HiHyundai by MAGNIFIK

Hyundai A View On Hyundaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Universe

Limited edition

/ 250

Hi there,

Hyundai is globally acknowledged as a leading player in the auto industry. This is a major achievement for a company that, at the turn of the century, was focused on quantitative rather than qualitative growth. The leadership and vision of Chairman M.K. Chung has continued to drive Hyundai forward, and now the quality of the products and services delivered by Hyundai is among the best in the world. Independent assessment demonstrates our progress during the last 10 years. Take a look at Interbrand’s annual ‘Best Global Brands’ report as an example. It recognises the part of the buying process for any product that is attributable to brand – exclusive of other aspects such as price or feature. Hyundai first entered the Interbrand top 100 list in 2005, in 84th position. Since then, the company has risen steadily, attaining the honour of ‘fastest growing automotive brand’ in 2010 and 2011 and is currently ranked 61st. This progress is testament to how much consumers now value the Hyundai brand and the products and services we offer. In Europe, we have faced the challenging task of building our brand in what is the world’s most competitive market – home to several well-respected, highly successful automotive companies. By designing and engineering Hyundai cars specifically for European consumers, we have built a reputation for quality in everything we do. The all-new i40, for example, received the ultimate prize from Automotive Circle International in its 2011 EuroCarBody awards program. Hyundai took the ‘Golden Award’ – considered the highest accolade in the industry – at the first time of asking, having never previously entered the contest. The judges praised the engineering, development and the production efficiency of the i40. Hyundai became the first Asian brand to take the honour – 10 years ago this feat would have been unthinkable. We are living in an era of ‘new thinking’ and ‘new possibilities’, an illustration of which will be the 2012 launch of the new-generation i30. This model will build on the great success of its best-selling predecessor, taking Hyundai to new heights in Europe. I am privileged to write the foreword for this wonderful book, and I hope readers will enjoy the great insight it provides into how far Hyundai has come both in Europe and globally over recent years. Allan Rushforth Senior Vice President & COO Hyundai Motor Europe GmbH

CONTENTS

New Thinking, 6 Eleven ways to explain our slogan. New Possibilities

Hi Europe

8 The i30 twinkles in Belgium.

Hi Design

Hi Ecology

Hi Blue Drive

Hi Fun

Hi Future

Hi Flexibility

Hi Tech

110 Our Research and Development Centres.

Hi Adventure

114 The ix35 discovers Turkey’s Cappadocia.

24 Our design directors explain our philosophy. 32 The i10 sails around the Dutch IJsselmeer. 46 Our blue technology makes the world greener. 58 The Veloster sunbathes in South Andalucía. 74 Our concept cars. 92 The i40 tempts the German Ruhrgebiet.

Hi Care 132 Allan Rushforth, Senior Vice President and COO of Hyundai Europe, explains.

Hi Ambitions

Hi Story

Hi Freedom

Hi American Dream

Hi Luxury

136 The Grandeur grants Seoul a visit. 154 The remarkable tale of our founder Chung Ju-Yung. 158 The Equus hovers over California’s Highway 1. 178 John F. Krafcik, CEO of Hyundai USA, explains even more. 184 The ix55 graces Paris.

Hi Heritage 200 A visit at Hyundai’s museum.

Hi Beauty 206 The ix20 shows off in Turin.

Hi World 222 Facts and figures.

Hi Driving Pleasure

224 The Genesis Coupe dives into the English Cotswolds.

Dear Hi Hyundai reader, It is with utmost pleasure that I present this magnificent book. ‘Hi Hyundai’ represents everything Hyundai stands for today, and also gives a prelude of our brilliant future. The premium feel, the perceived quality and the extraordinary experience showcased by this book exactly sum up the characteristics of our new model line-up. More than everything, Hi Hyundai looks beautiful thanks to our cars, which endlessly inspired our talented photographer. The magic recipe behind our success is called ‘Fluidic Design.’ This new house style is appreciated and admired by press and public all over the world. It must be said: the intrinsic splendour of the cars that are featured in this book is as surprising as our impressive results in the global sales charts. Hyundai conquers the world and there’s no stopping us; that much is clear. As Hyundai importer for Belgium and Luxemburg, we are extremely proud that such a small country can contribute considerably to this success. This attractive book that will be cherished by thousands of readers worldwide, illustrates again how small countries can bring about vast projects. Evidently, we don’t want to forget those people who contributed to this result. They get a well deserved place of honour at the back of this book. This initiative of Hyundai Belux underlines that we, as Hyundai importer, take our new brand slogan very seriously and translate it to reality in every possible way. ‘Hi Hyundai’ is ‘New Thinking. New Possibilities’ - from the first to the last page. Loyal to this philosophy, please be assured that Hyundai will keep surprising you in the decades to come. Please let yourself be surprised by this premium book. If it inspires you to continue the discovery of the magical Hyundai universe, you can always visit a Hyundai dealership somewhere in the world. Because there, the future already starts today. Happy reading, Olivier Sermeus Managing Director Hyundai Belux Korean Motor Company

‘Design is a core competence. Like with a good wine, it takes years to grow and to establish a solid foundation of ideas. Since Hyundai worked hard to establish the best design team and a strong vision, we don’t engage external design houses anymore. You can’t buy good design. You need to do it yourself.’ Thomas Bürkle, Chief Designer Hyundai Design Center Europe

new thinking

‘Young brands typically are very aggressive on sales. We aren’t. We prefer to accelerate our maturity and focus on customer attention through our five-year Triple Care program. This may not push sales spectacularly, but it confirms the confidence.’ Allan Rushforth, COO and SENIOR vice president of Hyundai Motor Europe

‘There’s one will, but many ways.’ Hyundai founder Chung Ju-Yung

‘Although a relatively small market compared to Asia or the US, Europe is extremely important for Hyundai because it’s so tough and highly competitive. That’s why our R&D centre is located in the very heart of Germany, right in the lion’s cage. We don’t want to hide. We want to win the fight. If we can make it here, we can make it everywhere.’ Jürgen Grimm, Head of Powertrain Engineering at the Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Centre

‘Hyundai used to strive to be the biggest, and set goals in terms of wanting to build ten million cars a year. But today we’ve become more mature. Now we just want to be the highest quality auto maker.’ John F. Krafcik, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor America

‘Because Hyundai doesn’t have a strong heritage, we don’t feel our past weighing on our shoulders, and are free to look ahead to create our own icons.’ Lee Byung Seob, Hyundai’s design director in Korea

‘Europe is a very diverse and highly competitive market. But at the end of the day, each client just wants a reliable, trustworthy partnership. He wants to be cared for, and looked after. Having created the right circumstances and the right products to make it happen, is the basis of our success.’

‘We’ve never considered creating a separate premium brand. Even our biggest and most luxurious cars are Hyundais. Great Hyundais. That’s how we strengthen the Hyundai brand and the customer experience. We train our people at the Hyundai dealerships to take good care of Genesis and Equus customers, and then transfer that approach to the smaller models.’ John F. Krafcik, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor America

Allan Rushforth, COO and SENIOR vice president of Hyundai Motor Europe

new POSSIBILITIES ‘Concept cars are like fashion. Although you cannot wear haute couture on a daily basis, it helps to differentiate the brand.’ Lee Byung Seob, Hyundai’s design director in Korea

‘Some car brands label themselves as leader in hybrids. But we are number one in fuel efficiency. Who’s doing better for society then? The hybrid maker or Hyundai?’ John F. Krafcik, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor America

‘The prosperity of a nation goes hand in hand with the development of its mobility and flexibility’. Hyundai founder Chung Ju-Yung convincing the State Minister of Industry that South Korea should construct its own cars, despite the poor demand at the time

EUROPE The Hyundai i30 Twinkles In Belgium

BOTH the Hyundai i30 and Belgium share the illustrious properties of a small diamond: an overwhelmingly multifaceted character, manifest beauty and obvious value, but with no need to impress with huge dimensions. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why they leave such a massive mark on Europe.

Belgium, a remarkably small country by the North Sea, is located right in the heart of Europe. Although the entire country fills only a quarter of Lake Michigan’s surface and shelters less inhabitants than Seoul or Los Angeles, it is a complicated nation with three official languages. Moreover, it has no less than five governments to control this linguistic and cultural ball of string. In fact, Belgium’s political structure has almost as many threads as the global Hyundai network. Yet, while this versatile configuration has mainly been brought into place to preserve the inner peace in Belgium, Hyundai’s fine-mesh spider web has primarily been woven to perfectly answer each and every customer demand all over the world. Although it takes barely three hours to cross Belgium at cruising speed, this triangle offers everything the most demanding tourist hankers for: from greenish mountains in the Ardennes, across dry sand dunes in the Campine region to a relaxed sea in the west. But most of all, Belgium attracts visitors from everywhere with its charming cities. Americans, Japanese, Chinese or Southern Europeans: everybody wants to witness at least once the picturesque, medieval centres of Bruges, Gent, Brussels, Liège or Antwerp. Their appeal are obvious landmarks such as the Manneke Pis – the small watering guy as the ultimate symbol of the Belgian picaresque nature – or the shiny Atomium, and the tiny rivers that turn Bruges into the Flemish Venice. And let’s certainly not forget the Antwerp Cathedral that was never finished, again illustrating the je m’enfoutism that dominates here. Beauty and quality is to be found especially in the small streets and alleys in the shade of these tourist attractions. Each of these towns has more amiable restaurants and brasseries - where Michelin-star quality can be enjoyed at fast food prices - than there are pizzerias in Italy. And almost every street corner uncovers another snug café where there are as many local beers to savour as there are spicy stories to be

heard. The same pleasant, almost warming atmosphere that turns these bars and bistros into people magnets can be found everywhere else in this apron-small country tucked between France, Holland and Germany. From a distance, it seems only obvious that this particular state with its intricate split should simply be cut into three pieces, in order to paste the Dutch-speaking Flemish part to Holland, the French-speaking Wallonian part to France and the minuscule German part in the east to Germany. But in reality, the adhesive Belgian ambiance glues everybody together into one coherent country where, despite some political discord, not even the slightest traces of violence or aggressiveness towards one another is noted. Perhaps all this balances out because every Belgian has a slightly anarchistic vein. Not in an angry or destructive way, though. It’s just that people here are never much impressed by big names or official institutes. Just like Hyundai doesn’t let itself be intimidated by other established brands, and doesn’t fear to stand up next to any other car maker. But above all, Belgium is neutral in every way. That’s why its capital Brussels has been selected to host the headquarters of the European Community. This impartial approach is visible everywhere, even in the car related world. As Belgium isn’t home to any car manufacturers, car buyers here are never guided by patriotic feelings. This makes Belgium a tough country for car brands, but also an honest market where everybody has equal chances. Many car makers even consider it a benchmark country: if you can make it here, you can make it everywhere. Is it any wonder that Hyundai performs remarkably well here? Belgium is a relatively young nation, as the majestic Cinquantenaire in Brussels amply proves. This horseshoe shaped gallery with its baroque triumphal arch - only a chocolate’s throw away from the European Government offices - was constructed for the 50th birthday of this determined country a mere 130 years ago. A nation that never had a significant army, and was never an economic force of enough magnitude to make an impact. No, it found a significant place on the international map only by being its charming self. It has of course its little problems, and politicians love to argue over dots and commas until they weigh an ounce. But at the end of the day, they all go to the same pub to have a beer or two, and have a good laugh. Because Belgium is, above everything else, a paradise for the devotees of the good life. Here, at the cradle of blond beer, dark chocolate, and golden fries, all the delights of a high-quality existence are enjoyed to the full. Here, it’s never about keeping up posh appearances without any substance. In Belgium, pleasure and beauty are accessible to everybody. In Belgium, generosity rules: for people, for portions, for food, for beer, for fun. That’s why this country survived the recent economical crisis without much damage. That’s why the Hyundai i30 loves to travel these roads.

the

i30

Unquestionably Hyundai Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most important car, the spanking new i30 has the daunting task of being even more successful than its predecessor that started the noble i-range tradition in Europe. Fortunately, this fresh i30 has everything necessar y to appeal to ever y type of car buyer: itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s so sparkling that new customers stand in line to lay their hands on one, while repeat clients experience the luck of having their long term trust in the Hyundai quality confirmed. In the meantime, private customers are lured by the impressive value for money it offers, while fleet owners are intrigued by its low cost per kilometre and attractive tax scheme thanks to low emissions and extraordinar y fuel efficiency.

