Lehigh Valley Auto Dealers

Hyundai is recalling about 150,000 Elantra sedans because of a potential problem with the airbags that could prevent the vehicle’s safety mechanisms from deploying.

Hyundai said that the recall involves vehicles from the 2001 Elantra model year. The recall comes not from a direct factory error or from a problem that has been broadly reported, but by a bit of a design issue. If water or any liquid is spilled near the vehicle’s cupholder, the liquid could drip into the airbag control module electrical connector and contaminate the device. This, in turn, could cause the airbag device not to deploy properly.

The Korean automaker has another recall on the docket involving about 75,000 Elantras from the 2001 and 2002 model years. This recall is taking place because of issues with an air bag wiring harness that could prevent the side air bags from deploying.

Hyundai is advising any drivers who see a warning light regarding their airbag unit to bring their vehicle into a dealership for inspection. There is no word as to how widespread the airbag issues are or if the issues are related to other cars in the Hyundai line-up. For the time being, Hyundai Elantra owners are asked to be extra careful regarding liquids near the cupholders.

For more information, drop by a Lansdale Hyundai dealer today.

In our last entry, we discussed the brand new hydrogen car from Honda, the FCX Clarity. The car debuted in July, as we mentioned, and opened to relatively good reviews. But there are a few drawbacks to the Honda FCX Clarity, most of which are drawbacks to the notion of a hydrogen car itself.

One of the first and most significant drawbacks has nothing to do with the Honda FCX Clarity or with any particular brand of hydrogen car at all: finding a fill station. As hydrogen cars are still incredibly rare, locating a place in which to fill up the hydrogen car can be a bit tricky.

Furthermore, hydrogen is gathered by extracting the substance from natural gas, thereby releasing carbon dioxide. In other words, hydrogen is not entirely emissions free. Of course, part of the reason such a shade is being put over hydrogen is that the oil companies aren’t quite ready for any mass market shift. Indeed, hydrogen cars do burn cleaner and are better vehicles for the environment. As with any vehicle, there are inconveniences.

But what does this mean for the rest of us? For starters, pulling into your local Lansdale Honda dealer may not be able to solve all of your problems. You may have to seek out additional assistance straight from Honda itself, as they can inform you fully as to the various caveats of the FCX Clarity. For the time being, you may be more satisfied to stick with one of Honda’s other fuel efficient vehicles.

China has banned the import of products from Hyundai and Kia after complaints that they violated anti-trust laws in pressing local dealers to meet sales targets.

There has been no notification sent to Hyundai from the Chinese government, however, and the car company hopes that the import ban will be lifted soon. Hyundai spokesman Jake Jang said that the ban only applies to cars produced in South Korean plants by Hyundai and Kia. The vehicles produced by Hyundai and Kia plants IN China are obviously not impacted by this import ban.

Jang believes that the banning comes from local Hyundai dealer outlets in China responding to pressure from South Korean companies to move merchandise and sell more vehicles. This violates anti-trust laws. Of course, Hyundai denies violating any anti-trust laws.

“We did not pressurise them (the dealers) to meet targets and I’m sure there is some way to resolve this,” Jang said.

At this point and time, Hyundai is responsible for exporting about 1500 vehicles a month to China, while Kia operates an exporting to China route of about 800. Word is that Hyundai has about two or three months worth of inventory in the country already, so the import ban may not impact the company until a bit further down the road.

Honda’s hydrogen fuel cell vehicle has long been thought of as a sort of off-the-beaten-path attempt at granting environmentalists a sense of superiority that they otherwise couldn’t have gathered through normal tasks. Picking up garbage, recycling cans, or doing a host of other everyday things generally aren’t enough to appease the sense of self-righteousness that many trendy “green” junkies seek.

So the Honda FCX Clarity, a car that holds the promise of gas-free driving, really ought to suit the desires of these people, right? The problem is that the FCX Clarity works well enough for the rest of us, too.

Without pretension or posturing, the Honda FCX Clarity offers a smooth ride for drivers and the satisfaction of not paying astronomical gas prices and not polluting just by driving to the corner store. It’s a good feeling and the FCX Clarity makes it feel even better.

The Clarity actually debuted in July, but Honda has since leased about 200 of them to people in, of course, Southern California. The leases will take place over the next three years and will ensure that the FCX Clarity is well over the bar for most of us.

Luckily, Honda still has plenty of other vehicles to offer that will grant us both style and comfort while saving the world. Drop on by your local Honda dealer today for more information and a test drive.

With the launch of the Hyundai Genesis in South Korea next week, the performance numbers for the car have finally been released to the public.

CAR has already tested the Hyundai Genesis, marking the first in a line of press vehicle testings allowed by the company. CAR tesetd the 310-hp, 3.8-liter V6 model equipped with the six-speed automatic gearbox for its purposes. The vehicle mad its way to 62 miles per hour in 5.9 seconds, which is a pretty decent time for such a car. Hyundai is expecting that the Genesis will do well in sales based on its overall performance.

Hyundai is hoping that the Genesis will mean great new things for the company. The South Korean home market will feature a model that represents a 2.0L base model that will achieve 223 hp and 220 lb-ft with premium fuel and 210 hp with regular fuel.

By contrast, US drivers will only receive the 210 hp version, but with a turbo-charged 2.0L under the hood. Tentative pricing has been released, although there is nothing final in terms of the US prices. For the time being, with costs converted from the Korean won, the American price on the Genesis is $18,728 for the base model and $27,382 for the V6 top-of-the-line version.

