The 2021 Hyundai Elantra was named winner of the 2021 North American Car of the Year award today by the North American Car, Utility and Truck of the Year (NACTOY) automotive media jury. This is the second time the Hyundai sedan has won Car of the Year (2012). Only two cars have won the award more than once (Chevrolet Corvette and Honda Civic) and this marks Hyundai’s third Car of the Year category win. The winner was announced during a virtual event. Images, b-roll footage, press releases and specifications for the 2021 Elantra can be found at https://www.hyundainews.com/en-us/models/hyundai-elantra-2021-elantra.

“Thank you to all of the jurors. I am honored to accept this award on behalf of the entire company, our Alabama and Ulsan plant employees who build Elantra and our dealers,” said José Muñoz, Global Chief Operating Officer of Hyundai Motor Company, president and CEO, Hyundai Motor North America and Hyundai Motor America. “Elantra is a symbol of our blend of dynamic design, advanced technology and great fuel economy. Elantra customers are going to experience all of the hard work and dedication that went into making this class-leading car.”

The jurors tested and evaluated more than 40 new vehicles before voting the top three cars, utility vehicles and trucks to be 2021 finalists. The Nissan Sentra and Genesis G80 were the other car finalists.

Now in their 28th year, the NACTOY awards are selected through a series of three separate votes by a diverse jury of automotive journalists from numerous outlets in the United States and Canada. Jurors evaluate the finalists based on segment leadership, innovation, design, safety, handling, driver satisfaction and value for the dollar.

Founded in 1994, these awards are the longest-running new-vehicle awards not associated with a single publication, website, radio or television station. Because of the jurors’ independence, these awards are among the most respected in the industry.

Hyundai Motor Company announced its win of four accolades at this year’s GOOD DESIGN Awards. Hyundai’s two most progressive EV concepts, 45 and Prophecy, together with the all-new 2021 Hyundai Elantra and the Hyundai Hi-Charger, an ultra-fast EV charging infrastructure, were recognized in the Awards’ Transportation category.

“Hyundai’s design vision to provide lifestyle mobility that coexists with people’s lives has been recognized by winning these awards,” said SangYup Lee, Senior Vice President and Head of Hyundai Global Design Center. “Especially through our EV design, we would like to forge a strong emotional connection between humans and automobiles, giving more value to our customer’s everyday life.”

The 45 EV concept, first introduced at the International Motor Show 2019 in Frankfurt, is a futuristic homage to Hyundai’s iconic Pony Coupe Concept. The styling of 45 is defined by its monocoque-style form, aerodynamics, light-weight design inspired by aircrafts, and diamond-shaped silhouette.

Earlier this year, the 45 shone under the spotlight at other world-renowned design competitions, including the 2020 International Design Excellence Awards, 2020 Red Dot Awards, and the iF Design Award 2020. Such accolades raise expectations of the upcoming release of IONIQ 5, Hyundai’s first dedicated EV in the new IONIQ lineup brand launching next year.

The Prophecy, unveiled last March, is Hyundai’s visionary concept that signifies a direction of future EV styling based on the Sensuous Sportiness design identity. It expands on the era-defining example set by the 45 EV concept that stripped away complexity in favor of clean lines and minimalistic structures. Prophecy won ‘Best of the Best’ in 2020 Red Dot Awards’ Design Concept group, and the concept was also named a finalist for 2020 International Design Excellence Awards.

Another big win went to the all-new 2021 Elantra, which made its debut earlier this year. The seventh generation Elantra offers a futuristic and innovative look and feel, thanks to its Parametric Dynamics design elements. The vehicle’s exterior design is adorned with unique style features including a parametric-jewel-pattern grille and a H-tail Lamp that creates a Hyundai “flying H” logo-like shape. The interior further complements the Elantra’s overall appeal with a 10-inch information-display cluster and infotainment system.

The Hyundai Hi-Charger demonstrates the brand’s commitment to offer a completely new charging experience to EV owners. The 350kW ultra-fast charger enables users to easily power their EVs without feeling the weight of connectors and cables. The user simply chooses the position of a vehicle’s charging port on a digital screen, and a connector automatically rotates and descends to the selected point for an effortless connection. Earlier this year, the Hyundai Hi-Charger won a prize in the User Experience Design category of the 2020 Red Dot Design Awards.

Celebrating its 70th anniversary, the GOOD DESIGN Awards program is one of the oldest design competitions in the world. Every year, the program selects a list of products and industry leaders in design and manufacturing that have chartered new directions for innovation and pushed the envelope for competitive products in the world marketplace.

Source: Tires & Parts

Every car has a “face” and every face has eyes. We subliminally apply face-like features to car fascias. But real life isn’t a cartoon and cars don’t actually have faces. Once designers get away from that they are free to create anything for a car’s fascia. But in the Hyundai Tucson case, how does it make a car with no headlights?

It’s called Invisible Headlight Technology. They do it by hiding the headlights into the grille graphic. Say, what? That’s called “Parametric Hidden Lights.” Take a closer look at that 2022 Hyundai Tucson front end. Notice how the grille openings that are out toward the left and right of the center are lighter? Those are the headlights. The grille graphic gets the outer portions of the grille replaced with headlights. But how does Hyundai get a bunch of small holes to become headlights? It uses half-mirror technology to do it. Using high-definition LED technology Hyundai applies a thin layer of metal to the inner portion of the outer lens to start things off. Then, it gets complicated from there.

The first complication is because of the housing’s small size, more power needs to be fed to the LEDs so they shine bright enough to be effective. Sensors are needed to determine if the brighter, hotter light creates temperatures that distort or melt the lenses. So this simple expansion of lighting into the outer portions of the grille is getting complex.