However, despite all these convincing rational arguments, everybody is of course primarily attracted by its inspiring appearance. Ever since the unique fluidic sculpture form language was introduced, each Hyundai knows how to turn heads everywhere. But the i30 brings this new style to another level with its refined combination of elegant lines and sophisticated surfaces. The i30 excels with its jewel-like headlamps that gaze like the eyes of an eagle, and with a refined laughing face that illustrates how optimistically it addresses life. Although the sculpted body and the easily recognisable hexagon grille emphasise that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a proud member of the prosperous Hyundai family, this newest apple of the eye too bears an individual face that reflects its particular character. That is a big USP today, especially in the hard fought C-segment where all competitors look alike. However, its beauty is not merely skin deep. The chassis performs on a very high level too, being both sporty and comfortable, while the concave bonnet hides a complete assortment of ragingly efficient engines. The initial range varies from a 1.4 litre diesel engine with 90 bhp and 220 Nms of torque, to a 1.6 litre petrol engine with 135 bhp and 164 Nm. Each engine is coupled to a six-speed manual gearbox, although the 1.6 diesel and petrol engines can also be had with a smoothly functioning six-speed automatic gearbox. These are always equipped with an accompanying eco button that irons the peaks out of your driving style. This smart system results in an economizing of fuel of up to 7 percent without eroding the driving experience or the fun. The Blue Drive package of the i30 further consists of a smart alternator, low resistance tyres, and an integrated stop and go system. Although the petrol engines are so remarkably silent that it almost feels like driving an electric car, the super efficient 1.6 diesel engine will certainly be the most popular on the many European markets where the tax system is largely based on CO2 emissions. With a CO2 exhaust of less than 100 grams per kilometre, it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need expensive and fragile hybrid technology to act amongst the best in class.

Tested model : i30 colour Satin Amber

type 5-door hatchback

Length/height/width 4300/1470/1780 Engine 1.6 GDi

Maximum power

135 bhp

Transmission six-speed automatic Top speed

192 kph

Special features 6-speed automatic transmission, navigation, panoramic sunroof, intelligent steering software, â&#x20AC;Ś

Although taking a leading role in the compact hatchback segment, the i30 is everything but small. The four wide doors unveil a roomy cabin that is sharply clothed in the nicest of leathers. It comfortably hosts four adults and offers additional space for smaller stuff on the middle console. The door panels can even handle full size bottles. The dashboard is finished in premium materials that seem to originate from a higher positioned class, and presents every commodity even the most demanding customer could dream of. Depending on the level of outfitting, it offers a two-way climate control system, heated seats, a sat nav with easy to use 7-inch touch screen, an MP3-iPod connection, and so much more. The supervision cluster illuminated in blue grants a perfect overview of everything the driver needs to know about the car, the driving conditions and the journey. The full-size, completely opening glass roof creates an airy feeling. At Hyundai, safety always comes without an extra price. Every i30 has six airbags and ABS as standard, and of course an electronic stability program to keep the car between the lines in difficult circumstances. The i30â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s innovative flex steer system presents three steering modes that can be selected with a simple push on the button. Choose for sporty and the car will feel taut and substantial in your hands, while perfectly communicating what exactly happens with the front wheels and how much grip they generate to improve a dynamic driving style. Normal mode is the perfect setting for relaxed highway driving, while the light-hearted comfort mode is ideal in dense city traffic. It also helps to manoeuvre the i30 without trouble into tiny parking spaces, certainly when getting an assisting hand from the parking aid camera hidden under the rear Hyundai logo. This threefold approach is appreciated by every client who loves to adapt his driving style to the circumstances, but it certainly is in Belgium where every problem has at least three possible solutions. Nonetheless, this i30 is as European as a blue flag with yellow stars: completely designed and developed by the R&D centre in Frankfurt, the i30 will be built in the hyper modern factory in Nosovice in the Czech Republic.

i30 in Belgium the

Like the Via Belgica, once constructed by the Romans, travelling from east to west through Belgium, bisecting Flemish Flanders from French speaking Wallonia, the i30 draws a line in the Hyundai portfolio between the small models directly aiming at the European and some Asians markets, and the bigger, more luxurious cars that attract customers all over the world. It isn’t about borders, though. These are only milestones that unite instead of divide. No wonder then that the i30 loves Belgium, although it’s simply too good and certainly too exciting for this small neck of land where everything is disappointingly close to everything else. That’s at least that’s how it feels behind the wheel of an i30 that clocks miles like a whale shark gulps down plankton. Travelling between Brussels and Antwerp – Belgium’s two major cities – is shorter than driving from southern to northern Los Angeles, to name but one place

where everything is supersized. Both Bruges and Liège are only 100 kilometres further down the road. And yet, at first sight, there’s nothing that seems to unite Liège’s heavy industrial heritage with Brussels metropolitan touch, or Bruges’ antique roots and Antwerp’s gigantic harbour, inspiring fashion district and world-renowned diamond centre. But together, these opposites blend beautifully as the i30 happily connects them like diamonds on a stylish necklace, with every little stone expressing its own peculiar character. The i30 particularly likes Antwerp’s new railway station, and how the utterly modern part is nicely integrated in the 100-year old basis. It’s a lovely example of how heritage should be treated: with respect, yet without letting it dominate the creativity of the newest generation. Exactly how Hyundai handles its own history, as a matter of fact. Yet, the flowing concrete of Liège’s train station, designed by the world famous urban architect Santiago Calatrava, combines with the fluidic sculptural design of the i30 like A.F. Vandevorst boots with a Ann Demeulemeester evening dress.

Belgium is the heart of the economic and political universe in Europe, but it is primarily the place to be if you want to throw a good party. The i30 feels at home in this rousing atmosphere, where almost every occasion is good enough a reason to organise a good diner, commence yet one more barrel of beer, dance another night away. This Hyundai knows how to connect dead serious ambitions, a clear mission and responsible emissions with sharp looks, a fresh attitude, and generous portions of pure driving pleasure. In fact, that’s what value for money is about. Both the i30 and Belgium share the same love for contents and integrity that goes hand in hand with an elegant appearance. Sharp looks are important, but there’s more than just beauty. Exactly because Belgium is such a compact land and such a neutral observer on the international stage, it became the epicentre of European politics. Here, numerous diplomats, politicians and cabinets try to order this melting pot of

cultural, financial and political variety. The i30 fits this game perfectly. This multitalent is Hyundai’s ideal ambassador to further conquer the European market in all its diversity. It has exactly the right gear to tempt almost everybody within the European borders. The impressive fuel efficiency is a compelling tool to attract the more rational thinking, sometimes even thrifty nature of Holland and Belgium; the benchmark low emissions appeal more than everything else to the right-minded Scandinavian countries; the perfect finishing and constructional quality match the requirements of the Germanesque countries, while the drop-dead gorgeous looks are just right to tempt the southern taste. But the unbeatable value for money rationale and the five-year Triple Care warranty – including free health checks, unlimited mileage and five-year road assistance – are definitely valued and appreciated by everyone. That’s why, and that’s how, the i30 will conquer Europe with the speed of light.

design Natural Beauty

Hyundai runs three major design centres in Korea, America, and Europe, backed up by smaller ones in Japan, China and India. Lee Byung Seob, Hyundai’s design director in Korea, and Thomas Bürkle, European design director in Frankfurt, explain why this structure beautifully answers everybody’s need, and matches each taste.

Who Are We? How Do We Work?

‘Hi there. I’m Lee Byung Seob. I’ve been a designer at Hyundai for 26 years now. Today, I’m head of the Hyundai Styling Group in Korea, which is composed of one advanced design and three styling teams. Around 150 people are working in our studio in Namyang, while more or less the same number of designers and modellers works overseas. For every new model, Hyundai organises an internal competition among our styling departments in Korea, America, Europe, and the smaller ones. This approach keeps us sharp and guarantees that we will always end up with the best possible result. Theoretically, it could happen that a car for one specific market is designed on another continent. The Veloster illustrates nicely how this works. After our Korean department had created a concept car for the Seoul Motor Show, the public liked it so much that we organised an internal contest to decide who was going to develop it into a production model. Strangely enough, this was won by the Californian design team. Nonetheless, we always work intensely together and even swap designers from time to time. Yet, we never work with various teams on one briefing: that would only result in a mishmash of ideas and influences.’

‘Hi there. I’m Thomas Bürkle. Born in Germany in 1960, I’m head of design at Hyundai’s Motor Design Centre in Rüsselsheim, Germany, since 2005. We run a relatively small, but very international team with around 40 designers, modellers, and people in colour and trim. We are all real car maniacs and have at least some gasoline pumping through our veins. Yet the main requirements for a Hyundai designer are a creative mind, and a dedicated team spirit. It just wouldn’t work with designers who only run on their own ego. That we regularly have vivid discussions, on the edge of quarrelling, only means that we are all very involved and cherish a strong opinion. Fortunately, our clearly defined form language offers a strict frame in which we can play. It’s almost like a tennis field. As long as we stay within the boundaries, almost everything is possible. Our studio in Frankfurt is able to develop a complete car, but we report directly to the head office of design in Korea. Regional hubs like ours are very important, because Hyundai doesn’t believe in the concept of a world car that is sold everywhere. We try to answer in a more specific way to the often very diverse tastes and requirements of different continents. The i40, which has been explicitly developed for Europe, is very popular here with its estate body and lean diesel engines. But it wouldn’t work in the USA. It almost happened by accident that Santa Fé and ix35 are sold globally. Although never developed as a world car, they eventually proved to be successful all over the world thanks to their universal package. However, we still adapt certain styling elements and the suspension to the local flavour.’

