CarBuyersNoteBook

Kia Unveils New Luxury Model Cadenza

Kia Motors has announced a new luxury model in their vehicle line up with the KND-5 Concept car. This new luxury model aims to satisfy the growing demands for vehicles who are looking for refinement and safety for ideal driving conditions. The new luxury sedan will be known as the Cadenza outside Korea and will make its debut in the Middle East. Cadenza is a name derived from an Italian music term which stands for elaborate, ornamental flourish for a concerto.

Among the notable features of the Cadenza include its sporty look, bold headlamp design, stylish taillights and passenger friendly high-tech features. It also carries the usual vehicle features like power steering, extendable seat cushions, and auto defogging of windshield and ventilation front seats.

(Source) Press

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Tires 4U Opens First Store in North America

Kumho Tires has officially opened its first outlet in North America, Tires 4U. With this development, local motorists can look forward to additional retailers. Tires 4U is dedicated to the Kumho Tire global retail format, serving a new market situated in Buena Park, Calif. The Buena Park location marks the first Tires 4U in North America. The Kumho global retail format is currently in stores in operation in Korea, China and Vietnam.

“This first retail center offers the best service that consumers can expect in a tire retail center,” said Benjamin Lee, owner of Tires 4U. “I am satisfied with Kumho Tires and have confidence in the success of our retail center and we look forward to expanding beyond our single location.”

The first retail center selling only Kumho tire products will allow Kumho Tires to increase brand awareness and promote premium tire sales. The Tires 4U retail center will sell the full line of Kumho passenger, competition, light truck and SUV tires and include state of the art mounting, balancing and alignment services.

(Source) Press

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Easycar KT Show Wibro Navigation

Easycar launches a new navigation device called the Easycar KT Show Wibro Navigation. It will make its formal launch in Korea on May 20. Users can enjoy WiFi access and e-mail, and download music with the WiBro support.

This new navigational device promises to be another great addition to motorists, helping them find their way on the streets and add to the savings needed in fuel and to their point of destination faster.

(Source) AVING

Posted in Accessories, Industry, Navigation | 0 Comments

Hella Announces Production of 100-Millionth Electronic Pedal Sensor

Hella KGaA Hueck & Co has announced that they have produced the 100-millionth electronic pedal processor sensor that is a common part among leading automotive companies today. Hella’s first-generation of electronic pedal modules were made in 1996 in Recklinghausen.

Today, more than 500 Hella employees are involved in the production of electronic pedal modules worldwide. In addition to the Recklinghausen plant, the company now serves its customers from locations in China, India, Mexico, Romania, the U.S. and Korea.

Hella supplies nearly every automotive and several commercial vehicle manufacturers worldwide, with the Asia-Pacific region being a key growth market. The latest generation of pedal modules features more electronic capabilities, while being 50 percent lighter and more compact than the first units produced in 1996.

Hella’s pedal sensors record the position of the pedal and generate the vehicle-specific pedal characteristic, meaning how the pedal “feels” when operated, Menge said. “Our pedal sensors are designed so that the pedal, the pedal-force generation and signal generation are combined in one modular unit.”

Hella is one of the top 50 automotive parts suppliers in the world and one of the 100 largest industrial companies in Germany. Nearly 25,000 people work in 70 manufacturing facilities and production subsidiaries throughout the world, including more than 3,500 research-and-development engineers and technicians. Customers include all of the world’s leading vehicle and systems manufacturers, as well as the automotive parts aftermarket.

(Source) Press

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SsangYong C200 to Arrive at the Seoul Motor Show

The Seoul Motor Show in Korea will show you, among other things, that C200 concept crossover from SsangYong. The concept was first shown last year at the Paris Motor Show but now it’s ready to go into production. The Korean automaker says that the new C200 is similar to the Honda CRV and Toyota RAV4. The CUV will come with a 175-horsepower, 2.0-liter diesel engine and four-wheel drive. More details should be unveiled next month when the car will be officially unveiled. What do you think? Could you be interested in a C200?

via Press

Posted in 2009 Vehicles, Cars, Industry | 0 Comments

Hyundai-Kia Car Shipment Dwindles

Another company that has been reportedly trying to survive the odd economic times is Hyundai Motors and affiliate Kia Motors. Unlike in previous months where exported cars were striking in numbers, car exports plunged last month due to the worsening economic slowdown.

Exports of Korean-built cars, led by Hyundai and Kia, to the Central and South American market fell 71.4 percent to 7,161 vehicles in January, compared with 25,090 units a year ago. Shipments by Hyundai and Kia to the Eastern European market dropped 64.2 percent on an annual basis to 6,126 units during the same period.

Meanwhile, Hyundai and Kia exported 35,898 vehicles produced in Korea to the North American market last month, down 35.4 percent from a year ago.

(Source) JoongAng Daily

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GM Daewoo Lacetti Diesel in Korea

GM Daewoo breaks the ice in delivering their first diesel-engined Lacetti, initiating a comprehensive diesel lineup beginning with the SUVs to compact and midsize sedans plus a range of body styles.

The Lacetti sedan and hatchback with a manual transmission obtains fuel efficiency of 18.4 km per liter exceeding the already marvelous Lacetti 1.6 -liter gasoline model by almost 30 percent.

On the other hand the versions with an automatic transmission achieve fuel efficiency of 14.9 km per liter and in combination with its 60-liter fuel tank; the Lacetti Diesel can be driven by up to 1,100km or 900 km in versions with an automatic transmission.

(Source) Aving

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2009 Hyundai Genesis

2009 Hyundai Genesis

The 2009 Hyundai Genesis is Korean manufacturer Hyundai’s first rear-wheel-drive vehicle, and also Hyundai’s first available large vehicle featuring a V8 engine. Genesis is about 6 inches longer in wheelbase and 3 inches longer than Hyundai’s Azera sedan. Genesis buyers can choose between two engines: a 290-hp 3.8-liter V6; or a 375-hp 4.6-liter V8. Both engines come standard with a 6-speed automatic transmission that has a manual shift gate. Safety features on the Genesis are strong and include ABS, traction control, an anti-skid system, curtain side airbags, front side airbags, and rear side airbags.

Heated and cooled driver seats are one cushy option, and a wireless cell phone link, a navigation system with hard drive for storing digital music files, rearview camera, and front- and rear-obstacle detection are all available at additional cost. The center console on the 2009 Genesis governs audio, navigation, and other functions. Later in the model year Hyundai plans to add adaptive cruise control as well. MSRP on the 2009 Hyundai Genesis runs between $30,000 and $35,000.

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2009 Kia Borrego

2009 Kia Borrego

The 2009 Kia Borrego is Kia’s first V-8 model for North America, a body-on-frame, seven-passenger SUV with a six-speed automatic transmission and a V-6 option that comes with a standard 5-speed transmission. The Borrego will be smaller than the Toyota Sequoia and closer in actual size to Toyota’s V-6 Highlander, but the timing on the release of Kia’s first big SUV may be less than ideal. When Kia first began developing the Borrego four years ago, all the automakers were scrambling to offer bigger, fancier, more powerful SUVs as fast as they could. Gasoline was steady at right around $2 per gallon, and the American public felt confident it would stay there.

Then, last summer happened, with gasoline hitting $4.50 per gallon in some parts of the U.S. Even though oil has retreated to $35 a barrel and gas prices are down again, American confidence is shot. South Korean maker Kia has been a day late and a dollar short on the scene for years now, with periodic predictions of their impending demise being revised to accommodate survival of the flailing brand. Will the Borrego soar like an eagle on the American market, or will it turn out to be yet another Kia turkey? Only time—and American consumers—will tell.

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