Hyundai

According to research by Edmunds.com, the $19,711 average transaction price of the 2012 Hyundai Elantra is besting that of its chief rivals, the Toyota Corolla by $1,500 and the new Honda Civic by $500. The great big cherry on top of that sundae for Hyundai? Elantra sales were up more than 40 percent last year.

The sales success of the Elantra wasn’t much of a surprise even before the car went on sale, the transaction-price story is an eye-opener. We don’t have a breakdown on model mix, but a base Elantra with a six-speed manual is $17,220 and the Limited is $21,320 (both prices include $725 destination). The Elantra’s small-money options, like an iPod connector, match those of the competition, and even its three upmarket packages, two for the GLS and one for the Limited, contain features mostly available on the Corolla or Civic.

Point being, the Elantra doesn’t have a single killer app to explain its position. But all of its touches – one extra gear on the manual, two extra on the automatic, its newness and its design, its competitive gas mileage and its rearview camera that can’t be had on the competition, for instance, appear to be the cause. There’s also the fact that dealers don’t have to put much (if anything) on the hood since the factory still can’t make enough of them to satisfy demand.

Nor is this only a tale of the Elantra; the Sonata has narrowed its average transaction price to within $900 of both Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. And according to Hyundai CEO John Krafcik, we aren’t anywhere near the end of the company’s aspirations: “We’re in the middle of a very long journey.” Indeed, even new Elantra itself hasn’t reached top speed yet – a new Coupe and five-door GT are on the way to round out the family for 2013.

Customers paying more for Hyundai Elantra than Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

1. The 200 is the wrong car. No one confused the old Sebring with luxury and this car is an upgrade, but not a completely-new model. The 300 is Chrysler’s big, stylish, pseudo-luxury car for the gangsta set. No way Eminem drives a 200. His bag man probably wouldn’t drive a 200. The 300 would have been a better choice.

2. We didn’t see enough of the car. The ad is expertly shot and brings to life the idea of a tough and resurgent Chrysler and Detroit. It shows a side to the human side to Motown that most outsiders don’t know, but it shows so little of the car that it’s tough to conclude that Detroit, or more specifically Chrysler, can do luxury.

3. To the rest of the nation watching the Super Bowl, Chrysler is struggling to make it back and Detroit as a city has been left for dead. Trying to raise the prospects of both in one ad is, shall we say, extremely ambitious.

4. Troubled American car brands need to get away from gritty Detroit imagery. No one needs reminding that Detroit is a city in serious trouble and that two of the Big Three would have disappeared if not for a government bailout. Domestic brands have to change the conversation for generations of Americans who abandoned them years ago and for young consumers who don’t know them. Ford has been plugging quality and technology like Sync. Chevrolet and Buick have been talking about fuel economy, Bluetooth and 40-gig hard drives in the dash. Both ideas are getting traction.

Chrysler can boast that the 2-minute ad, which is long for a Super Bowl commercial, got the new car some much-needed attention. Auto research website Edmunds.com said that after the ad aired, 1,619% more people (about 8,300 in total) went to the site to look at the 200 than typically search for it on a Sunday evening. The problem with the comparison is that few people were looking at the car to begin with. Edmunds says that 681 people on average were shopping the car before the ad aired. An average of 15,911 typically shopped for the competing Hyundai Sonata. Will these new visitors buy the car? That will be the real test. The Sebring sold fewer than 25,000 cars last year. For comparison, Ford sold 219,000 of the competing Fusion. Chrysler got some sizzle with the ad, but there may not be enough substance to generate sales.

Most significant: Honda showed off a new concept car that is, more or less, going to be the new 2012 Civic when it goes on sale this spring. You can tell by the aggressive curves in the car that Honda is trying to get its mojo back. Honda’s market share fell to 10.6% in 2010 from 11% the year before. The Civic is a perennial winner for the company and vital to its success. Styling has never been the Civic’s calling card. This one takes a bold step with a fast backward-sloping roofline and some curves in the side panels that reminded me a bit of a Hyundai Tiburon. More important for Hondaphiles, the car has the company’s vaunted i-VTEC engine and a hybrid option will be available. We’ll see if its bold new look will get any love from outside Honda’s loyal followers.