Inspired by Nature

‘Because almost all car manufacturers offer modern technology nowadays, Hyundai decided a few years back to differentiate itself with a clear design identity and a recognisable family look. We call it fluidic sculpture, because fluidity refers directly to nature – which is an unlimited source of inspiration – while sculpture guarantees an artistic note. On the other hand, fluidity is also a form of design, whereas sculpture is more a design method. Together, these two keywords nicely sum up our vision. We’ve launched fluidic sculpture on the 2009 Sonata, and have been loyal to it since. The Sonata was such a clear statement that we can easily develop its style further for other models. Each of our future models will feature lines and forms that refer directly to nature, like the nerves of leaves, or the waves of sand dunes. It’s a universal theme that is very easy to understand and recognise. All over the world, people are living in nature, or are concerned about its future. Furthermore, it offers an enormous creative potential of ideas that we can implement in our designs. That’s how design certainly has contributed massively to the incredible growth of Hyundai over the last years.’

‘This “inspired by nature” theme makes perfect sense because ecology is important for Hyundai. The new i40 illustrates nicely how this works in every direction. After we had downsized its engine to save fuel and reduce emissions, we could then also lower the bonnet and lengthen the cabin. This resulted in the extreme proportions that are so highly appreciated by the public. It makes sense in the interior, too. We create a certain tension in the arcs by giving them the forms of grasses or plants, and our designers create mood boards to expand their inspiration. Even a nice picture of a sunset can help to define a rich colour or a special metallic paint with a mineral effect. It wasn’t just an easy fantasy when we designed the seats of the iFlow concept car around the structure of leaves. Together with BASF we discovered that the forces within a seat are everything but symmetric. This showed us that we are too much dominated by straight forward engineer-driven thinking, while in reality the structures are more bionic. This trend pops up in architecture too. The latest skyscrapers have twisted and asymmetric shapes to withstand wind forces. Fortunately, with today’s technology, we are not so limited anymore.’

‘A good aerodynamic profile is not only fuel efficient, but also guarantees good looks. This is perfectly illustrated by most of our concept cars. These are very important in order to communicate our vision for the future, and to show our customers the detailing in our work. But most of all, they are there to exhibit our capabilities. It’s a bit like fashion. Although you cannot wear haute couture on a daily basis, it helps the fashion designer to differentiate himself.’

‘When I started at Hyundai six years ago, there was a big split between production cars and show cars. That’s dangerous, because clients may be frustrated by all these daring concepts that are never taken into production. We’ve closed this gap now and also offer exciting production cars. It’s crystal clear that our production cars are much more inspired and elegant since we’ve created so many concept cars. Moreover, our integral form language originates from them, including the hexagon grille and the fluidic sculpture theme. Both were first introduced on concept cars to tickle the public, and only afterwards translated to production cars like ix20, ix35, i40, and recently the i30. The Veloster proves the energy within Hyundai, because the production car kept very close to the earlier show car. It was a big risk to sell a car with such an unconventional three-door layout, but it shows our passion for design and new concepts.’

One Big Happy Family

‘The hexagon grille is vital for our family look and we will keep on developing it for the future. However, Hyundai is one of the very few brands in the world that offers small city cars and big luxury limousines in the same line-up, and with the same design DNA. That’s why we granted Genesis and Equus a wing-shaped grille, while the smaller models all show the typical hexagonal grille. This way we differentiate our premium class vehicles without having to create another brand. Genesis and Equus are part of the family, yet a little bit different after all. This couldn’t be done with only one face. Although we apply our family look on all our cars, we also develop a specific brief for each model to avoid that they will be bigger or smaller copies of each other like Russian Babushka dolls. For Sonata we chose ‘orchid stroke’, and found inspiration in how orchid leaves move into the wind, thus symbolizing ‘strength within serenity’. Elantra was designed in the spirit of wind craft, while Grandeur was created around grand gliding and the image of a graceful bird floating through the air. All these themes are related to nature, yet always with a typical approach.’

‘It’s becoming clear in the mind of people that the recognisable hexagon grille and the sculpted body are our typical style that we use for some years now to give Hyundai a clear identity. There are thousands of options, without ever risking that our design appears to happen almost by accident. It’s a lasting process and offers more than enough room to play with both simple and more elaborated designs. We don’t have a huge history and are thus more open to new solutions. The public apparently likes that. Even inside Hyundai, people feared that the asymmetrical grille of the ix20 would be too strange, or would scare customers off. Today, almost everybody prefers the asymmetric one. This proves that design is a dynamic process.’

The Future is Ahead

‘It’s no problem that Hyundai doesn’t have a strong heritage, because now we don’t feel our past weighing on our shoulders. We are free to look ahead, and we have the opportunity to create our own icons. We do our utmost best to make sure that our successors in 30 years will look back at what we are performing now, thinking about how great these cars are. Perhaps they will even be intimidated when they realise they will have to do better.’

‘We used to work with famous designers like Giugiaro and Pininfarina, but the world has changed. You can’t go to one of these big names anymore, and expect to go home with a fantastic design. Since I’ve joined Hyundai, I’ve worked hard to establish the best design team for this brand, and to outline a strong vision for it. Somebody from the outside doesn’t have this background. Today, design is a core competence. As with a good wine, it takes years to grow and to establish a solid foundation of ideas. You can’t buy that from the outside. You need to build that up yourself.’

‘We discuss and even argue a lot with the engineers. They always want us to compromise the design for technical reasons, while we prefer to focus on pure beauty. But it’s a healthy, productive discourse that in the end leads to the best possible car. We have to. Car designers have a huge responsibility, because our products are highly visible in the streets of every city in the world. Despite the fact that nature is our biggest source of inspiration, it helps that Seoul was recently crowned world capital of design. Today, there are so many beautiful examples of good architecture and product design to be found. That’s why we also run a small advanced studio in the city centre of Seoul, and why we’re looking for another place in a trendy area.’

‘Apart from nature, we are inspired by everything around us. The elegant sloping c-pillars of the i40 are actually based on the pagoda roofs of Korean temples. We like to use elements of Korean culture, but only when it makes sense, and when it adds a special touch. Although we focus on the European market, we should not hide our roots. People in Europe clearly like the Asian touch: not only in food, but also in sports, or product design. The fact that we interpret our exotic origins through European eyes makes us so unique. Moreover, clients realise that the Korean touch stands for quality.’

One Step Beyond

‘Hyundai is clearly evolving towards modern premium now. We offer our clients top quality and value, yet for a reasonable price accessible to everyone. To feed this ambition, we constantly need new and fresh ideas. This approach is reflected in our brand slogan, too. Through new thinking, we would like to offer new possibilities. That’s why show cars are so important for us.’

‘In our experience, smaller cars are more popular with fluidic shapes. That’s why Accent and Elantra are selling very well in America. But it’s not easy to meet global demands and the different tastes all over the world. Not only in terms of style, but also in terms of type of bodywork. While a hatchback is very popular in Europe, Asian and American car buyers still prefer sedans. To know what everybody wants, designers need to travel the world and see for themselves how the local markets function.’

‘New, modern premium is very different from conservative premium. We still present good value for money, but the level of our cars is moving into the prestige direction and we are more emotionally connected with our customers. In former days, Hyundais were reliable and good, but also very rational. Today, we appeal more to younger people thanks to our cool, emotional and dynamic designs. The ix20, ix35, the i40, and the new i30 all have moved into this direction. To show a great display of light and shadow that glides over the surfaces of the bodywork is crucial in this respect. The car needs to be a dynamic sculpture in motion, while the light plays a very exciting interactive game. Because the human eye can only read light and shadow, we have to define our shapes and adjust the surfaces starting from that viewpoint. It’s exactly this aspects that endows the car with a premium feeling.’

‘The new i30 is imperative for us, because the former one was very successful in Europe. We wanted the new one to look more upgraded, and more upmarket. That’s why we combined a dynamic cab forward design with the hexagon grille. The fluidic sculpture aspect is expressed in two feature lines that give the car a very special touch. A very wide grille, slim headlamps and v-shaped lines make the car look more tough, but also more prestigious. This gives a certain high-tech, sporty premium feel. It’s a bit aggressive, but not too much. It’s still gentle, but with an energetic touch. The car looks at you, almost like an eagle. The overall silhouette is very sleek and dynamic, but still very practical. The bumper is very wide to give the car a certain massiveness, while the tapering roof and wide windows give it a good stance. High tech LED lamps and a jewellery effect in the details emphasise the sophisticated character.’

‘If I would have to explain the Hyundai values with one model, I would show the Sonata. Some people believe that the design is too explicit, but that’s because it had to really define our new fluidic sculpture design philosophy. We can soften that a little bit for the future, but the Sonata had to be a statement.’

‘I would show the i40 because it’s a real d-segment car that shows our premium effort, and illustrates that we are not only feeding the market with small cars. Despite the severe competition, it copes really well. This helps us to establish our brand even further. The i40 is an impressive car that proves that Hyundai is not afraid anymore to step up against the established brands.’

ECOLOGY

The Hyundai i10 Sails Around The Dutch IJsselmeer

holland IS a small country by the sea, where the inherently sober lifestyle is perked up by smart ideas and innovative views. Here, modern civilization lives in harmony with the fiercest caprices of nature. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why the Hyundai i10 travels the roads and the causeway of the Afsluitdijk around the IJsselmeer with a big smile on its jocular face.

the

IJSsELMEER

Existence used to be a rock-hard affair in this part of Holland, where men and sea live together like an elderly couple that recognises they are condemned to each other. Although both partners regularly move in mysterious ways, they know they have to make the best of it. They even manage to survive in harmony, not the least because there’s still a constant sparkle of love. Even after all these years, even after all that has happened. Even now that the mysterious sea has proven over and again that it gives only sparsely yet takes mercilessly. This ice-cold lover only shares the best fruits with men after a lot of effort, and dares to strike back relentlessly as soon as humankind starts to believe there’s a mutual understanding. Even in the days when global warming was still a distinct menace for the far future, people here recognized the ins, but mainly the big outs of living together with the caprices of the harsh Zuiderzee and the threatening fact that considerable parts of Holland are situated below sea level. It really became problematic however, when the little, yet prosperous country became too popular and too small for too many people. It was this combination of environmental facts and social figures that inspired some visionary men to create Europe’s largest artificial lake, combined with a complex system of dikes, bridges, embankments and enclosure dams to prevent the sea from constantly flooding important parts of Holland and thus claiming innocent victims over and again. These Zuiderzee Works blended in beautifully with the environment, as if the entire infrastructure had cropped out of nothing and without any effort. Only after a closer look, does it become clear how hugely determined and massively clever the plan is that founded all this. As a matter of fact, it’s just like how Hyundai conquered the world. Although the magnificent underpinnings of this technological marvel suggest that it’s the fruit of high-tech engineering and complex computer models, the truth is very different. The basis for this ambitious plan was already established in the late 19th century, and the most fundamental parts of it have been executed between the two big wars. Not with gigantic means, but with smart thinking and diligent effort. The Hyundai i10 really admires that approach. True to its nature, the Zuiderzee creation proves that ecological thinking is not only about a deep, almost slavish respect for nature, and that ecology should never be a conservative dogma. Who says human civilisation isn’t supposed to leave any traces, shouldn’t oppose entropy and shouldn’t fight the natural order to disintegrate? Only thanks to these Zuiderzee works, the existence here isn’t a constant fight with the elements anymore. Here, only ingenious planning and unlimited ambition make it possible to live in harmony with nature’s erratic character.

