Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea’s largest car manufacturer, has staged the world premiere of the all-new Santa Fe at the 2012 New York International Auto Show, held at the New York Jacob Javits Convention Center.

 

In its latest form, the popular D-segment SUV is re-styled inside and out, fitted with enhanced features and new technology, and powered by re-tuned engines with improved efficiency – ensuring that it will offer European buyers a visually-appealing, sophisticated lifestyle vehicle when it goes on sale in late summer.

 

Hyundai is keeping the name, Santa Fe, continuing the heritage of the car manufacturer’s well-established SUV model as it enters its third generation.  The Santa Fe has achieved worldwide cumulative sales of almost 2,56 million units, and more than 350.000 in Europe, since its 2000 debut.

 

Hyundai expects this new-generation model to continue the company’s strong performance in the SUV market, and to capture more than 5% share of its market segment in Europe during its first full year on sale in 2013.

 

The Hyundai i40 Tourer has held off well-established rivals to take the overall title of Best Estate Car in Business Car Manager’s annual awards. The awards identify the top company cars across nine distinct categories, and the Hyundai i40 was chosen as the winner above rivals such as the Ford Mondeo Estate, Volvo V50 DRIVe and Skoda Octavia Estate.

 

Tony Whitehorn, President and CEO Hyundai Motor UK, said: “To take the Best Estate Car award is a huge honour for us and it bears testimony to just how well the i40 Tourer performs. The lowest BiK tax rates coupled with ultra-efficient engines, premium levels of equipment and space and practicality make the i40 Tourer the ideal business estate car.”

 

Hyundai Motor Company, UEFA EURO 2012™ top partner™, today announced a new initiative for this year’s tournament: Team Hyundai.  Comprising five of the best-known players in Europe – all of them top-class internationals – Team Hyundai will act as ambassadors for the brand in Hyundai’s communications activities around what will be this year’s biggest footballing event.

 

Iker Casillas (Spain), Lukas Podolski (Germany), Giuseppe Rossi (Italy), Karim Benzema (France) and Daniel Sturridge (England) will fulfil their roles as ambassadors through a series of marketing activities as part of Hyundai’s promotions and campaigns for UEFA EURO 2012™.

 

Allan Rushforth, Senior Vice President and COO of Hyundai Motor Europe commented, “The five ambassadors will be rivals on the field during the upcoming UEFA EURO 2012™, but they are united by their passion for football and it’s a great pleasure to bring them together as Team Hyundai.  Their determination and talent sets them apart on the field, and every Team Hyundai player has the potential to be a game-changer during this year’s tournament.”

 

Team Hyundai will be a constant reminder to fans of the excitement, dynamism and passion that football inspires.  Each of the Team Hyundai members has made it to the top through determination and continuous improvement, corresponding closely with Hyundai’s achievements in the European car market.

 

Further to the Team Hyundai announcement, Hyundai will also launch a new charitable initiative, with the company once again supporting young people and players to realise their ambitions to become game-changers of the future.

New Generation i30 looks set to build upon the remarkable success achieved by the original model when its hits UK showrooms today. It will offer consumers a stylish and more refined alternative with improved comfort and packaging, an increased level of standard feature, lower emissions and cost of ownership.

 

Prices start from £14,495 (on the road) and rise to £20,795 – offering a line-up of four engines (two petrol and two diesels) with five power outputs ranging from 90 to 128ps and four trim levels - Classic, Active, Style and Style Nav.

 

Hyundai is committed to developing its clean diesel technologies.  The new 1.6-litre diesel unit, featuring Intelligent Stop & Go technologies, delivers an impressive power to efficiency ratio, providing an output of 128ps and emissions of just 100 g/km. This will make this model one of the most efficient vehicles in the C-segment.

Hyundai Motor Co., one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing automakers, today unveiled exterior teaser images of the all-new Santa Fe, which had been known by its code name DM in Korea. The all-new Santa Fe will have its world premiere at the New York International Auto Show in early April.

 

Hyundai will keep the name “Santa Fe” for the new vehicle, continuing the solid brand heritage of the automaker’s most representative SUV model. The all-new Santa Fe, which is entering its third generation, has reached worldwide cumulative sales of about 2.56 million units (Korea: 680,000 / overseas: 1.95 million) since its 2000 debut.

At the 2012 Geneva Motor Show, Hyundai will reveal a new turbocharged version of the 1+2 door Veloster sports coupe.  Through the addition of a turbocharger, engineers at the Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Centre in Rüsselsheim, Germany, have boosted power output and increased low-end torque to best suit European driving tastes and enhance driver enjoyment.

The Veloster Turbo is the first Hyundai to feature the company's 1,6-litre GDI engine with a high-compression, twin-scroll turbocharger.  In European specification, this new T-GDI unit generates 186 ps and 270 Nm of torque.  In non-turbocharged form, the Veloster offers 140 ps and 167 Nm.

Tony Whitehorn, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor UK, commented: “UK drivers tend to prefer more torque from a lower engine speed, so our European engineers have specified a set-up that still provides a substantial increase in power – up from 140 ps to 186 ps – while also delivering the desired low-end torque.  The resulting package is very competitive against the performance of competitors such as VW Scirocco and Vauxhall Astra.”

* Figures stated are manufacturer's estimates

Hyundai is delighted to announce that the 500,000th car has driven out of its import centre in the Port of Tilbury, Essex. The facility was opened on 1 March 1999 and in 13 years has received and delivered half a million Hyundai vehicles to dealerships and customers around the UK.

Hyundai Motor UK operates the import centre itself, with a core team of 28 members of staff. This ensures efficiency and quality of production. The core team is supported by up to 50 additional contract staff for peak sales periods, all employed from the local Tilbury area.

At present Tilbury is capable of storing 10,000 vehicles at any one time, and this number is set to increase to 11,500 before the end of 2012. Each and every Hyundai that arrives at Tilbury's docks is inspected on arrival, processed, stored awaiting customer orders, and given a further inspection on despatch, to ensure that every vehicle meets the manufacturer's strict standards for quality.

Tony Whitehorn, President and CEO, Hyundai Motor UK, said: “This is a fantastic milestone for both the Tilbury Import Centre and Hyundai UK. During the government's scrappage scheme in 2009-2010, we were processing up to 800 vehicles per day with some leaving Tilbury for dealer forecourts within six hours of driving off the ship. With several new models arriving on our shores in 2012, we are confident that our operation here will go from strength to strength and ensure Hyundai continues to deliver top-quality and reliable cars to customers.”