Biggest turnabout: You’ve heard the clichA(c) “as big as a Buick.” It comes from a description of a spider in Woody Allen’s film “annie Hall.” I doubt anyone will say “as small as a Buick” when the compact Verano goes on sale late this year, but the 2012 Verano compact tells us where carmakers think the market is headed. General Motors figures fuel will only get more expensive and that luxury buyers will want creature comforts without shelling out a fortune for gasoline. The car’s 177-horsepower engine will get 31 miles per gallon on the highway with the 2.4-liter engine. A 2-liter turbo model comes later. The Verano will be an interesting test. Can Buick, which grew 52% last year, sell small cars to younger luxury buyers? On the surface it’s a tough sell. But who would have thought a year ago that the Lacrosse sedan would be one of the hottest cars on the market?

Pick of the show: The Mini Paceman is my pick for the best design at the show. It’s Mini’s future crossover SUV and it probably it is dead one for the brand. It’s stylish, sporty, has a bit more space than a Mini Cooper but can go off-road. Stylistically, the two-door Paceman is an athletic version of the Countryman, Mini’s existing crossover suv. The two-door Paceman doesn’t look as upright as its more practical forebear. In the rear, it has haunches like it’s going to pounce. The concept had Mini’s 1.6-liter turbo engine used in the John Cooper Works performance cars and the ALL4 all-wheel drive system. That’s a strong hint that the Paceman will offer both as options. That will make it an off-roader with tire-burning potential. One bonus: They will probably ditch the Paceman name. Mini USA President Jim McDowell said in an interview that, onfortunately, consumers associate it with ’80s video-game sensation Pac Man.

The comeback kid: Beating up on Toyota is a favorite pastime these days, what with their quality woes, lost market share and fallen image. I’ll give the company some accolades. The Prius c concept takes a hybrid franchise known for its egg-shaped fuel sippers and takes it out on the edge. The car leans forward like it’s in motion. The headlights are pushed up the hood and closer to the windshield as if the car is barreling down the highway. The car has shoulders, which makes it look more muscular. This car will come to market in the first half of 2012. One word of caution: There is no telling how much of the concept car’s edgy design will make it to the showroom.

Ford gets in the game: Nissan and GM have a jump on Ford in the green-car game. Next year, Ford will make a big statement with the C-Max Energi, a five-passenger plug-in hybrid small SUV that the automaker says will get better fuel economy that the Chevy Volt. Untested fuel economy ratings are always suspect; the Volt gets 37 mpg if it runs the gas tank dry. GM may even upgrade the Volt before the C-Max Energi goes to market. But it still looks like a good package. It’s more spacious that the other EVs and hybrids on the market and can go 500 miles using a full battery charge and tank of gas.

Hyundai makes a bold statement: The Hyundai Veloster will go on sale in 2012 as a boldly-styled three-door coupe that promises to be a fun ride that gets 40 mpg on the highway. It doesn’t need a hybrid-electric system to do it, either. It mates a dual-clutch transmission with a direct-injection 1.6-liter engine to maximize fuel economy. The interior is inspired by sporty motorcycles. This could be a hit with younger buyers given the curvy styling and fuel economy. Hyundai has moved well beyond selling just on price.

Biggest snoozer: And last, the new Volkswagen Passat is the German carmaker’s attempt to offer more value and become a big-volume seller in the U.S. market. The company only has 2.2% of the market, so it is dropping the price of the Passat by some $7,000 to get close to $20,000. The cabin looks like a VW, with well-crafted appointments and a certain German precision to the construction. On the outside? There isn’t much to it. The sides of the car are pretty flat. The back end reminds me of a Saab. Overall, the Passat is undistinctive. The selling point is affordable German engineering with options like a 2-liter diesel engine that is expected to get 43 mpg on the highway. That will have to win buyers because the design won’t turn many heads.

Every one of those questions will pose a challenge for a car that GM absolutely needs to be successful as the automaker tries to rebuild the Chevy brand. Make no mistake, this will be a big marketing challenge. Chevy has never really had a good compact. The Cobalt was an also-ran, and that’s very generous. The Cavalier before that was also a cut-priced loser. When people think of Chevy, they think of trucks, SUVs, Camaros, maybe the Impala, maybe the Corvette. Small cars have never been the brand’s raison d’etre. So now they are trying to get fatter pricing on a pretty conservative car sold by a brand with no reputation for selling small cars.

The good news is that if GM can get people to give the car a look, the Cruze has some great selling points. I sat in the car at a Chevy event yesterday. The cabin is first rate with attractive design, solid materials in the dash and comfortable seating. Chevy brags that if you load up competing models like the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic and Ford Focus with comparable options, the base model Cruze LS is anywhere from $635 to $1,770 better value.