For more information on the Hyundai Genesis and its performance numbers, drop by your local Hyundai dealer today.

Clearly much has been made about the changing economic times and the crashing of the stock markets. The gas prices have also played a heavy role in the lack of general consumer spending, which has made times more than interesting for major automotive chains like Honda. So like any smart company experiencing slumping sales during a recession (yes, it is one!), Honda has decided to make some adjustments to its production strategy.

For one thing, Honda is shifting two of its major production arms to come up with products to meet the demands of the changing consumer base. With more people “going green,” Honda has altered the production of two Western Ohio plants and one Alabama facility to keep up with the renewed demand in green products.

Honda is also planning on moving the majority of its V6 Honda Accord to an Alabama plant, enabling other plants to focus on a broader spectrum of green technology.

Honda is not planning on changing production capacity at any of the facilities, instead keeping to schedules and capacity requirements with the model changes. This will help keep Honda working at capacity and will help grow interest in the new technology that the company will bring in.

For more information on Honda adjustments and how they may impact the Honda dealer near you, keep it locked on this site.

iSimple’s award-winning iPod portable media integration system is now available on Hyundai models (and Nissan models).

The iSimple system is now compatible with the factory systems in over 69 million vehicles in the United States, including most late model Acura, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Honda, Hummer, Isuzu, Lexus, Lincoln, Mercury, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saturn, Scion, Toyota and Volkswagen vehicles. By adding their name to the mix, Hyundai once again opens new doors for function in their vehicles.

The iSimple integration system allows car owners to directly interface their iPod or other portable audio sources into the vehicle’s factory installed car audio system. This allows for remarkably ease of use, plus better audio quality and static free reception.

This integration system allows people the ease of use of the standard factory audio system, which is often a whole lot easier to use than other audio systems from market sources. By granting the ability to use iPod technology seamlessly with standard audio equipment, iSimple has developed one of the most popular pieces of technology for today’s modern drivers.

For more information on the iSimple iPod integration system and its availability on Hyundai vehicles, drop by your local Hyundai dealer today.

Honda is moving some of its enormous Honda Civic production facility space to a $550 million facility right smack dab in the middle of Indiana. The facility, located in Greensburg for those so inclined, will produce 200,000 vehicles and will offer employment to 2,000 workers when it operates at full capacity. That should make residents of Greensburg very happy.

“With continued high demand for the Honda Civic, we are honored and excited to help meet the needs of our customers in North America,” said Yuzo Uenohara, president of Honda Manufacturing of Indiana (HMIN). “Our new Indiana associates are dedicated to building the very best Honda products, with customer satisfaction as our top goal.”

Honda’s attention to building and facilitating jobs across America will come in handy in terms of boosting the company’s sales profile. While some American-born companies are outsourcing and shifting jobs out of the country, Japanese companies are bringing in jobs.

Word is that 900 associates from Indiana have been training for their new positions. They are refining new processes and learning about how Honda wants things done, which will help them train other employees and remain hard workers under Honda’s watch.

For more information about Honda’s mass production in Indiana or about any of the fine automobiles made by American hands from Honda, drop on by your local Honda dealer today.

The Honda Civic Hybrid continues to turn heads and now it has an award to show for itself, scooping up the Green Gadget of the Year at T3 magazine’s annual awards ceremony last night. The award was voted on by T3 readers.

The Honda Civic drivetrain has enabled the company to produce a vehicle that gets tremendous gas mileage and remains entirely driveable. Owners do not have to sacrifice speed or function for fuel economy, either, and can still look every bit the stylish motorist behind the wheel. With this type of practical function, the Honda Civic Hybrid may well give the Toyota Prius a serious run for its money.

“Because the award was voted by the magazine’s readers, it’s even more important to us,” said Tom Gardner, Head of Marketing, Honda United Kingdom. “This is a great endorsement for the Civic Hybrid and with Honda’s commitment to developing green innovations I’m sure there will be many more occasions like this in future.”

With this award, the Honda Civic Hybrid for 2009 comes at an exciting time for the company. With new features and improved styling, the new Civic Hybrid will turn a lot of heads and ought to rack up the sales. Keep  your eyes tuned to your local Honda dealer outlet for more information regarding this rising star in the hybrid market.

For those gearheads among us, news of Hyundai’s brand spanking new high performance V6 Lambda RS engine should be enticing.

Hyundai Motor Company’s Powertrain R&D Center at Namyang in Korea has developed the engine and will introduce it in the Hyundai Genesis coupe with an expected launch date later this month. This version of the Lambda is based on the 2004 version, but features a few adjustments that ought to please most people interested in the finer workings of the car’s engine.

There are several key modifications, for instance. To start with, Hyundai raised the power of the engine to a maximum of  310ps@6300rpm. For those in the United States market, that translates into 310 horsepower. The new engine boasts a peak torque of 36.8kg/m@4700rpm , which is a pretty big boost on the last instalment as well.

The engine is actually shorter, too, due to the need for it to fit snugly into the Genesis body. This meant that a major re-design of the exhaust and intake portions was necessary. The exhaust manifold was enhanced for reduced resistance, making for better speed performance overall. The diameter of the intake port in the ETC (Electronic Throttle Control) module was enlarged to improve engine breathing.

If this sounds exciting, just wait until you’re able to test drive one of these new engines. For more information, stop by your local Hyundai dealer today.