In this day and age, the Netherlands impressively illustrate how a modern civilisation can smoothly mould the heavy burdens of its environment into a boon. Once, the insistent battering wind made the existence tough and the mind restless. Now, it powers hundreds of windmills, thus supplying electricity to thousands of houses and the newly born industry around here. Their slowly sweeping wings even create a certain serenity and peace of mind. Nature generously gives, while humankind smartly and thankfully receives. Yet, as in every long-lasting relation, there has to be mutual respect. The elements of nature constantly need to show they are a force to be reckoned with, certainly when they are so flawlessly managed by human intellect. Situated so closely to the pounding heart of Holland, this region around the IJsselmeer is not only torn into a permanent conflict between innovation and conservation, but also between modernism and traditionalism, between industrialisation and agriculture, between big and small. This fundamental split is even emphasised by the Zuiderzee Works, where both paths and beliefs literally are situated on the opposite banks of the wide IJsselmeer lake. It’s almost unreal how brand new cities and freshly born industrial districts are neighbours with medieval towns, while modern skyscrapers compassionately overlook the small houses with their antique facades. It’s funny to note how the new buildings, all straight as an arrow and reaching for the heavens, symbolise modernism, while the traditional quarters bend over dangerously under the stretch of time, like elderly people leaning on each other to stay upright. It’s interesting to see how the different influences constantly conflict with each other, while always maintaining mutual respect. It’s never about stealing each other’s wind, but about strengthening and giving each other comfort and protection. These enormous powers can be controlled, but never ignored. The people here are real bridgebuilders, in all possible ways. Just like Koreans, no project is too ambitious, no challenge too big for them. That’s why life can be silky smooth around here nowadays.

A town like Lelystad illustrates how people can literally create new grounds and how the world would look after a complete reset, thus starting from zero again. Because this town has been raised from nothing just 50 years ago, city developers had the luxury to start off with a blank sheet of paper without feeling the burden of history weighing on the shoulders. All these aspects turn this region into Holland’s perfect ambassador. It may not be the Promised Land, but it’s reassuring that new industries and lively initiatives grow here like lettuce in spring. Evidently, people here live in a sober manner and show little tendency to spill money or means. Who wouldn’t, if you have to labour so hard for everything? But a sparing character is not a personal flaw. It’s a fundamental quality that makes life so much easier and even more enriching. Every Hyundai i10 driver experiences that every day, again and again.

The i10 is the smallest and most budget-friendly member of the European Hyundai portfolio, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be taken serious. Certainly now, three years after it’s launch, a minor facelift got its snout aligned with the rest of the family and its technical underpinnings with the most recent demands of the clientele. Only by thinking outside the box and ignoring the norms and conventions of the car industry, can the i10 unite seemingly conflicting qualities and, hence, be able to set a new benchmark in its class. One simple example of this refreshing approach is the small wheels. This may look like a daring choice in an era when the wheel size seems to mirror the driver’s personality. Yet it makes perfect sense. Not only does is make the i10 more vivid and easier to direct, it also grants much more interior space. Although a small city car, the i10 feels very roomy, has four doors that open widely and a flexible boot that can host a minimum of 225 litres and even 925 litres when the two parts of the rear bench are both folded down. In a world where four cylindres are the standard, this same thinking accounts for the three-cylindre engine. It might be small with its capacity of only 998 cc, but it surprises with its thrilling character and its 69 bhp. It certainly is faster than expected, but even more importantly, it feels incredibly lively and inspiring. Although the three-cylindre engine is so silent that you sometimes forget it’s running, it spins with much gusto in the higher revs. Yet this Blue Drive phenomenon needs only 4,2 litres for 100 exciting kilometres and merely emits 99 grams of CO2 every kilometre of the way. These numbers are the playing ground of hybrids, yet the i10 sets these impressive digits on the table without having to use complex and expensive technology. For the i10, not much more than smart techniques and an elaborate concept are sufficient to impress the Dutch crowd. Its five gears are so perfectly spread out that the small Hyundai accelerates swiftly while the little powerhouse constantly revs at its ideal regime. The start-stop function keeps fuel consumption down even more. It’s even more impressive that its lightness and easy entry don’t demand any sacrifices in every day life. Although the swift i10 can be steered with two fingertips, it doesn’t feel lighthearted or fuzzy, and safety surely isn’t at stake. With four stars at the Euro NCAP rating, it performs equally or even better than some larger and much more expensive sedans of other brands. ABS, brake assistant, electronic brake force distribution and four airbags are standard equipment on the Lounge edition: an exception in this segment. Even ESP can be had as an option. On the comfort side of life this little car is also well equipped. The dashboard feels reassuring and there’s much room for little stuff in the doors and the glove compartment while the centre console also hosts a cup holder. Some versions even have a steering wheel and gear leaver clad in leather, and, of course, electrically operated windows front and back. As with every other Hyundai, the blue lighting on the dashboard gives confidence, and the iPod and USB connections guarantee fun. Air-conditioning can be had as an option. It’s easy to understand why the i10 is so crucial to the Hyundai line-up. It’s a city car that is perfectly at ease on motorways. It’s a car that has been developed for overseas areas, but behaves as if winding, narrow European roads are its true habitat. It’s a no-nonsense car that wants to please the smallest budgets, but performs like a mid-sized family saloon. In fact, it’s not a city car. It’s a family car that, almost by accident, appeals with the seductive price tag, compact measurements and Spartan fuel consumption of a city car.

THE IJSSELMEER with the i10 Discovering

Tested model : i10 colour Alpine Blue

type 5-door hatchback

Length/height/width 3585/1540/1595 Engine 1.0 Blue Drive Maximum power

69 bhp

Transmission five-speed manual Top speed

149 kph

Special features Equipped with Blue Drive package, power steering, radio/CD with iPod connection, electrical windows, air conditioning, central locking, â&#x20AC;Ś

It takes an airplane to fully capture the magnificence of what has been achieved around the IJsselmeer. Maybe a hot- air balloon, carried by nothing more than the silent wind, would even be better. But the i10 comes close to being the perfect companion to explore this enthralling area. Its no-nonsense approach blends perfectly with the down-to-earth thinking predominant in the Netherlands, and its value for money ratio is unbeatable. If you count it by the kilo, it’s cheaper than cheese. Factoring in what it can do, how well it performs, how comforting it is and how much space it has to offer, the i10 really is the deal of the century. This compact wonder behaves like a fish in water in small medieval towns like Enkhuizen or Marken, where time stands still and no other car has sufficient breathing space. What really makes it special though, is its mature behaviour when you leave this protective environment. The Afsluitdijk, a 30-kilometre long asphalt ribbon straight across the sea, can feel very unsettling in a small city car. Yet, no matter how strong the wind blows and how brutal the elements seem to turn against mankind, the i10 feels massive as a dam, relaxing as a sand dune. Even if Holland is pancake flat, the roads straighter than geometry, and the new asphalt baby skin smooth, the i10 manages to surprise with the royal portions of driving pleasure it serves up. Because the chassis has been especially tweaked for the most demanding roads, the i10 feels taut and corners with the eagerness of a sports car.

Just like this region around the IJsselmeer, where traditionalistic farmers work in the shade of mega-modern factories, the i10 combines qualities and philosophies that appear to be opposites. It’s economical without being thrifty, but also rational without being unpleasant, even responsible without losing its hunger for life. No matter how smart and beautifully engineered, the i10 never pretends to be something it is not. It’s crystal clear what it is, what it wants to be and what it will offer you. It’s a car that is perfectly adapted for Europe. But more than everything, the i10 is the reincarnation of the Dutch spirit, where an economical clout, combined with clever engineering, ambitious endeavour and a constant pursuit for more savings, proves to be the perfect combination to guarantee a sustainable future.

Blue Drive High Ambitions To Create A Better World

For Hyundai, ecology is too precious to be misused with easy slogans. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why Blue Drive is not just a simple tool to boost sales, but a deeper philosophy to colour our globe a tad greener.

Everybody and everything triumphs when cars become more fuel efficient and green. The universe wins – your world – but also your wallet. However, ecology is a complex theme without easy solutions. Exactly because constant innovation and continuous progress have always been a fundamental part of Hyundai’s DNA, further improvement gets tougher and tougher. The search for cleaner alternatives is not only a clear choice to ensure the world keeps turning, though. It’s also a necessity if we want to guarantee that the next generations will still be able to enjoy the marvels of our cosmos, and the delights of personal mobility. Hyundai doesn’t exploit its ecological approach as an argument to push current sales. At Hyundai, green thinking is not about making choices in the one or the other politically inspired direction. Hyundai doesn’t favour one over another technology just because it turned out to be a strong marketing tool, is easy to explain, happens to be popular in the media, or is used by celebrities to polish their own aura. The environment is just too valuable for the easy games. What’s next? Nobody knows. Not even the smart guys at Hyundai’s R&D centres in Seoul, Germany and California. That’s tough to deal with. Yet, in the meantime, it’s also a motivation to keep on looking in every direction. For improvements. And for alternatives. Hyundai recognises that the future might offer a completely different set of complex rules and principles. Maybe there’s not one alternative good and efficient enough to answer all environmental problems in their entirety. Perhaps there is no clear solution. Chances are very real that mobility in the future will be a bit like a gym, where people pick their own menu and their personal program, adapted to their needs, and adjusted to the circumstances. That’s why Hyundai invests enormous financial means, human resources and technological knowledge in all possible directions: from hybrids and plug-in hybrids to electric cars and fuel cells. Not only to be ready when the one or the other alternative gains a break-through, but also to shape the future and to help evolve mobility in the right direction. In the meantime, Hyundai keeps on fine-tuning its Blue Drive programme. This particular, slightly different green strategy improves fuel economy and reduces emissions for nearly every model in the Hyundai line-up. Because at Hyundai, ecology is not about idle promises. Because at Hyundai, the future starts now.

SONATA HYBRID

The Sonata Hybrid is not a distant dream for a far future. It’s a reality of today and it’s on sale now in Korea and the US, where it sets new standards in combining impressive fuel efficiency with an unbeatable value for money ratio. That’s quite something today, now that most hybrids are either dour piggy banks, or - at the other end of the spectrum - big luxury cars that primarily use complex technology to soothe the conscience of the owner. Not the Sonata Hybrid, though. This medium-size sedan can be enjoyed in real life without sacrificing anything to its thrifty character and environmental stance. Like any other Sonata, it excels with a distinctive look, yet is graced with a more explicit hexagon grille that confidently gazes into the world, and softened bodywork that reduces its air resistance even more. Like most other hybrids, it’s equipped with an additional electric motor that recuperates energy during freewheeling and braking. This complimentary power is stored in a supplementary battery pack, only to be returned to the transmission when the driving circumstances demand an extra push in the back. The Sonata Hybrid can thus accelerate more swiftly and climb quicker on steep hills without consuming extra fuel. Or it can move in purely electrical mode for some miles in a city environment when the battery is fully charged. Then, the Sonata doesn’t consume any fuel, doesn’t produce any noise and doesn’t emit one little cloud. Despite the compound nature of this fully automatic technological ballet, it doesn’t require any effort or driver commitment. The Sonata Hybrid proves that you don’t have to pay a price to be friendly to the environment. Not when buying it, as it doesn’t demand a huge additional investment compared to an equally powered conventional Sonata. And not when using it, because the Sonata Hybrid delivers large portions of fun and performs as well as any other sporty sedan. The straight-four 2.4 gasoline engine executes 204 bhp, and the car accelerates from 0 to 100 kph in only 9,2 seconds. Yet it barely needs 6,3 litres of fuel for 100 kilometres in the city and a mere 6 litres for 100 highway kilometres. Even more impressively: it can drive up to 120 kph in pure electric mode, hence without using one drop of fuel and without emitting one gram of CO2.