The best news Chevy has may be the Eco version of the Cruze. A regular Cruze gets 36 miles per gallon on the highway, 2 mpg more than the Focus. The Eco model gets 40 mpg. There’s no hybrid system or high-tech solution. GM’s engineers just wrung out weight, made a few aerodynamic tweaks, added a gear to the manual transmission and gave it some low-rolling resistance tires. It was an old-tech solution to a long-standing problem. At highway speeds, for example, a shutter closes and blocks part of the grille. That cuts wind flow under the can and makes the Cruze slicker in the wind. Simplicity.

Will enough buyers take notice? That’s going to be the real challenge. Sometimes in the car business it takes a few generations of good models before consumers realize that the brand selling them is worth a look. Ewanick and Perry experienced that with Hyundai. They may have to do the same with Chevy.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report, driver John W. Reed was inattentive while driving a 2002 Hyundai Accent. The Hyundai drove off the left side of the roadway. After leaving the road, the Hyundai overturned.

Three people suffered moderate personal injury in the accident. Reed, who was not wearing seatbelt during the accident, was transported to Mercy Medical Center for treatment. Two occupants were taken to Mercy as well: Teresa J. Knipe and Lynnette K. Moore. Knitpe and Moore wore their seat belts during the accident.

Distracted driving is becoming an epidemic. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 5,000 people were killed in distracted driver crashes in a single year. 20% of all injury-causing crashes involved reports of distracted driving.

A driving distraction is any activity that takes the driveras attention away from operating a motor vehicle. Driving distractions endanger drivers, passengers, and pedestrians because the distracted driving is less capable of safely operating a vehicle. Avoiding accidents takes more than following the rules of the road. Drivers must respond to constantly changing road conditions. If the driver fails to notice the road conditions, the driver cannot respond appropriately. Driving distractions decrease the driveras ability to notice changing road conditions.

Text messaging is the ultimate driver distraction. Text messaging involves a number of types of attentiona cognitive, visual, and manual. A texting driver will use manual attention to direct the finger movements to complete the text message. A texting driver will use visual attention to look away from the road to the phone. A texting driver will use cognitive attention to read a received message and construct a response. Text messaging uses vital types of attention that are necessary to safe driving.

Text messaging is not the only driving distraction, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Other culprits include using a cell phone or smartphone, grooming, adjusting a radio or mp3 player, using a navigation system, eating, and talking to passengers. If you are injured in a motor vehicle accident and suspect that distracted driving played a role, contact Missouri personal injury attorneys to understand how that will affect a settlement or lawsuit.

Gina L. Warhover of Desoto, Missouri slowed her 2000 Ford Ranger to avoid hitting another vehicle. The Ford swerved left directly into the path of a 2010 Hyundai Sonata driven by Kimberly M. Schnitz of Bonne Terre, Missouri. The left of the Ford crashed into the right rear of the Hyundai. The Hyundai travelled off the right side of the roadway. Off the roadway, the Hyundai struck a guardwire and a traffic signal post. The Hyundai then overturned.

Warhover and Schnitz suffered personal injury in the accident. Warhover suffered moderate injuries and Schnitz sustained minor injuries. They were transported to Jefferson Regional Medical Center by Joachim Plattin Ambulance.

Even people who consider themselves safe drivers may need the help of a St. Louis auto accident attorney or a defensive driving course. Safe drivers rarely think about how they would deal with a car accident. Safe drivers drive at the speed limit, adjust their choice to weather and road conditions, and check their blind spots before initiating a lane change. However, those driving techniques may not be enough to avoid a Missouri car accident.

Safe drivers may still be harmed in car accidents because of the behavior of negligent drivers. Drivers who carefully obey safety regulations may still be struck by other drivers. A safe driver may be driving prudently in the correct lane, but still be hit by a negligent driver too concerned with a text message to avoid an accident. Learning how to deal with negligent drivers is an important skill.

Defensive driving courses can teach safe drivers how to deal with the behavior of negligent or aggressive drivers. Accident prevention is typically a key focus of defensive driving courses. Students may learn how to identify inappropriate driving behaviors and respond. Defensive driving course students may also learn about automobile safety outside of driving. For examples, the courses may teach student show to change tires or charge motor vehicle batteries.

Often, experienced drivers feel that defensive driving courses are unnecessary. However, even experienced drivers are involved in accidents. Outside of young adults between the ages of 16 and 20, experienced drivers between the ages of 45-54 suffer the highest number of fatalities in car accidents. Experienced drivers should consider taking defensive driving courses.