We’d love to see this exploration of new design elements from the likes of Ford and GM. It would be great to relive those days when the American car companies would flex their muscles and prance about with new technology. We have not seen that swagger from GM, Ford, or Fiat Chrysler. 

So Hyundai is challenging the Detroit 3 and many other manufacturers to step it up. Innovate, excite, and stretch out your ability to apply tech not just to hidden features. They need to apply their tech prowess to design-y features that buyers can see and entertain the neighbors with. 

Source: Motor Biscuit

The best cars and trucks have always resulted from the intersection of inspired design and advanced technology. That was true when a hand-crank was cutting edge engineering, when tailfins were the height of style, and it’s never been truer than today. The best cars, trucks and SUVs introduced this year demonstrate the peak of modern design and engineering.

Buyers’ traditional desires — dependability, capability, value — were amplified by economic and health concerns in 2020. At the same time, features to make cars safer than ever — for people and the planet — became an attainable reality for more drivers.

The 2021 Free Press vehicles of the year exemplify that.

Everything about the new Hyundai Elantra seems to be a step above its competition.

The new compact sedan makes a strong first impression with what may be the richest and most detailed video display of instruments and gauges on any vehicle. Glancing at the new Elantra’s gauges is like the first time you watched hockey on a high-def screen: Who knew you could see the puck? The Elantra’s simple, crystal clear gauges make you wonder why any automaker bothers with physical gauges any more.

Equally advanced and upscale, the Elantra is the first compact car to offer wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, features some new luxury vehicles can’t match.

That attention to design and detail is apparent throughout the Elantra. The body’s crisp lines create a distinctive, modern and upscale look.

Design overcomes budget-conscious materials in the cockpit. Ergonomically located controls, including a 10.25-inch touch screen and classic dials and buttons for the controls where drivers want 'em — volume, tuning, temperature and fan — complete the roomy interior’s amenities.

Prices start at $19,650, and $25K gets you 16-inch aluminum wheels; pedestrian and cyclist detection; wireless charging, adaptive cruise control and more — value and safety other automakers should envy.

In addition to the thrifty 147-horsepower 2.0L-powered base model, the N-Line performance version arriving in dealerships now offers 201 hp and 18-inch wheels for $24,100. A hybrid arriving in spring delivers an EPA-estimated 54 mpg in combined city/highway EPA rating above 50 mpg. Hybrid prices will start at $23,550. All prices exclude destination charges.

The 2021 Hyundai Elantra also gets my vote for North American Car of the Year.

Source: Detroit Free Press

Hyundai Motor Company today reaffirmed its global deign leadership by winning three prestigious 2020 Red Dot Awards in the Design Concept group, including ‘Best of the Best’, in the Mobility & Transportation category.

‘Best of the Best’ went to Hyundai’s progressive concept EV, ‘Prophecy’, and Red Dot named both Hyundai’s ‘45’ concept EV and its ‘Neptune’ fuel-cell electric commercial truck concept ‘Winners’ in the Design Concept group. ‘Prophecy’ and ‘45’ are part of Hyundai’s dedicated EV line-up brand, IONIQ.

‘Prophecy’ is Hyundai’s visionary concept EV that encapsulates pure aerodynamic design, expressing Hyundai’s latest design identity, Sensuous Sportiness. Leveraging an extended wheelbase and short overhang, Hyundai’s designers achieved the ultimate automotive form, thanks to a new EV architecture defined by pristine surfaces and pure volume in combination with aesthetic harmony and functionality. Moreover, ‘Prophecy’ is the first concept car designed by a Korean automotive brand to win the ‘Best of the Best’ design concept award.

The ‘45’ concept, which Hyundai unveiled at Frankfurt Motor Show 2019, is a futuristic homage to the brand’s 45-year-old icon, the Pony Coupe Concept. The design foreshadows a new era of Hyundai’s automotive design focused on electrification, autonomous technologies and smart design. ‘45’ is defined by its monocoque body style, aerodynamic and light-weight design inspired by aircrafts from the 1920s. The car’s 45-degree angles at the front and rear form a diamond-shaped silhouette.

‘Neptune’ fuel cell electric commercial truck concept’s design was inspired by the Art Deco streamliner railway trains that were the standard of industrial design from 1936 to 1959. The distinctive cascading design of its front end provides maximum air flow for increased cooling capabilities. ‘Neptune’ reflects Hyundai’s commitment to the eco-friendly mobility and a hydrogen society. 

“With Prophecy and 45, Hyundai’s EV design vision has been recognized globally by winning the Red Dot Awards. We would like to forge a strong emotional connection between humans and automobiles, giving more value to our customers’ everyday lives,” said SangYup Lee, Senior Vice President and Head of Hyundai Global Design. “Neptune is like an ambassador concept vehicle that embodies Hyundai Motor’s top status and prowess in next-generation fuel-cell EV technology. It represents Hyundai Motor’s vision and customer value as the leader of global hydrogen mobility industry.” 

The Red Dot Award is one of the world’s most prestigious design awards along with iF Design Award and International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA). Red Dot announces winners for Product Design, Brand & Communication and Design Concept every year.

Among 4,170 concept designs submitted to the Red Dot Award: Design Concept this year, only 41 entries won ‘Best of the Best’, and 188 won ‘Winners’ at the awards. Twenty international professionals judged the submissions based on innovation, feasibility and functionality. By winning the Red Dot design awards, Hyundai’s innovative and revolutionary EV designs have been recognized globally.