Although relatively new on the market, the Sonata Hybrid is anything but a follower. It doesn’t have a nickel-metal hydride battery like most of the competitors, but a 1.4 kilowatt-hour lithium polymer battery that is 40% more compact, 30% lighter, performs 10% better and discharges more slowly. Yet, what mainly differentiates it from many others is its unique parallel hybrid system with an integrated hybrid starter generator that replaces the traditional torque converter of the automated six-speed gearbox. This relatively simple innovation is much lighter than conventional hybrids, helping the Sonata to perform impressive fuel efficiency at constant speeds, or on highways where there’s very little braking to do. And while the continuous variable transmission traditionally cuddles every spot of fun out of the driving, and all the character out of the powertrain in a hybrid, the Sonata Hybrid driving experience is as exciting as in any other Hyundai.

BlueOn

Electric cars may be the hype of the moment, but the idea already existed 100 years ago in the halcyon days of motoring, and engineers all over the world worked for decades to fine tune it. Today, the Hyundai BlueOn proves that the concept of a fully electric car is finally ready to hit the road. The BlueOn is based on the i10. It uses the same chassis and body, but the combustion engine and its complementary manual gearbox have been replaced by a 61 kW electrical motor. Thanks to the typical, ultra linear character of the electric engine, BlueOn doesn’t require a gearbox anymore. This piece of machinery is as silent as a bird in flight, doesn’t have an exhaust system, and evidently doesn’t emit one gram of CO2 or other toxic gases. This engine is powered by a 16,4 kWh lithium ion polymer battery that is 30% lighter and 40% more compact than common battery packs. Although the limited driving range traditionally is the heel of Achilles for electric cars, the BlueOn combines a top speed of 130 kph and a 0 - to 100 - kph sprint in 13,1 seconds with a radius of 160 kilometres. In between accelerations are mighty fast thanks to the massive torque of 210 Nm that is readily available even from the lowest revs. The BlueOn also uses recuperative breaking. This means that the electrical motor transforms itself swiftly into a generator to recuperate energy the second the driver releases the throttle. This freshly created electric power is immediately returned to sender: the batteries, where it’s kept in optimum shape to be used whenever needed. While doing so, the generator decelerates the car so firmly that you hardly ever need to touch the brakes in regular traffic. Because this particular behaviour needs some getting used to, Hyundai offers three different driving modes that can be selected via a traditional-looking gearlever. The BlueOn doesn’t use recuperative braking in Regular Mode, while Eco Drive offers the best compromise between comfort and driving range. Reduced Power Mode is the way to go when your travel destination is further away than the action radius on the dashboard promises. No matter which mode, the BlueOn always functions perfectly and offers tons of driving pleasure. If charged by a regular 220 V system, it takes about six hours to fully reload the batteries. When fed via a 380 V socket, it only takes 25 minutes to load them for 80%. An advanced telemetric system gives the driver complete information about the charge status, but also about charging stations in the vicinity. Because the BlueOn moves as silently as a mouse, a Virtual Engine Sound System produces an artificial humming to warn ignorant pedestrians that a BlueOn is about to whisper by.

Hyundai believes so strongly in a future for electric cars, that it already invested 25 million euros in this project. Yet, like every electrical car, this BlueOn too has to cope with the eminent contradiction that turns them into such a difficult business proposition. Technically, it makes the most sense to opt for a small and light city car. The heavier and bigger the car, the more performance the battery pack needs to deliver. Which, of course, again adds more weight, thus ending in a negative spiral without an end. On the other hand, the substantial price of the battery pack – about the same value as an entire i10 – is much easier to justify in a bigger car that is placed higher in the market. Today, Hyundai runs a test program with 30 BlueOns to gather experience, to warm up politicians and public, to find a solution for the split between positioning and budget, and to learn more about the infrastructure that is needed to charge electrical cars along the way. Hyundai plans a small production run of about 2.000 BlueOns in 2012.

ix35 FCEV FUEL CELL

Fuel cell technology running on hydrogen is a further step towards the future, compared to electric cars like the BlueOn. Introduced to the press and the public in 2010, the ix35 FCEV Fuel Cell is already the third generation in the impressive line-up of Hyundai hydrogen development cars that in total have clocked up more than 2 million test kilometres. Despite the technological complexity under the hood, the theory behind a fuel cell car is very simple. Essentially, it’s an electric car without the biggest disadvantage: the heavy and costly batteries. These are traded in for a 5,6 litre gas tank to stack hydrogen gas with a pressure of 700 bar. Sophisticated microtechnology inside the fuel cell then pours electricity out of the hydrogen to power the electric motor. Although a chemical process, there’s no combustion, and hence no exhaust or noise. The only by-product is almost too nice to be credible: water. Pure, clean water. A fuel cell car has all the advantages of an electric car, including zero emissions, easy driveability, fast acceleration, and massive torque. But it doesn’t carry around heavy and expensive batteries, and doesn’t have to cope with long charging times. A hydrogen refill is about as complicated as refuelling a gasoline car now. Thanks to the extreme pressure inside the 5,6 litre tank, the ix35 FCEV has an action range of about 600 kilometres. The ix35 FCEV is such a balanced car and drives so neatly, it could go on sale right now, if only an appropriate hydrogen distribution infrastructure would be available. It’s the classical chicken-or-egg discussion: cars with fuel cell technology aren’t sold yet because they still are too expensive and because there are no fuelling stations. Yet, they are so costly and there isn’t an infrastructure as there aren’t considerable numbers of hydrogen cars on the roads yet. Nonetheless, a geographically isolated country like South Korea may just be the place where fuel cell technology can achieve its break-through. Not only because the Hyundai Group controls about 80% of the local car market, but even more so because it also exploits chemical factories that manufacture hydrogen as a by-product. As heavy vehicles like city buses may just be the perfect scenario to implement this technology at the start, Hyundai already uses some to drive visitors around in its gigantic R&D centre in Korea. Today, Hyundai is in talks with the government to use these for Seoul’s public transport. The substantial price tag is still an issue to be dealt with, but that’s how it always goes with new and complex developments.

three steps into the unknown

So, what’s it going to be? Again, nobody knows. Not even the smart guys and gals at Hyundai. Except that the future will be electrifying. And in the long term certainly electric, in whatever jacket it’s going to slip on. The first step can be a hybrid that produces its own additional electric energy to assist an internal combustion engine. Plug-in hybrids using an internal combustion engine to assist the electrical engine when it runs out of electric power can be the next stage before full electric cars kick in, and the fuel cell car follows in its traces later. After all, the latter is not much more than an electric car that doesn’t store its energy in batteries, but in hydrogen. Which of these promising technologies will show the way? Perhaps each of them has a shiny future ahead. Not that every car will become available with three or four alternative power trains. But it makes sense to power smaller cars fully electrical, while mid-sized sedans are outfitted with an economical hybrid system, and the biggest luxury cars or SUVs excel with fuel cell technology. As a matter of fact, exactly how Hyundai sees things right now. One thing is sure: it’s going to be even more thrilling on our roads, yet much simpler behind the wheel. Each of these three cars is fast and reliable, however none of them shows complicated graphics to expose how hard the complex technology is performing for you. They just do it without any further ado.

BLUE DRIVE Hyundai knows that dreaming of a green future just is not enough. Don’t talk. Act. Now. That’s why Hyundai developed the Blue Drive program that improves fuel efficiency and reduces CO2 emissions on each and every model. Because the internal combustion engine itself still promises a lot of potential improvement. Blue Drive is not an easy logo on the back of a Hyundai, but a complex interplay of smart improvements, different technologies, clever answers and innovative thinking under the skin to make every Hyundai as fuel efficient as possible. Not just once in ideal laboratory circumstances. But always. Everywhere. And for an affordable price. That’s why Blue Drive offers as many solutions as Hyundai has cars in its portfolio. Because that’s the only way to make sure that the earth can breathe and that the driver’s budget stays in balance. The new 1.0 Kappa gasoline and 1.7 litre U2 diesel engines now have a continuous variable valve timing on in and outlet, a more efficient combustion, optimised transmission ratios and an improved motor management. Because perfection resides in details, these engines even use a specific, very powerful motor oil with very little internal friction. Many models feature an idle stop and go system that automatically cuts the engine off when the car is stationary and the gearlever in neutral, which typically happens at traffic lights or in traffic jams. The engine starts running again as soon as the clutch is operated. This not only helps to save fuel and to reduce emissions, but also improves the comfort on board while waiting. All Blue Drive models run on low rolling resistance tyres, while an optimised floor plate improves the streamline under the car, and hence reduces fuel consumption. The alternator can recuperate electric energy during braking, a bit like a hybrid does on a bigger scale. The new i40 with 115 bhp diesel engine and standard Blue Drive equipment also has an active radiator grille that closes itself automatically when no cooling air is needed. This results in a smoother drag coefficient. The eco button on Hyundais with an automatic gearbox activates an electronic system that tweaks the peaks out of the chauffeur’s driving style. He’ll never notice it, yet this software program helps save up to 7% of fuel. All these measurements seem to be small technical adjustments only, but in total deliver a massive gain. Today, the i10 Blue Drive emits only 99 grams of CO2 per kilometre, the i20 Blue Drive does even a bit better with a mere 98 grams.

Because ecology is not only about CO2, most Hyundais with a diesel engine are equipped with a particulate filtre preventing small particles from being blown into the air. All petrol engines have a three-way catalytic converter. Evidently, Hyundai knows that ecology amounts to much more than only the gasses that are flushed through the exhaust. That’s why Hyundai keeps on streamlining all its processes, factories and services. In 2005, Hyundai even invested 58 million dollars in a brand new R&D centre with one main aim: developing a greener way of thinking. Thanks to these investments, almost 90% of every Hyundai can be recycled, and every plastic part exceeding 100 grams has its own label to ease this process. Today, Hyundai doesn’t use carcinogenic materials in brake pads or other parts, or CFCs in its air-conditioning systems. That’s how innovative and greener thinking opens up new possibilities for our planet.

FUN

The Hyundai Veloster Sunbathes In South AndalucĂa

South AndalucĂa has always been a strategic entry to Europe. But today, the most southern region of Spain is mainly a gateway to loads of fun. its mild climate, charming villages, fascinating roads, golden beaches and lively wind also turn it into an ideal destination for a trip with the Hyundai Veloster.

