It should be as plain as the nose on your face that Hyundai Motors is a winner. When combined with its Korean cousin, Kia, the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group is ranked as the fourth largest automaker in sales, behind GM, Toyota and Volkswagen, but ahead of the Ford Motor Company, Chrysler and Honda. Quite suddenly, the South Korean automotive manufacturer is a force to be reckoned with, a company on a quest to overtake Toyota and eventually lead the global automotive market.

Single handedly, Hyundai-Kia is shaping the auto industry, forcing competitors to reexamine product offers to build cars that consumers want. The following are some ways explaining how Hyundai is dictating how everyone else should build and sell cars:

Hyundai offers value — Smartly, Hyundai continues to price its cars slightly below competing models, offer sticker prices about 3 to 5 percent lower than comparable models. But, the savings are even more significant because Hyundai cars offer higher content or trim levels than similar models. For example, the Hyundai Elantra offers a six-speed automatic transmission, heated seats and top of the range gas mileage, beating Toyota at its own game. The Toyota Corolla, incidentally is getting updated faster because the current Elantra is quite simply the better car.

Hyundai offers an amazing warranty — What better way to tell customers that you back them by offering a warranty that no else is matching? The Hyundai 10-year, 100,000 mile warranty covers powertrain parts (engine and transmission) and its 5-year, 60,000 mile warranty covers many other Hyundai parts. A 7-year rust warranty also included. Read the rest of this entry »

There has been a lot of talk about the future of the auto industry. Some of things that have been discussed are cars that run 100% on electricity, cars that have motion sensors to help parking and incoming dangers, and even cars that run on vegetable byproducts. One of the latest breakthroughs that have received attention lately is the technology to create cars that can drive themselves.

Recently Google (known for their world famous search engine and applications) has experimented with cars that drive themselves. It uses radar, video cameras, and even laser in addition with the Google map information to accurately get to the destination. Although the idea of an artificial intelligence operating by itself seems a little unreal, the results have been surprising.

Google’s cars have driven over 100,000 miles across all types of environments from bridges, highways, and local areas. According to the company, there was only one accident where a driver rear ended the car on a red light. Of course, the technology is still in testing and will need to be tested to see if it is safe to operate. This is exciting news for many people as it can mean things.

Imagine going to work stress-free while you take a nap, work on your project, or even watch TV. Imagine not being tired while driving during a long trip because you’ve been driving for hours. How about being able to drive around at late night after having several drinks? You can say it’s pretty much like having your own personal chauffeur get you to your destination. Read the rest of this entry »