A biweekly roundup of automotive news, good, bad and just plain weird:
Hyundai reveals luxury coupe at Pebble Beach
How ludicrous. The company that built the rickety Pony (actually not a terrible car, considering the price) now has the audacity to park a huge-grilled grand touring coupe on the lawn at the most prestigious automotive event in the world.
Joke's on you, luxury automakers, as Hyundai's top-tier offerings are actually pretty good, and this one is no exception. Called the HDC-16 Vision G, which I believe is the brand name on my computer monitor, Hyundai's long concept shows the future for the brand's Genesis line. It's a blend of Audi, Aston Martin, and Bentley, powered by a 420 horsepower V-8. Could we see a two- door Genesis coupe set up like a cut-rate Bentley Continental? Why not - the pundits deplored the original sedan version as it wasn't all that cheap compared to a base BMW 3 Series, and brand-snobbery rules supreme, no?
Still, the Genesis succeeded beyond, seemingly, even Hyundai's expectations. There are still calls that the Genesis brand be spun off into its own thing, but that's not really necessary. Having a flagship car like this just makes buying an Accent feel a bit more swank, and doesn't seem to bother Genesis buyers. It's essentially replaced the Mercury Marquis.
Mazda5 living on borrowed time
Remember when minivans were actually "mini"? Well, with the Mazda5, they still are — for now.
Certainly the only minivan you can still get with a manual transmission, the Mazda5 sits on the bones of the former Mazda3, and is therefore doomed. It's just been killed off in the United States, and with the crossover market a far more lucrative place to spend limited RD dollars, you can expect the Canadian version to follow soon afterwards. I feel like there's a missed opportunity here. Traditionally, towards the end of a model run, Mazda will release a Mazdaspeed version of a car to drum up a little extra interest before it either exits the building or is replaced by the new model. A Mazdaspeed minivan? Don't scoff — Car Driver actually built one already by swapping over the turbocharged engine out of a Mazdaspeed3.
Why not, Mazda? Heck, you built a stick-shift van already, so why not go nuts, just before you are subsumed into a sea of crossovers.
Lexus, Infiniti adding turbocharged fours
Once BMW did it, we knew it wouldn't take long for the others to follow. In fact though, it did take a couple of years, but here we are in 2015 and it'll soon be possible to buy a four-cylinder car from every so-called luxury automaker. Lexus will offer the same 2.0-litre turbocharged four they currently feature in their NX crossover, now in the RC sport coupe. Making 241 h.p. in crossover spec, it'll likely get a bit of a boost to 260 h.p. or so.
Over at Infiniti, built essentially on the appeal of the VQ series V-6, the Q50 sedan (formerly the G) now comes with a 2.0-litre four sourced from Mercedes-Benz which should make 241 h.p. That's suspiciously similar to the Lexus. Emissions and fuel consumption figures stalk the land and meanwhile, over at Dodge, you can still get a 6.2-litre supercharged V-8 making more than 700 h.p. Obviously not everything can get the sledgehammer approach, but surely we could have a more high-tech option to providing driving excitement and economy rather than just giving $50,000 sedans the engine out of a GTI.
Volkswagen recalls models due to airbag fault
Do you own a car? Chances are it's been recalled. Every single manufacturer on the planet seems to be having problems with post-production vehicles, the worst being GM's notorious ignition troubles and Honda's supplier-related airbag woes.
Volkswagen's recall of more than 40,000 Canadian vehicles (ten times the number in the U.S.), doesn't raise many eyebrows as there have been no reported incidents of death or injury. Still, it could easily get lost in the shuffle, so this is your warning that should you own a 2011-2014 Golf, Jetta, Passat, Tiguan, or similar VW product, better call in and make sure you're all up-to-date. On the plus side, all this media attention towards recall issues has forced manufacturers to be a little more proactive about issuing recalls before somebody gets hurt. On the negative side, the public is getting a bit numbed with all the announcements - don't forget to check to see if your own car is up-to-date, as many of these recalls are voluntary.
Watch this space for all the week's best and worst of automotive news, or submit your own auto oddities to [email protected].