South

Andalucía

Think southern Spain and images of hot summers, delicious food, lazy villages, endless beaches and a cavalier existence pop up with the speed of light. Think Andalucía, Spain’s most southern province, and you are very close to heaven on earth. No wonder that Andalucía and its Costa del Sol were such popular holiday venues in the seventies and early eighties. In those days, people who had their act together drove a sporty coupe, lived in a nice apartment, and spent their holidays in the south of Spain. Unfortunately, over the years sporty coupes lost their reason to exist, the perception of an apartment as the ultimate in luxury went seriously downhill, and the Spanish heaven became too crowded to keep its appeal. The Costa del Sol simply grew too popular and, hence, too commercially exploited to keep on being a warm refuge for the happy traveller. Once an adventurous destination for the fortunate few, the coast between Torremolinos and Algeciras developed into a shelter for senior citizens who couldn’t bear the harsh winters in the north. Fortunately, there still is an escape route for every fan of the good life who loves a personal approach and doesn’t much like how the Costa del Sol has evolved to become the Costa del Golf. This Plan B is called the Costa de la Luz - the coast of light - and it’s a bit further down the road when coming from Malaga or Madrid. It’s completely worth the trip, though. Certainly behind the wheel of a Hyundai Veloster, that other breakaway from conformity. Although individualism is an essential part of their nature, the Costa de la Luz and the Veloster both entice with good looks, an attractive pricing, and a comfortable ambiance. While the Costa del Sol is a trusted haven for the elderly in need of a rest, thus spending their lifetime savings, the Costa de la Luz aims at the young and restless without any money or means. The most interesting part, the coast line between Tarifa and Cadiz, has everything a youngster can dream of. Endless beaches with fine sand, flanked by sand dunes and pine trees, but also simple yet smart hotels, cosy beach bars for the rare moments when the surf is down, and the certainty that the weather is always favourable. Even more importantly though: it doesn’t have high-rise hotels, skyscrapers, gated communities or other outbursts of mass tourism.

The Costa de la Luz has the perfect base camp: Tarifa. This small ancient village is the ultimate travel destination for everybody with lots of time, a massive hunger for freedom and nothing more than a tight budget. But especially for surfers, kitesurfers and others who need a favourable wind to move, and a warm sun to feed them. Being exactly at the crossroad between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, Tarifa not only offers Europe’s best winds, but also the most challenging waves. There’s just no better place for surfers to have the adventurous craze blown out of their heads and to experience ultimate joy. But Andalucía has much more than beaches, sun and cocktails. The inland offers a wide variety of breathtaking landscapes, cosy villages and roads perfect for driving. Nothing gives a better taste of all these qualities than the Route of the Sleeping White Villages between Tarifa and Ronda. This coal black yet silky smooth asphalt meanders through the scenery like liquorice lace through childish dreams. Every trip through these lazy towns immediately acquires the dimensions of a road movie. This is one of the few European roads where you can still enjoy the noble art of driving without worrying about sleeping policemen, traffic jams or an abundance of slow trucks. Close to Tarifa, the road takes a spectacular turnaround, as the view widens while the entrenched mountains openly battle with the battering sea. But it are not only the surfers who grab the maximum out of this rough interplay of the elements. A big part of Spain profits from it too, as thousands of windmills silently provide millions of families with green electricity. The Veloster admires how people here live together with the gifts and caprices of nature. Although this compact coupe is primarily an unlimited source of fun, it takes its responsibility by keeping an eye on CO2 emissions. As a whole, south Andalucía is a very inspiring place. Youngsters find enough mental food here to get them through the finale of their teenage years, while many writers and artists unearthed their ideas and visions in this soil. Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga, while notorious writer Ernest Hemingway found his muse in Ronda, a mountain village that became world famous for its gigantic canyon literally splitting the town in two parts and two major philosophies. It actually is so deep and dangerous, it took decades to construct a monumental bridge between the old and the new city, but even more between classical values and youthful modernism. Yet, the versatile Veloster closes that gap in a second.

Tested model : Veloster colour Clean Blue

type 2+1-door hatchback

Length/height/width 4220/1399/1790 Engine 1.6 GDi Blue Drive Maximum power

140 bhp

Transmission six-speed manual Top speed

201 kph

Special features Equipped with Blue Drive package, navigation system, integrated parking aid camera, ...

Three may have been a crowd in former days, it certainly isn’t anymore with a Veloster and its unique three-door layout. Nonetheless, it’s everything but a Don Quichote fighting windmills to no avail. One outing with this Veloster is enough to comprehend the additional value. In fact, it becomes so obvious so quickly, one only wonders why nobody else came up with it earlier. Except, of course, for the fact that an asymmetrical car is utterly difficult to develop, construct and design. So many cars on our roads evidently prove how tough it is to sketch a car with a beautiful silhouette. Creating one with two goodlooking profiles, however, is an out of this world performance. Yet, the Veloster amply illustrates that such a divergent solution doesn’t necessarily lead to a pack of compromises and, ultimately, even to a car where none of both sides are particularly interesting. With its two doors and integrated door handle, the passenger side is even more intriguing than the sportier driver’s side. That’s how the Veloster offers two beautiful cars for the price of one. Yet, it’s no one-trick pony. The Veloster shows so many complex shapes and refined solutions that you never tire of it. Like a top model has more than the obvious to persuade, the Veloster too pleases with much more than only its three-door-concept. It also makes heads turn with its sporty snout and intriguing rear with the big twofold hatch. The latter gives the cabin an airy atmosphere, while granting the driver a perfect view of the cars he has just passed. Furthermore, the Veloster seduces with voluptuous hips, sculpted rear lights, and the diffusor-like rear bumper with stylish exhausts. It’s such a visual feast in every detail you would almost forget about the atypical three-door concept. The driver’s door is larger in order to emphasise that this is a real driver’s car, while the other side stresses its inviting character. This may look like a discord, but in reality these two sides of the same car perfectly suit the need of our youth, which is individualistic by nature, yet enjoys sharing personal wealth with close friends. And there’s more. The Veloster wants to have fun, but without forgetting its responsibility, and it cherishes world-changing ambitions while needing not much more than the sun, and a tiny budget to power its dream. Although being positive by nature, both want to do things differently. Not out of rage, but because they are supposed to. No matter how remarkable it looks, the Veloster won’t hide its close family ties, thanks to its hexagon grille and the airy-fairy headlamps with the elegantly curling LED lighting. In that respect, it’s almost like a teenager who wants to distinguish himself from the establishment, without ever resenting the roots.

This new approach makes the Veloster both sporty and cosy, but also hip and practical. It’s without doubt the only dynamic coupe in the compact segment with four easily accessible seats and a handy boot that takes at least 320 litres, or even 1.015 litres with the rear bench folded down. The low roof and high waistline give the car a lounge-like mood, although it feels roomy and airy thanks to the abundance of light. Because modern luxury doesn’t need to be expensive, it appeals with a combination of attractive high-tech materials on the dashboard, comfortable and perfectly adjustable semi-bucket seats, a royal storage room, cup holders, generous leather upholstery - also on the gear lever and the multifunctional steering wheel - and so much more. Practicality resides in the details. The Veloster not only makes life easy with its rear view camera or the optional satellite navigation. It also offers two 12-volt connections for those with iPads and so much more for the rare moments when the wind is not at the rendez-vous. The Veloster is not a brutal or powerful beast. Underneath the lively snout lives a small 1,6 four-cylindre engine that delivers 140 bhp and 167 Nm to the front wheels. But the car is so light and nimble, that it’s both fast and thrifty: a unique blend of qualities that becomes increasingly scarce in the 21st century. The Veloster combines a top speed of 201 kph and a 0 - to - 100 - kph sprint of only 9,5 seconds with an unbeatable fuel consumption of only 5,9 litres for 100 kilometres and a CO2 exhaust of barely 137 grams per kilometre. Of course it has a stop-start function to lower consumption even more. You certainly don’t need to keep an anxious eye on the fuel metre: you can travel more than 600 kilometres without having to stop. The menu with a relatively small engine, front-wheel drive and a manual sixspeed gear box challenges you constantly to go full throttle. No compromise. Rev high, change gear late. Having been adjusted in Hyundai’s European R&D centre, the suspension is efficient, yet never so hard that it becomes uncomfortable. The same goes for the steering: it communicates very directly, without ever being arduous. The Veloster is a true sports car. But it focuses too much on pure fun to ever be mean. It loves to go fast, but never wants you or your fellow travellers to have to pay a price for that.

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Veloster in South Andalucía

Apart from being a crossroad of two oceans, south Andalucía is even more a crucible of numerous rich cultures. Being the most southern region of Spain, it’s not only the culmination of the Mediterranean lifestyle, but it also offers a prelude to the African existence. This intercontinental touch applies to the Veloster as well. It may be created in America, but it’s popular all over the world. It’s even one of the very few Hyundais that colours the portfolio in the USA as well as in Asia and Europe. More specifically, the cradle of the Veloster stood in California, paradise on earth for all surfers big and small. No wonder this Veloster is so at ease here in Tarifa and the Costa de la Luz, the ideal surfers’ habitat on the European side of the Atlantic. Tarifa - nothing more than Spanish for ‘price’ - delivers exactly what it should: an unbeatable value for money ratio. You can sleep in this delightful place for the price of a breakfast in Paris. And for the cost of a parking ticket in London you can eat delicious tapas or paella while enjoying a stunning sea view. The Veloster loves this approach. This car offers much fun, fantastic looks, and an endless run for your money.

The rock on which Ronda is grounded, is perhaps the most difficult place imaginable to construct a city. Let alone to establish a centre of commerce as it used to be. Yet, people here had good reasons for it in a time when hostile attacks were daily business as well. Today, the Veloster too chooses a different path from everybody else. The Veloster is a non-conformist, yet with a clear motive: making life more practical. And certainly more fun. This is highly appreciated in southern Spain, where burning passion is an essential part of almost everything. Here, people talk loud, adore drama, use big gestures, dance like their pants are on fire, fight bulls as if their life depended on it, and love the Veloster with its outspoken form language. This is Spain, the country where machismo was founded, and bull fighting is not even a national sport, but a work of art. But Spain also charms with a surprisingly feminine touch. It has more female than male ministers, and even the minister of defence wears a skirt. The Veloster fits perfectly to this double nature. It’s a firm bloke that robustly stands on its four wheels, yet also appeals with elegant lines and practical aspects. Being sporty and practical in one, it’s a friend of every generation and each peer group. Youngsters use it to shift their boundaries, seniors to keep their spirit young. Individuals utilise the inviting Veloster to increase their perimeter, couples to explore the world, and young families to keep all its members happy. Nonetheless, the Veloster is at home everywhere. With its compact dimensions and swift steering it tackles the small streets of Ronda and the sleeping white villages along the route to Tarifa like a fierce bull rumbling through the streets of Pamplona. Yet, on the fast B roads in between these villages, swirling through the moon-like landscapes as if it’s a race track without a finish line, the Veloster let’s itself be guided by its driver as a bull that is perfectly controlled by the torero in the arena of life. With a Veloster, it’s never a flirt with danger, however. Its road holding is too predictable, its balance too healthy, and its safety equipment too splendid for that. The Veloster doesn’t need this dance with death either to spice things up. It is exciting enough as it is. The

Veloster behaves like a surfboard, and every corner is another wave, waiting to be caught. Especially on the road from Marbella to Ronda, and then from Ronda to Tarifa. This is one of those majestic podia on which a car can expose its talents, abilities and gifts. Although miles apart from each other, the Veloster only needs two metres to span this eternal distance between these two cities. The hip left side comes completely alive in the relaxed atmosphere of Tarifa and its beaches, while you want to have the practical right side in the busy city centre of Ronda. The Veloster is the missing link between comfortable family saloons and the ultra sporty Genesis Coupe, like the new bridge in Ronda connects opposing values or beliefs. The Veloster unites the young and the not so young, but also presents a dynamic character with a practical approach. In this particular case it literally is a question of left or right. Left – where the driver is – is the fun side of life. Right – the privilege of the passengers – celebrates the sensible choice. Nobel Prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway, who was passionate about Ronda and bull fighting, would have liked the Veloster. It’s a car that grabs life by the horns, however without being a prima donna. It’s different and worldly at once and has its four wheels placed firmly in real life. Just like the Spanish toreadors, it’s a hero of the common people. It’s almost larger than life, yet within reach of everybody. Both south Andalucía and the Veloster amply prove that you don’t need to be rich to enjoy life, that you don’t need much power to travel fast, and that you don’t need much speed to have loads of fun.

