Despite some, ahem, similar products like the Kia Optima/Hyundai Sonata, Kia Rio/Hyundai Accent, Kia Sportage/Hyundai Tuscon, Kia's Director of Public Relations Alex Fedorak says "the two companies' products are apples and oranges." In an interview with TTAC today, he outlined Kia's future product strategy. Kia is meant to be oriented toward youth, and sporty, with edgier designs, and more performance. In contrast, "Hyundai is more luxury oriented." Which is why yesterday Hyundai introduced the new Genesis coupe by doing burnouts on stage. What the heck? But really, the Kia brand is evolving – the next Spectra will come as a sedan and coupe. "In sum," Mr. Fedorak said, "we are going to be design led." Look, I love the Rondo, but that ain't no beauty queen winner.

One of the big car news events of the year has been the Hyundai Genesis. First, the details you need: RWD, three engine options (3.3 liter V6 from the Sonata with 240-ish hp, 3.8 liter V6 from the Azera with 270-ish hp, and the big boy 4.6 liter V8 with 380 horses). They still won't give any info on price other than "approximately what a 3-Series costs." And since that ranges from $32,000 to $50,000 (not counting the M3), that means about nothing. Now in terms of the vehicle itself, it has a general luxury-generic look, and the interior has well done parts (leather stitched on the dash) and some embarrassingly bad elements (fake wood a la 1994). The Hyundai PR flackers were totally tight lipped about a luxury brand in the US , and insisted they wanted to show people what Hyundai is capable of. Except that they aren't putting a logo on the front of the car, making it completely anonymous. It's hard to sell a "luxury" car alongside a 1.6 liter Hyundai Accent, and I think VW proved with the Phaeton that this kind of wild product diversity is a mess.

Hyundai sales executive Young-Key Koo revealed to China Daily (via MotorAuthority) that the Korean carmaker will be spinning off a new luxury brand. The new nameplate caps Hyundai's steady upmarket climb, and could well compete with Acura, Infiniti and Lexus in the not-too-distant but not-anytime-soon future. The brand will be officially launched in 2010. New luxury models will hit China first. A sportscar and V8-powered "flagship sedan" are set to arrive in the Middle Kingdom next year, with a CUV to follow. News of a new name and logo has our hopes high for something hilariously generic, yet totally inappropriate. "The all new Smegma V8" sounds good to me, as does "The European-Inspired Ennui Roadster." So we put it to you, TTAC's Best and Brightest. What should Hyundai call its new luxury brand?

Today's "internet-broken embargo" brings you pictures of Hyundai's new Genesis coupe. Genesis is also the name of Hyundai's new big RWD luxury sedan. While the coupe shares its name, it shares none of the sedan's handsome sheetmetal. I think it's scary, early 1990s ugly. The coupe will get a turbocharged four-cylinder engine and a V6 (probably with ~300 horsepower); making it sound like it could be either a Mustang/Camaro competitor in the mid $20ks. Or it could attempt to do to the Infiniti G37 coupe what the Infiniti G37 coupe does to the BMW 335i. More for less. To make matters worse, the pictures come courtesy of forums at "New Tiburon," even though previous rumors were that the RWD Genesis coupe would be a separate model from an upcoming all-new FWD Tiburon. So, which is it? Affordable muscle car competing with the Mustang? Luxury sports coupe going head to head with BMW and Infiniti? A new Tiburon? And willthe coupe ever offer Hyundai's new 380 horsepower V8? Only time will tell. And by time, I mean four days, which is when this car is properly unveiled at the NY Auto Show.

Click here for a Pixamo gallery of the Genesis coupe 

As we reported earlier, Hyundai Chairman and convicted embezzler Chung Mong-koo faced a challenge to his leadership at the annual shareholders meeting. Amazingly, Chung was able to retain his position despite having been convicted of "appropriating" $100m of company money and creating a bribery slush fund. Reuters reports that Chung survived opposition from Korea's National Pension Fund, the company's sixth-largest stakeholder as well as from other minority shareholders. Chung's popularity is said to be based on Hyundai's need for "strong and experienced leadership to cope with tough market conditions." Our guess is that shareholders want to hold onto Chung's battle-proven bribery rolodex in order to keep the Korean currency weak, as the cheap Won is Hyundai's major competitive advantage in light of rising commodity costs and increased competition. Stock value one, rule of law nil.

