The New England Motor Press Association (NEMPA) of the United States of America has awarded the Best-in-Class Subcompact SUV to none other than the Hyundai Kona. The subcompact SUV was recognised for the its second year in a row by NEMPA in the Winter Vehicle Awards. (more…)
Hyundai Motor’s design has been recognized by the judges from the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) 2018, one of the world’s three grand international design prizes. Hyundai’s mid-size Santa Fe SUV, the NEXO fuel-cell SUV, and Kona subcompact SUV have received silver awards in the automotive and transportation category.
The Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA)’s prestigious award is one of the three most renowned design awards in the U.S., along with the ‘iF Design Award’ and the ‘Red Dot Design Award.’ The award selects winners of 20 categories, including automotive and transportation, consumer technology, and service design, based on standards such as design innovation, user experience and social responsibility. The three silver IDEA Design awards won by Hyundai Motor are the most prestigious global design awards won in Hyundai’s history for the automotive and transportation category. In 2016, the Elantra received a bronze award.
Hyundai’s mid-size SUV, Santa Fe, redesigned and launched as the fourth-generation model in February, features a wide and stable stance, Hyundai’s signature Cascading Grille, and a Composite Light design comprised of LED daytime running lights positioned on top of the LED headlights, showcasing grandiose and dynamic exterior design. The expressive and powerful all-new Kona adopts Hyundai Motor’s new family identity. The future-oriented Composite Light design and rugged bumper design ‘Armor’ together deliver a confident, progressive appearance with a sleek, sharp silhouette. Kona has swept all three worldwide renowned design awards this year.
The next-generation fuel cell vehicle, NEXO, has a future-oriented design that showcases its advanced capabilities, and thoughtful features like a horizon positioning lamp showing its future and current visual boundaries, and hidden rear wiper that fits in with the car’s clean image. NEXO also received the prestigious Red Dot Design Award, earning recognition for its design excellence. “The three representative models that will be responsible for the current and future of Hyundai Motor’s SUV lineup proved their competitive edge by achieving the highest-ever company performance in product design,” said Luc Donkerwolke, Head of Hyundai Design center and Executive Vice President of Hyundai Motor. “We expect this recognition will help inspire continuous improvement in design performance for Hyundai.”
In addition, Hyundai Motor’s luxury brand, Genesis, has been recognized for its design excellence for two consecutive years. The mid-sized sedan G70 was selected as an IDEA Finalist following the same honor as G80 Sports last year.
Meanwhile, Hyundai CRADLE, Hyundai Motor Company’s corporate venturing and open innovation business, has announced it is investing in Perceptive Automata to develop artificial intelligence software for self-driving cars and automated systems. Perceptive Automata, a start-up based in Somerville, Mass, with an office in Silicon Valley, has developed software that gives autonomous vehicles the ability to understand the state-of-mind of people, including pedestrians, cyclists and other motorists. The predictive technology enables automated vehicles to make rapid judgments about the intentions and awareness of people on the street. This gives machines unprecedented human-like intuition. To see the technology in action click here.
Perceptive Automata’s core technology takes sensor data from vehicles that show interactions with people. This rich data is used to train deep learning models to interpret human behavior the way people do. The end result is sophisticated AI software that can be integrated into autonomous driving systems. With the software installed, autonomous vehicles can anticipate what pedestrians, cyclists and motorists might do next. “We are ecstatic to have an investor on board like Hyundai that understands the importance of the problem we are solving for self-driving cars and next-generation driver assistance systems,” said Sid Misra, co-founder and CEO of Perceptive Automata. “Hyundai is one of the biggest automakers in the world and having them back our technology is incredibly validating.”
Perceptive Automata’s software is particularly useful if a pedestrian begins to cross the street but sees the approaching autonomous car and decides to stop and ‘wave’ it on. In this situation, an autonomous vehicle without the software would stop and wait, even though the pedestrian has no intention to cross. Perceptive Automata’s software can read the pedestrian’s intent and pass this information to the autonomous system’s decision-making module. “One of the biggest hurdles facing autonomous vehicles is the inability to interpret the critical visual cues about human behavior that human drivers can effortlessly process,” said John Suh, vice president of Hyundai CRADLE. “Perceptive Automata is giving the AV industry the tools to deploy autonomous vehicles that understand more like humans, creating a safer and smoother driving experience.”
This year, Hyundai has expanded its investment into artificial intelligence technologies that can improve Hyundai’s core automotive business, as well as adjacent areas in robotics and human machine interactions. Hyundai has also been actively investing from its AI Alliance Fund, co-founded in late 2017, with SK Telecom and Hanwha Asset Management.
In Malaysia, Hyundai Sime Darby Motors has released the updated pricing of its Elantra, Elantra Sport & Ioniq, which you can download here:
Hyundai Motor has won two of this year’s Red Dot Design Awards, one of the most renowned international design and innovation prizes. Hyundai’s Fuel Cell vehicle NEXO and the subcompact SUV Kona (above) were awarded in the Cars and Motorcycles category. The Kona gained recognition for outstanding design and innovation in ‘SUV/Off-road vehicles’ and the Hyundai NEXO showed its excellence in its subcategory.
