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VW And Hyundai Lookin' To Get Fancified!

Kicking Tires reports Hyundai, VW Look To Move Upmarket With New Models.

First of all, on that Kicking Tires link dealie, which is the VW and which is the Hyundai? Second, Hyundai should consider removing the Hyundai name from the Genesis. That appears to be quite the contender and the only drawback is the parent company's name. Genesis isn't a bad name for a car company. They could name it the Genesis One. We still think, despite VW having a luxury brand already, that VW should have spun the Phaeton off into its own division called Phaeton. Third, Summer.

Meanwhile, check out the Genesis going through some crash tests. Kerplow!

Hyundai: Yay! Others: Doeth!

Winding Road asks: Will the Hyundai Genesis Really Threaten the Luxury Players?

Yes. Hyundai, regardless of what you think of them, is a smart company. Oh, sure, Hyundai started off with the craptastic Excel, but that Hyundai is long gone and has learned a thing or two.

First, the Genesis will go after the more less expensive (yet fancy) makes: Toyota Avalon, Chrysler 300C. But it won't be long before it goes after... Well here's what we overheard:

Lincoln: Shite! More whiskey!
Cadillac: Wait, wait, wait! The STS still sorta sucks! Wait!

Acura and Infiniti were talking nervously to each other, but didn't say much. Mercedes and Lexus refused to make headlight contact. Snobs!

Kirk: Khaan!

Honda Azera

Jalopnik reports: Spy Photos: 2008 Honda Accord. Dammit, come on, Honda. We expect more from you. And this isn't a knock on Hyundai ('cause they are kicking arse all over the place), it's more an issue with the lack of imagination from the folks at Honda. They've done such a great job with the Civic, Fit and CR-V (which is hellasnazzy) that we're quite disappointed in the Accord. At least from the pics we've seen. At a quick glance. While we were busy.

We've mentioned Honda copying Hyundai before when we first saw snaps of the coupe... what's that all about? Or are we making a connectiont that isn't there?

Honda Builds a Hyundai

Autoblog reports: Spy Shots: 2008 Honda Accord Coupe pics complete the circle. As Starbuck would say, "What the frak?" Tell us this Accord coupe doesn't look like a Tiburon! Oh, Honda. We loves ya, but we don't currently like this coupe design. At least in picture form.

Are we crazy? This does look like a current Tiburon, right?

Kaaaaahn!

Autoblog reports: Hyundai does right by Phil Collins: Genesis concept images released. Man, is Hyundai doing the rebirth thing better than Spock or what? Hyundai was tromping around for years making so-so cars (at best) until what seemed like a sudden shift into pretty decentdom. Maybe not quite as fancy, but with a longer warranty and respectable features, boom, we've got a big-time player.

Is Hyundai ready to move into the big leagues? We're wondering folks are ready for a spendy Hyundai. At least a spendy Hyundai badged as a Hyundai. It didn't work for VW with the Phaeton, but it sure as hell worked well for Toyota since folks are lining up to plunk down big bucks for a Toyota Lexus.

Talk about a rebirth, when did Vulcans get this smokin'? Or this smokin'? Or this? Well, maybe not quite that last one. May hot Vulcans live long and prosper, indeed.

Hyundai: Regrettably, No Accents For You!

The Car Blog writes Hyundai: Selling Out - To Customers. No, not selling out like John Mellencamp did on them Silverado ads, selling out in a literal sense. No more Accents to sell.

The Accent seems to be the ideal little commuter car. Perfect for someone heading just down the road to work or to the train station. Need a second car for the commuter in the family? Accent. A little over $11K and you've got a car with a 10-year warranty on it. It's no luxo, but it's nicer than you're probably thinking.

That being said, we haven't tested one, so what the hell do we know? Do you have a new one? What's it like?

That's a snap of the 2007 Hyundai Accent. Sure it's zzzz, but it's affordable. Oh, thanks to Hyundai for offering snaps of the car without a cheesy background. It looks so much nicer with a white background. Your art dept. rocks!

Traction Control

Detroit Free Press reports: Skid stopper. We're only linking in here because of the list these guys put together: what comes with traction control. It's odd, to us, that they mentioned some Hondas that you couldn't get stability control for but didn't do the same with Ford.

Look, we're all for shaming companies into doing the right thing, but go all the way! The Fusion should have had stability control, but you can't get it. Hell, the cheapo (in a good way, not like Mr. Furley) Hyundai Elantra offers it. Hello? Honda, Ford. The rest of you.

That's a snap of the 2007 Hyundai Elantra. We'll miss the sweet hatch of the Elantra GT and hope they'll bring it back. It was pretty cool. Oh, Hyundai: Can you get some better snaps on the site? The ones there are awfully dark.

Tiburon

Tiburoff! This isn't working for us. Kicking Tires reports: First Glimpse of the 2007 Hyundai Tiburon. As a commenter already wrote, "It looks like a Celica." Hyundai needs to Sonataize all its products: slick design (even if it is stolen from Honda), good price, and great warranty. The Tiburon only has the latter two. And, really, don't steal from Toyota's lousy designs. Only steal the good stuff! Good!

Hyundai And The Big SUV

Talk about crappola timing! The Car Connection reports: Hyundai Calls Big Ute Veracruz. Question: What's bigger than a Honda Pilot, has more room than a Mercedes-Benz GL, and has a six-speed automatic? Answer: A mistake!

Oh, we kid! We love Hyundai. But we're bigger fans of the Sonata than we are their little truckie dealies. We're hoping the Elantra GT gets updated soon so we can get back to some Hyundai hatchback lovin'.

Toyota: No Parts For You!

Way to compete, Toyota. Edmunds reports: Toyota telling suppliers not to sell parts to Hyundai. Toyota knows for damn sure that Hyundai is its biggest threat and apparently they'll do anything to stop Hyundai from growing—even if that means becoming a bigger shareholder of the company(ies) that make the parts and actually having the power to stop selling the parts. Meanwhile, we hope Ford and GM are considering buying parts from these places.