Bloomberg reports that Hyundai's been hit hard by rising steel prices. Apparently, China's Olympic building boom is causing localized shortages and driving up prices. Rising raw materials costs cut especially deep for the value-minded Hyundai brand, who can ill-afford the hike. "The higher prices come at a difficult time,'' says Mirae Asset Securities analyst Kim Jae Woo. "Hyundai won't be able to pass on the higher costs to customers as the slowing global economy is already damping auto demand.'' Steel prices are expected to continue rising for the considerable future; raising an interesting challenge to the strategy of manufacturing in east Asia. Although low labor costs have made the region popular among budget automakers (e.g. GM's Daewoo), China's economic boom is putting increased pressure on commodity prices. In the cutthroat global automotive industry, there's nowhere to hide.

Finally, it looks like the other shoe is dropping. Nine days after Toyota slashed prices on 16 of its Canadian models, its greatest emulator, Hyundai, has followed suit. CanadianDriver.com reports that Hyundai has recently clawed back the prices the Tiburon and the Tuscon L by $3,000 and $4,200 respectively. So how does this stack up against U.S. pricing? According to Hyundai.com, a new base-level Tiburon now costs $15,995 in Canada vs. $17,025 south of the border. The Tuscon is now cheaper north of the border, at $16,995 versus $17,235 in America. Before you Americans start drafting your business plan around a Canadian domestic market importation scheme, beware: the base Sonata is still more expensive in Canada, relieving of you $18,995 Canadian or $17,670 American. Now that Chrysler, Toyota and Hyundai have put the squeeze on dealers at other car companies' franchises, we expect many more "adjustments" to come. [thanks to Dave McDonald for the tip]

Hyundai Chairman and CEO Chung Mong-koo was convicted in Korean court for embezzling some $100m in company funds. Thanks to Korea's corporate crime-friendly legal system, Chung didn't spend day one (day woo?) in prison. While Hyundai's profits soared under Chung's leadership, indignant shareholders are baying for blood. Moral outrage? Nah. Hyundai's stock growth slowed to six percent last year in the wake of the scandal, well below the Korean benchmark index of 32 percent in the same period. Chung and his son Eui-son (who heads Kia Motors, so add nepotism to the score card) hoped to deflect public criticism by donating over $1b in stock to the public. Only they haven't done it yet. Most of the funds Chung removed from Hyundai's corporate coffers were spent on a slush fund to bribe public officials, which at least partially explains Chung's continuing freedom. It may also explain why many institutional investors appear to be standing behind Chung. Meanwhile, a minority group of shareholders is preparing a lawsuit claiming damages stemming from embezzlement and other mismanagement. This is so not a good thing.

At Chicago, Hyundai showed us the Elantra Touring, which is their marketing-friendly term for hatchback or wagon or five-door. It's not just an Elantra with a hatchback though (thank goodness); it's more closely related to Hyundai's European offering in the hot C-segment category (Golf, Astra, Focus). That means the Touring has cop shocks, a cop engine… wait, wrong movie. It means it has Hyundai's firmer European suspension (about 30 percent stiffer than the U.S.-spec Elantra sedan), better springs, larger front and rear stabilizer bars, and a much more rigid body. We can only hope Hyundai improved the steering feedback from the Elantra sedan– which is so light you can steer it just by staring at the wheel and yelling "LEFT." Anyway, the Touring's exterior looks good. Check out the microsite for yourself (stupid welcome screen, lousy music alert) and tell me they're not– even a little— cribbing MINI's cheekiness.

Hyundai's Sonata might be the ultimate in passion-free motoring (it's also available in 100 calorie packs), but it's a direct hit on an American market that shops on specs first, character second. Sales slipped just a tad in 2007 to 145,568 Sonatas, indicating it's a good time for the company to roll out a refresh. Exterior changes are subtle; you'd do better to spot differences between pop singer Fergie's face and a pumpkin. The beauty here is on the inside (same with Fergie, we're sure). First, Hyundai's finally fit a proper interior to the Sonata. The 2004 – 2007 model's cabin was decent and ergonomically acceptable, but buyers wanted a little more style– especially at the higher trim levels. So the new Sonata has a mostly new interior, including a slick looking center stack that's more than a little reminiscent of the Lexus RX. The Sonata also gets optional navigation, which means Hyundai can finally join competitors in scamming customers out of $1500 they could save by buying a TomTom-type device. Second, Hyundai shakes up the powertrains. The four-cylinder engine is now up to 175 horses (from 162) and gains a cog (five-speed auto). The legato V6 is also up to 249 horses from 234. These power bumps also bring slight mileage improvements: 22/32 for the four-pot and 19/29 for the big boy V6. Despite stagnant sales numbers and fleet dependence issues, the Sonata has been a giant leap for vanillacarkind. These refinements should help keep the numbers healthy until the next full redesign. 

