Toyota and Honda want to Win Back Sales Share from Hyundai Sonata with New Models

Not too long ago, if someone told you that a South Korean model would challenge America’s best selling sedan, the Toyota Camry, you would have probably laughed in his or her face.
Needless to say, a lot has changed over the past few years with Hyundai and in particular its latest Sonata sedan, not only challenging, but this past May even surpassing the Camry in U.S. sales for the first time in history.
Of course, the fact that Toyota’s production capabilities were seriously affected by the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan, played a significant role in Hyundai’s accomplishment.

Renault Samsung SM7 Concept Teased ahead of Seoul Motor Show

Renault's South Korean brand Samsung released a teaser sketch of the SM7 concept car that previews the next-generation of the firm’s large sedan. The current SM7, which is built on Nissan’s J31 platform that underpins the Asian market Nissan Teana and the sixth-generation of the North American Nissan Maxima, has been on the market since 2004.

Its successor will be unveiled at the upcoming Seoul Motor Show (April 1-10), in the form of a design study. The teaser image shows a car with a sporty, muscular design, with the front end being dominated by a large trapezoidal grille that is continued in the form of the engine hood. The SM7 Concept sports a low, coupe-like profile that ends in... unknown territory, since the back of the car is hidden from view.

Official details are scarce, but the next SM7 is expected to use an elongated platform of the SM5 (known to Europeans as the Renault Latitude). Developed together with the French automaker, the future SM7 is expected to arrive in production form in the second half of 2011.

There are no plans for selling the car in Europe, since Renault says it doesn't intend to have a bigger car than the Latitude in its range. It could make a nice Safrane though...

By Dan Mihalascu

SCOOP: Kia Readying a Facelift for the 2012 Soul

It appears that the Soul is the next vehicle in Kia’s list to receive an update. Caught here in testing in Germany by our spy photographers, the bagged-up ends do their job to hide the Soul’s stylistic upgrades with the only visible change being the redesigned exterior mirrors that house the turning lights.

However, it is expected that the Soul will take some cues from the new Picanto and Rio hatchbacks (both of which were revealed at the Geneva Motor Show) such as the pulled back headlamps and more pronounced bumpers. An interior rework may also be in the cards.

Currently, the Soul is offered in the States with two gasoline engines, a 1.6-liter unit with 122HP and a 2.0-liter delivering 142HP. In Europe, engine choices include a 1.6-liter turbo diesel with 126HP and a 1.6-liter petrol producing 124HP.

From what we’ve heard, there’s a good chance that in both regions, Kia will replace the standard 1.6-liter gasoline unit with the Veloster’s all-new 1.6-liter four-pot featuring direct-injection technology and an output of 138HP and 123 lb.-ft. at 4,850 rpm. Europe may also get the Hyundai-Kia Group’s newer 1.7-liter turbo diesel unit, offered in two states of tune.

PHOTO GALLERY

Korean Designer Mixes Science and Nature in a Saab Sports Sedan Concept for 2025

.fullpost{display:inline;} Earlier this year, Swedish automaker Saab was saved from the scrapheap by Spyker and a loan from the European Investment Bank. In spite of this, nothing much has changed. The stylish new 9-5 has gone on sale overseas, with the 9-4X crossover following in Q2 2011. And the aging 9-3 trundles on, blissfully unaware that anything has