Future Hyundaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Future Starts Now

Hyundai has an impressive tradition in concept cars. Not only because these visionary machines always steal the show, but even more, because they help to turn engineering dreams into everybodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reality.

Show cars are a great way to define the brand, a very efficient tool to attract world-wide attention, and they offer a creative play garden for engineers and designers. But most of all, these three-dimensional think tanks on wheels help to explore the limits of what is feasible. While production cars need to stay within strictly defined economical, legal, industrial and manufacturing parameters, boundless creative freedom appears to be the only rule in the universe of concept cars. Yet, to avoid loyal customers growing frustrated because these high-tech spectacles canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be touched, bought and enjoyed, Hyundai concept cars never offer only the fairy tale of what can be, without any commitment whatsoever. At Hyundai, every concept car tells its own story, shares its specific conviction with the world, and shows an obvious link with reality â&#x20AC;&#x201C; of today, or of tomorrow.

Veloster

When unveiled at the Seoul Motor Show in 2007, the blunt Veloster Concept amply illustrated that Hyundai never creates show cars just for the sake of it, but always with a clear purpose in mind. Or even with series production in the line of vision. Although very few people believed that Hyundai would dare to take such a flamboyant coupe into the showroom on short notice, the Veloster actually makes the world a bit more attractive, not even three years later. Those who admired the sleek coupe back then, can contentedly notice that the explicit lines, the neat proportions and the smart details all survived the hike towards series production. The complex glass roof and paper-white interior may have disappeared, but this loss is largely compensated thanks to new exterior styling elements, and even a revolutionary add-on. Apart from the familiar hexagon grille, the real-life Veloster also surprises with its innovative threedoor concept. This neatly illustrates how Hyundai likes to do things in ways that are a little bit different. Whilst concept cars of the most reputed brands rarely hit the market without their ideas being diluted or compromised for practical concerns, Hyundai even spices its concept cars up when facing reality. Such a tour de force has hardly ever been seen before in the car industry. Because it may be easy to create a world-shattering concept car, if you only have to build one and never have to worry about the quality or the business case. But itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a very different ballgame when these dreams need to be molded into an affordable reality. The name, blending velocity and roadster into one, symbolizes the sporty ambitions of this non-conformist. Initially conceived to be one of the very few real sports coupes aimed at first-time car buyers and the Y generation, the Veloster today also attracts those who still feel young at heart, but embrace a practical day-to-day attitude as well. Because at Hyundai, new thinking creates new possibilities.

ix-Onic

Launched in the beginning of 2009, the ix-Onic concept was a sensation for both press and public. Not because of its bold ideas or revolutionary technology, but because it looked as if it could go on sale the day after. Back then, everybody immediately understood that this ix-Onic was setting out the corner stones of Hyundai’s new, bold design direction. Today, everybody knows that this is the spiritual ancestor of the ix35 that blossomed into a global success story within two years. Underlining that the ix-Onic is created for every occasion, Hyundai Motor Europe in Germany gave it an urban nomad touch. It’s a tough SUV with muscular proportions, but also a city slicker showing off with elegant lines and refined surfaces that previously were exclusively reserved for high-level sports cars. ix-Onic was also Hyundai’s first with the hexagon face that has become famous since then, thus highlighting the importance of a recognizable family look. In the meantime, the asymmetrical grille illustrates how Hyundai dares to do things at least slightly different as well.

Furthermore, ix-Onic emphasises that the interior of a car should always be a reflection of the exterior. This philosophy is perfectly showcased by the dashboard’s x-shaped centre console mirroring the hexagon grille. ix-Onic has a 1.6 litre gasoline engine delivering 175 bhp, which is coupled to a six-speed double clutch gearbox. The car performs surprisingly well as an off-roader, while offering a dynamic behaviour on asphalt. More than everything, the ix-Onic wants to exemplify that SUVs in the Hyundai universe are ecological as well. Start-stop technology and other smart inventions help it keep its CO2 emissions impressively low.

ix-METRO

Only months after the ix-Onic gave a prelude of what was to become the new ix35, the Hyundai ix-Metro showed how a modern urban compact monovolume would look when dipped in Hyundaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fresh flowing design sauce. Today, a lot of these design ideas are reflected in the ix20. Conceived and designed by the Korean R&D centre, the ix-Metro copes with the restraints of the contemporary urbanite by offering lots of space and a massive appearance within a compact surface. While the high beltline presents a secure feeling, and the huge 21-inch wheels give it a muscular stance, the sliding-back doors grant much comfort, and the inherent frameless side windows improve visibility in busy traffic. For the interior, the design team found inspiration in the rich universe of NASA space travelers and sci-fi movies. Because these symbols of progress and innovation are easily understood everywhere, but even more so, because this basis offers an out of this world travel experience. The dashboard, door panels, centre console and seats meld into each other as if they were woven into one big knot of hypermodern materials. This way the interior serves as a protective capsule, while the light-filled gaps in between offer an airy feeling at the same time. The high-tech spaceship atmosphere is further accentuated by the white semi-transparent silicon-like material on the dash and the ice-blue illumination. Ultra slim digital side view cameras minimize air turbulence and wind noise. The one-litre three-cylindre petrol engine with continuous variable valve timing, turbo-charging and direct fuel injection is connected to a mild hybrid system that is integrated in the starter-motor-alternator device. This simple system stores its power in an ultra capacitor and a 12-volt batter y, yet delivers up to 5 kW of extra torque to save even more fuel. The hybrid drive train thus performs 92 kW, while only emitting 80 grams CO2 per kilometre.

BLUE WILL

The Blue Will concept car that was unveiled at the Seoul Motor Show in 2009 is another testing space for future ideas and technological alternatives. It’s not only Hyundai’s first plug-in hybrid, it also sketches new boundaries for Hyundai’s form language for compact cars. Blue Will is equipped with a 1.6 litre all-aluminum gasoline engine with 112 kW, that is connected through a CVT gearbox to an electrical motor delivering another 100kW. The lithium ion polymer battery behind the rear bench guaranties that Blue Will can travel 64 kilometres on electricity only, without using one drip of fuel or emitting one plume of air-born waste. Even if the combustion engine has to hop in after this considerable distance, Blue Will still only needs 2,2 litres of fuel for 100 eco-friendly kilometres. The concept illustrates how ecology hides in the details as well, by offering a thermal generator transforming the heat of the exhaust gases into additional electricity in order to power comfort-related equipment. Integrated solar cells in the glass roof propel a cooling fan to keep the cabin fresh when the car is parked in the sun. Most panels of the eco-sleek body are constructed out of carbon fibre-reinforced plastics to reduce weight, but also because these new materials make it possible to expand Hyundai’s design language with very expressive lines and razorsharp forms. The car’s face looks very distinctive with its huge LED panel and its massive headlamps, of which the bezel is made out of recycled PET material. It also has an integrated bicycle rack at the back. Blue Will no longer sports a conventional dashboard. Here, a digital flow with a very slender transparent LED display on the steering column presents the driving information in high resolution. Both the gear selection and the infotainment cluster can be controlled through an additional touch screen in the middle. The Eco Coach System shows easy to understand graphics about fuel consumption and driving efficiency, to save even more fuel.

iFLOW Launched in March 2010, iFlow was designed and developed by Hyundai Motor Europe in Germany. iFlow was not only meant as an overture to the fluidic sculpture design that was integrated in the subsequent i40, but even more to illustrate how this new form language could be a grammar for the future. More than every other Hyundai, this bionic beauty combines spectacular athletic looks with a frugal character, and muscular proportions with almost female lines. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s this unique combination that makes it so refined and classy.

Underneath the dynamic coachwork resides a 1.7 litre hybrid diesel engine with two turbos and a lithium ion polymer battery pack that is linked to a double clutch six-speed gearbox. This drive train underlines the Blue Drive aspect by combining sporty performance with a CO2 exhaust of only 85 grams per kilometre and an average fuel consumption of only 3 litres for ever y 100 kilometres.

Its aerodynamic appearance is topped off with an active front spoiler and active thresholds at the sides that optimise the airflow. The glass roof has integrated solar cells that deliver electrical energy and contribute to its fuel efficiency. The engine is enclosed with a specific material â&#x20AC;&#x201C; developed in collaboration with BASF â&#x20AC;&#x201C; that retains the heat after the engine has been shut down. This lowers the warm-up time afterwards and saves up to 9% of fuel in winter. iFlow also uses the heat of the exhaust gases to its advantage: these are transformed by a thermal generator into electrical energy.

The interior too sets new standards in design and materials (see next page). Together with BASF Hyundai developed Steron, a new breathing material that is both elastic and strong. This helped to create lightweight seats that combine comfort with an airy feeling. The dashboard is finished with Elastokin, a sprayed finish with a refined sparkle.

BLUE

The last, but not the latest, of Hyundai’s eco-oriented concept cars is the Blue2 which was introduced in March 2011. Blue Square, as it should be pronounced, already reflects by its name that it brings Blue Drive to another level. The hydrogen level, as a matter of fact, because the two also stands for H2 , the chemical symbol of hydrogen. Blue2 basically emphasises Hyundai’s dedication to be a world leader in fuel cell cars. True to the preferred body style appreciated by Korean car buyers, Blue2 is a traditional, rather realistic looking four-door sedan. This approach illustrates that Hyundai doesn’t consider hydrogen to be only a vision, but also as a viable alternative for the upcoming years. The ‘Intersected Flow’ design of Blue2 is a clear evolution of Hyundai’s design language ‘Flow, inspired by nature’. Blue2 stands out with a combination of futuristic lines, sinuous shapes and eco-friendly features like low-resistance tyres and alloy wheels with improved aerodynamic design. Rear-view mirrors had to make way for cameras, to further reduce the aerodynamic drag. Both front and back of the car show LED screens that inform passersby about the condition of the car via unique, futuristic images. Inside, Blue2’s asymmetrical dashboard improves the emotional connection with the driver, while wider seats assist getting in and out comfortably. As soon as the car recognises its driver, it even automatically opens the door. The infotainment system is operated by a motion sensor mouse stick, that reacts to the driver’s hand movements. A cluster ioniser refreshes the air inside, and the eco-graphic perforations of the antibacterial leather with a leaf-shaped print further enhance the ecological touch and feel. Blue2 has a fuel-cell drive train, which combines a power output of 90 kW with a fuel economy of only 2,86 litres of hydrogen for 100 kilometres.