Yesterday, in our Super Bowl car ad guide, we speculated about what you'd be seeing from Hyundai. No need for guessing: Hyundai went ahead and posted both 30 second ads online. Our take: they look pretty good. Very simple, easy to follow (especially if you've had the standard game day spirits), and effective. Hyundai is just extending the image it has already staked out: value. They'll sell you the same car for less money, or more car for the same money. It works selling Sonatas to Corolla shoppers, and they've taken exactly the same approach here. "S-Class size for the price of the C-Class." Then they tell you it's got 375 horsepower. No green nonsense, no claims of inventing new market segments, and certainly no streams running through the woods. Just more for your money. What do you think?

With Chrysler and Ford letting the last of the great rear wheel-drive American sedans slowly sink into a cesspit of mediocrity, Hyundai has stepped once more into the breach, dear Kim. The Korean automaker has unveiled the Genesis, saying that the BMW 5-Series, Mercedes C-Class and Lexus IS are nice cars and all, but Hyundai's rear wheel-drive sedan will be a hit because people are SOL poor nowadays they can't afford that fancy foreign shit [paraphrasing]. The Genesis, you see, puts luxury in the grasp of people "who deserve more" (as opposed to all those guilt-ridden people who feel they deserve less– but still manage to eat a lot of fattening food). You want more? The Genesis' creators (God?) benchmarked the Mercedes S-Class for interior space. It's got a more rigid chassis and superior (complex) 5-link suspension than the 5-series and E-class. Which is all well and good, but the Genesis has an invisible touch. While "real" luxury cars grab hold of your heart, the Genesis is like that lover you can't remember because, well, you just can't. 

[Reported by Sajeev Mehta]

More than a few industry pundits have taken to calling Hyundai "the next Toyota." The spin: Hyundai is a formidable low-cost automaker whose high quality products are stealing side dishes from Toyota's table, eying the Japanese automaker's main course. As our Steven Lang has pointed out, the Sonata's lackluster U.S. sales help partially put paid to that theory. And now Chosun explodes the myth entirely. The South Korean newspaper reports that the Federation of Korean Industries has discovered that Korea's largest carmaker produced 29.6 cars per worker last year, 57 percent fewer than Toyota's 68.9 cars per worker. "Hyundai Motor’s sales and operating profit per worker were also no more than 40.8 and 22.2 percent of those of Toyota. The Korean company's productivity was worse than that of six other international automakers. Compared to the assembly productivity of 21.1 to 23.2 hours per vehicle by Ford, Honda, General Motors and Toyota, Hyundai and Kia recorded 31.1 and 37.5 hours, respectively." And here's the kicker: "Hyundai paid its workers more than Toyota, with an annual average salary per worker of W57m (US$1=W934) compared to Toyota's W55 million." 

UPDATE This just in from Deep Throat: "Methinks the Korean reporting on Hyundai is wrong. There is no way the production per worker is half that of Toyota and they get paid more. They’d be bankrupt. Also, IIRC, the Nummi plant in NorCal produces something like 400,000 units per year on 4,500 workers… but if you add sales/admin/corp staff to that, I can believe somewhere around 70 units/worker/year. And Toyota/Ford/GM take about 30+ manhours per unit of production, not in the low 20 hour range."

Hyundai is slowing releasing details about its upcoming luxury sedan , called the Genesis. What we already knew is that it's rear-wheel drive, and that Hyundai benchmarked the BMW 5-Series. Let's hope they leave out the too-small back seat and spine-jarring ride quality. An iDrive knock off is already confirmed. Although the base engine will be a 300 hp V6, Hyundai has previously stated that they were developing a V8 engine as well. Now we've got the goods, and Hyundai is reporting that the "Tau" V8 engine will have 375 equines. That puts it in good company of V8 engines from Mercedes (380), BMW (360), Lexus (340-380) and Acura (just kidding, they don't have a V8). If the eight-cylinder Genesis comes in at the $35k price point many are speculating, it'll probably be such a smash hit that it'll recall the original Lexus LS400. TTAC blogmeisters will be on hand to cover its debut at the Detroit Auto Show in January.

Look in Hyundai’s high school yearbook and you’ll see “most improved.” Almost every model the Korean automaker has sent stateside has been a quantum leap forward from its predecessor. The Elantra's roots stretch back to the Excel, which excelled at falling apart. The Elantra name survived; the model went from crap, to cheap, to "say that's not bad." Now we've got the fourth generation Elantra. Does the all-new iteration follow the Sonata and Santa Fe in Hyundai's relentless march from cars you buy because they're dirt cheap to cars you buy because why the Hell should I pay more?