The prestigious award evaluates the product’s functionality, durability, level of innovation and overall quality under aspects of form and function. The NEXO (above) is Hyundai’s second-generation fuel cell electric vehicle. It is characterized by a pure and calm design emphasizing its streamlined silhouette and by a floating roof.
The All-New Hyundai NEXO shapes the future of driving and is the eye-catching, technological flagship of Hyundai. The first dedicated hydrogen-powered SUV combines the practicality of an SUV with the clean advanced fuel cell know-how offering the most advanced technology on the market with autonomous driving capabilities, smart advanced driver assistance systems and strongest powertrains in the segment.
The Kona broadens Hyundai’s successful SUV line-up. With its sleek, sharp and colorful design it creates a unique proposition in the sub-compact SUV segment. Bold exterior lines, a pleasantly spacious interior and a powerful engine line-up make the innovative subcompact SUV suitable for modern, urban customers. Design is increasingly the number one reason why customers choose the Hyundai brand.
Receiving this prestigious recognition in the fifth consecutive year reflects the company’s ongoing commitment to producing cars that demonstrate a unique and evolving design language. The 2018 award follows the recognition in 2017 for the Hyundai Azera and an ‘Honorable Mention’ for the i30, the prize-winning IONIQ (above) line-up in 2016 as well as double recognition in 2015 for i20 and Sonata and for i10 and Genesis (below) in 2014.
Drawing on a prominent jury consisting of high profile designers, professors and journalists, the Red Dot Design Award is recognized globally as one of the most sought-after marks for high quality design. The 2018 contest attracted entries from 59 countries, making the Red Dot Award the largest product competition in the world.
Hyundai has unveiled the U.S.-market version of its convention-breaking Kona Electric crossover at the New York Auto Show. Kona Electric rides on an all-new CUV platform and is Hyundai’s first compact electric crossover for the U.S. market, appealing to consumers with active, eco-focused lifestyles of all kinds. Kona Electric’s exterior styling features voluminous, aggressive body styling complemented by a low and wide stance for great looks and confident handling in a variety of urban and adventure-oriented driving environments.
It joins Hyundai’s successful new Kona, Tucson and Santa Fe in a full line-up of Hyundai crossovers for the U.S. market. 2019 Kona Electric models will be produced in Ulsan, Korea and available in the fourth quarter of 2018, with initial availability in California and subsequently in the ZEV-focused states in the western and northeastern regions of the U.S. market.
“Our new Kona Electric crossover is a stylish and efficient compact CUV, tailored to the needs of customers who pursue eco-focused active lifestyles requiring generous range,” said Mike O’Brien, vice president of Product, Corporate and Digital Planning, Hyundai Motor America.
“We’re confident it will set new standards for the electric-propelled compact CUV segment, with outstanding range flexibility, appealing design, cutting-edge connectivity and class-leading available safety features.” he added.
2019 Kona Electric Highlights
Kona Electric offers a powerful, efficient electric drivetrain and a stylish, roomy interior. A whole host of advanced safety features are also available including Lane Keeping Assist, Blind-Spot Collision Warning, Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist, Parking Distance Warning and Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist with Pedestrian Detection.
For the full press release on the Hyundai Kona, click here: 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric Recalibratesco CUV Formula with an Impressive 250 Miles of Estimated Range
Hyundai’s newest vehicle, the Kona has received high marks in the latest round of Euro NCAP crash safety tests. The independent European body determined that the Kona deserved a 5 star rating, the highest distinction possible in all four categories: Adult Occupant, Child Occupant, Pedestrian and Safety Assist.
“The five-star safety rating from Euro NCAP for the All-New KONA proves that our newest SUV fulfills the highest standards for the safety of our customers,” says Thomas A. Schmid, Chief Operating Officer at Hyundai Motor Europe. “The top result demonstrates that Hyundai Motor not only offers technology-driven and innovative solutions, but also makes them easily accessible to everyone.”
The compact SUV completed the required tests with more than satisfactory results thanks to it’s slew of safety tech. Most notable of the lot have to be Lane Keep Assist and Autonomous Emergency Braking. The former monitors vehicle movements, prompting drivers to keep within the white lines when they stray off course. It does give off audible and visual warnings before stepping in to steer it back on track.
The latter, which is becoming commonplace on many new vehicles, monitors the road ahead via radar and camera sensors. If the system senses an impending collision, it warns drivers both visually and audibly. If the driver continues to ignore the warnings, the system will step in and apply the appropriate braking pressure to avoid or lesson the severity of an impact.
Apart from these, the Kona also benefits from having High-Beam Assist (HBA) with Static Low Beam Assist, Driver Attention Alert (DAA), Blind-Spot Detection (BSD) and Rear Cross-Traffic Alert (RCCA). Together, these safety features makes up Hyundai’s SmartSense system. Adding to this, the car also offers SUV capabilities, allowing drivers to traverse tricky terrain in a safe manner.
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