia says the recall is expected to begin in March 2012 and concerned owners are encouraged to contact Kia Customer Service at 1-800-333-4542 or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236. Alternatively they can also visit HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV.

It’s becoming the latest thing on internal combustion engined vehicles, as automakers aim to boost fuel economy and reduce vehicle emissions, yet stop/start technology isn’t without its issues, as Kia Motors has discovered.

During an evaluation of Kia test vehicles equipped with the ISG (Idle, Stop and Go) technology, members of the press have reported a noticeable “shock” as the engine shuts off and then restarts. Kia also said that extremely cold and hot temperatures also affect the system’s ability to operate and plans to address these problems, meaning introduction of ISG on its Rio and Soul (shown above) models has been delayed until the second quarter of 2012.

Other automakers currently offering the technology include Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, plus Ford is also introducing it this year on the 2013 Fusion mid-size sedan.

In response to the teething troubles concerning ISG, Kia’s US marketing head, Michael Sprague, said, “it is a new technology, (and) we want to make sure it’s giving consumers the experience they would expect.” Indeed.

[Source: Ward's Auto]

In terms of prime time viewing, it often doesn’t get any better than during the Super Bowl. As a result companies want to make every second of air time count during the commercial breaks, often leading to some of the most inventive ads of all time.

This year, Kia Motors is pulling out all the stops, thanks to a commercial which Michale Sprague, head of Kia’s US marketing and communications calls “the ultimate man’s dream.” It’s all part of a plan for Kia to boost its image into a more upscale, edgier brand.

Essentially, the ad incorporates a Kia Optima tearing around a race track,  while scantily clad  supermodel Adriana Lima and mixed-martial arts fighter Chuck Liddell do what they do best, as Mötley Crüe rock on stage, performing Kickstart My Heart.

The 60-second commercial will first be seen in movie theaters beginning on February 3, while 15-second teaser ads will also air beforehand. In an attempt to maximize the ad’s potential Kia will also leverage both the Twitter and Facebook followings of the stars featured in the commercial.

[Source: USA Today]

While many other automakers, including Japanese and American manufacturers, have taken a bit of a battering in recent years due to economic uncertainty and natural disasters, Hyundai and Kia have been bucking the trend, reporting steady gains in market share, particularly in entry level segments, where their vehicles have proved appealing to cost conscious buyers.

However, despite steady gains, primarily at the expense of U.S. and Japanese rivals, the South Korean duo is expected to see demand tapering off due to limited manufacturing supply. That said, both brands plan on achieving combined global sales of 7 million units next year, up from more than 6.5 million in 2011, which also marked a record total.

“We expect to reach (the target) should we run our factories at full capacity,” stated Hyundai president Chung Jin-haeng in a news interview with Reuters, though he did add mention that actual sales target number has not yet been finalized.

However some industry analysts, such as Suh Sung-moon at Korea Investment and Securities, believe that Hyundai and Kia’s own estimates of 2012 sales are conservative and both companies could easily surpass these totals in the first half of the year.

“I expect Hyundai and Kia will be able to achieve sales of 7.2 million vehicles next year, with Hyundai’s China plant starting production and Kia introducing a third shift at its Slovakia plant,”  Sung-moon stated.

If achieved, and Toyota continues its spiral downward, Hyundai could potentially move into third place among global automakers, ousting the Japanese giant.

[Source: Automotive News]

“Fuel economy is becoming increasingly important to car buyers all around the world, and the Kia Optima Hybrid is one of our latest models to address this consumer requirement,” Senior Executive Vice President & COO of Kia Motors Corporation Thomas Oh, said.

Currently, the Guinness World Record for lowest fuel consumption in a hybrid car was set in October 2010 using a Toyota Auris Hybrid. Amazingly, the Toyota covered 307.58 miles while only using 4.53 gallons of fueling, achieving 67.89 mpg.

GALLERY: Kia Optima

[Source: Left Lane News]

It competed in (and completed) the gruelling Targa Newfoundland last September. Now the same Kia Forte Koup, that was driven by Adam Hill and Mark Kostick of Team ‘Wishful Thinking,’ is now going to be auctioned off for charity.

The team, which partnered with The Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada, managed to raise more than $100,000 during the race, in addition, Kia dealerships across Canada contributed to the cause by committing part of the proceeds from the sale of each new vehicle between August 16 and September 18 last year.

The Targa Kia Koup, now having finished its auto circuit tour, is being auctioned on eBay and all proceeds from the sale will go to the Children’s Wish Foundation. For more information on the auction, click on the link below.

[Source: Kia]