FLEXIBILITY The Hyundai i40 Tempts The German Ruhrgebiet

Once, when cars were busy conquering the world and Europe was the centre of the universe, the Ruhr area was the roughest of Germany. Visiting this triangle today with a Hyundai i40, however, you will be surprised by the creativity that sparkles like a fountain and the resources that have turned this former temple of heavy industry into a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Officially it’s called NordrheinWestfalen, this fruitful piece of land next to the river Ruhr in the very west of Germany and hence right in the pounding heart of western Europe. But it’s far better known as the Ruhr-gebiet. From a distance, it only seems a messy stretch of land with nothing but neighbourhoods, where no urban architect ever set foot and abandoned factories, dark as Darth Vader in his blackest hours. But in fact, it’s Europe’s fourth largest agglomeration after Moscow, Paris and London. And it was Europe’s Cultural Capital in 2010. Only half a century ago, this region carried the most horrible reputation in the world of tourism. Having been at the pulse of the industrial revolution, it had brought much wealth. But it came at a price. The numerous coalmines weren’t exactly heaven on earth, the mammoth factories expelled their ominous dark clouds over the region as if it was always the day of doom, and it smelled like hell. To make matters worse, disaster really struck in the seventies, when the industry changed its face drastically. Once an ugly neighbourhood, yet one where goods and money were made, it quickly became a forgotten relic of a glutted past. Cities were dominated by unemployment, grounds were polluted, rivers were lifeless. No hope seemed left after the Ruhrgebiet had been robbed of its natural richness and then left for dead by the seven-headed monster of eternal growth that sharpened its appetite somewhere else. That is, until creative souls stepped up and turned around the complete region. Not with big means, but with smart ideas, perfectly illustrating how new thinking always leads to new possibilities. People here didn’t panic and certainly didn’t follow others blindly. They just pursued their own route and conviction. Like Hyundai, nobody blew whistles. They just did it. The old factories were not demolished and buried, the rich history was not denied or neglected. It was only turned around smartly, to serve individual needs of the 21st century. Some abandoned mines were transferred into exhibition centres, others became leisure parks with an edgy twist. What once were dark caves of heavy labour, are now cathedrals of popular culture. The former Zollverein in Essen, raised in an arty Bauhaus style when still a mine, was even promoted to a Unesco World Heritage Site. And it became the vibrant centre when the entire region was crowned cultural capital of Europe in 2010. Once a burden where people came to work in infernal circumstances to gain their daily bockwurst, this is now officially the world’s most beautiful coalmine. It has exhibition areas, it houses several creative offices, theatres and artistic groups, there are smart shops and two restaurants. Moreover, this is the home of Red Dot, Germany’s most reputed design museum. There has also been built a brand new International School for Management and Design, and so much more that attracted new businesses and different points of view. But there’s also fun and entertainment to be found for

those willing to look further than the usual Disneyland. An open-air swimming pool has smartly been integrated in abandoned containers, there’s a delightful Ferris wheel to explore the site’s hidden corners from a surprising angle and, in winter, an open-air ice skating arena on the frozen water of the former cooling system.

The Landscape Park in Duisburg North is another mysterious pearl on the rusty brown necklace around the industrial shoulders of Germany. This former steel plant now serves as a leisure park for the local population, but also accommodates a trendy beach bar, a youth hostel, a restaurant, a conference centre, an open-air cinema and even a diving club in the former cooling towers. There are climbing walls in what looks like an ancient Egyptian temple. The play garden with an adventurous slide makes children completely forget about the attractions of the stellar Six Flags theme parks, and there’s so much more that no website or folder can sum up. From art installations on abandoned terrills, over reconverted water towers, to turn of the century ships elevators, and everything imaginable in between those extremes. This makes the massive Ruhrgebiet quite a handful to get under your skin. Unlike world capitals like London or Paris, the region consists of individually developed cities which all have a tiny ancient centre, complete with the typical Hansel and Gretel atmosphere, trying to keep up with the contemporary flavour that rules this universe, much like an analogue clock in a design interior. As time evolved, the river kept flowing and the industrial revolution kicked in, prosperity and growth took over, and the whole region evolved into one megalopolis without strictly defined boundaries, but with an interesting, open approach. Just like the Hyundai portfolio, the Ruhr area doesn’t have a real epicentre. It’s not like some European car brands where one model steals all the attention and everything else is merely endured in the shadow of the star. Here, the action is everywhere. To help visitors navigate this abundance, the Route Industriecultur has been created. This loose guideline offers an interesting travel itinerary to every nostalgic soul believing life was better in the early days. Just walk these temples of industrialism trying to imagine how it must have been, and you realise how lucky we are at the dawn of the 21st century, where we can enjoy all the fruits of the industrial revolution without paying the price for it. The combination of smart thinking and limitless sources, and of beauty with a steady, industrial basis, fundamentally improves people’s environment. Not only for a few privileged individuals, as it used to be a century ago when beautiful design was a priori very expensive and thus created to please the rich and famous. Now, all that has changed. The area has been turned into a park for everybody and splendour is within reach for every living soul, as the Hyundai i40 amply proves.

100

101

Tested model : i40 colour Total Black type 5-door Wagon

Length/height/width 4770/1470/1815

Engine 1.7 CRDi

Maximum power

136 bhp

Transmission six-speed manual Top speed

198 kph

Special features Leather seats, keyless-go, boot organiser and 18-inch alloy wheels, lane keeping assistant, automatic parking system, panoramic sunroof, 9 airbags, heated and ventilated seats, heated steering wheel, …

Hardly any car suits the diverse roads of the Ruhrgebiet better than the Hyundai i40. It combines all the qualities of the Hyundai portfolio in a model with perfect proportions. It’s a big car, but you couldn’t tell if it travelled by in its elegant manner. The sporty lines turn the i40 into a true sculpture with muscles lying on its skin like anchor ropes. You never tire of it as the sun plays a frivolous game with its sensual, almost baroque forms, razor sharp lines and complex surfaces. It’s the kind of car that you just don’t walk away from after having parked it. Nobody can resist giving it a last look - it just keeps surprising and seducing. The beauty originates from the overall silhouette, but even more so from the abundant details that are spread over its body like jewels. The dropletshaped headlamps, embellished with teasing LED lights, give the i40 that little sparkle, while they almost mirror their red-coloured colleagues at the back, thus giving more equilibrium to the entire profile. In the meantime, the intriguing fog lamps entice everyone else on the road like Audrey Hepburn once charmed the whole world with a wink of her eyes. Although the i40 looks as rakish as a hind, it offers the load capacity of a truck and the compliant character of a perfect servant. The twinkling bend in the window profile at the rear and the slender roof racks contribute to its sporty appearance. Both also make the i40 look far smaller and more compact than it really is. With a length of 477 centimetres, the i40 is in fact a big car that offers much value for money, altough these massive dimensions are only thoroughly felt in the interior. It easily hosts five adults and the sexy boot lid hides a trunk the size of Ali Baba’s cave. Thanks to the adjustable rear bench you can organise the i40 to your specific needs of the day: more room for your friends when you travel to one of those fancy restaurants at Zollverein, or more space for your material when you go diving or climbing at Duisburg’s Landscape Park? The boot can take 553 litres with the luggage cover in place and even an astonishing 1.719 litres with the two-way folding rear bench down. This undoubtedly makes it the roomiest in its class. The trunk itself is as flexible as an Olympic gymnastics champion, thanks to the versatile ranging system that helps stowing all kinds of stuff and assures it gets home in one piece. Inside, the i40 is even more dressed to impress. The seats are lusher than those in a gentleman’s club, the dashboard looks very modern, has all you could dream of, the ergonomics are child-proof, and the finishing is impressive.

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The i40 is developed in Europe, for Europe. That explains why itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s launched as an estate, a body form that directly aims at the European market. It also shows its roots underneath, where the suspension is tweaked to European standard. It offers a comfortable ride, but steering, damping and overall stance feel more taut and rigid to tackle the twisty European roads and to please the firmer European taste. The same applies to the line-up of four-cylindre engines. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something for everybody, but the 1.7 CRDi 136 will surely be the most popular with 136 bhp and a massive 325 Nm of torque. It combines generous power, a top speed of 198 kph and a 0 - to - 100 - kph sprint in only 10,6 seconds with sensible fuel consumption. 4,1 litres for 100 exciting kilometres are stunning for a car this size and this level of sophistication. That average drops to 3,7 litres if you opt for the even more ecological 115 bhp version of this 1.7 CRDi diesel engine. Each i40 comes with a six-speed manual gearbox as standard. Like every Hyundai, the i40 too, surprises with extraordinary standard equipment. Apart from the evident bells and whistles, the top version impresses with 18-inch alloy wheels, a heated steering wheel, a full leather interior with heated and ventilated seats front and back, a sat nav with voice recognition, parking cameras and even a parking aid, an Infinity sound system, an electrically controlled rear trunk, adaptive headlamps that can peep around the corner, and a driving aid with dynamic steering assistance to keep the i40 perfectly between the white lines at all times. No matter how tired you are when clocking up the miles, the i40 will always be there to guide you. It also has nine airbags and anything else that you could expect to protect you and your family if things go wrong after all.

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the i40

IN THE RUHR GEBIET

The whole Ruhrgebiet area is a paradise for admirers of technology and innovative techniques. Everywhere you look, there are examples of industrial heritage or mechanical craftsmanship to be found, presented like trinkets in a jewellery shop for giants. Although you can also enjoy the ultimate accomplishments of 100 years of technical evolution behind the wheel of the i40, performing its best only for you. As the Ruhrgebiet is as large as a whole province and most of its marvels are dispersed like candies carelessly thrown away by Santa Claus, you need a car like the Hyundai i40 to explore every surprising corner of it. It takes some effort and you need to clock up considerable mileage, but that’s never a problem with a car so comfortable and so lean on consumption. Sometimes, the roads to the most beautiful areas take surprisingly adventurous directions too. Uphill towards the Tetraeder for instance, the artwork topping of an abandoned spoil tip in Bottrop which has been converted into a nature and leisure park. It’s not an easy drive, but the i40 performs the climb with a big smile on its sculpted face. And the reward is priceless, as the view offers a skyline shaped by innumerable chimneys, cooling towers, silos and other temples of industrialism which dominate the slender, almost romantic church towers from earlier, more sedate ages. It’s a rough image, but there’s much beauty in it. Contributing to the image, the i40 looks marvellous next to this majestic Tetraeder sculpture. It’s certainly not intimidated by it, happy with itself as an Alpinist on top of the Mont Blanc, bursting with self-confidence like a top model on a Parisian catwalk. Nonetheless, the i40 is never arrogant and spoiled star behaviour is not its style. It just knows how to rate its own qualities. In other parts of the Ruhrgebiet too, the i40’s big sky roof helps to grasp the majestic character of these dark brown temples and their new vocation. While in ordinary day life, it’s mainly there for businessmen to keep the overworked head cool and airy.

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The i40 and the Ruhrgebiet are really two of a kind. Both offer enough room for things that haven’t been done before, both are able to think outside the box and explore the boundaries between industrial production and personal leisure. Moreover, the value for money is unbeatable and everything is as accessible as heaven for a good, penitent Catholic. But most of all, both are adepts of contemporary design that takes good looks to the streets. The i40 may be at ease at the docks of Duisburg, where cosy terraces and elegant shops remind you of New York. But its sculpted body is most at home at the Zollverein in Essen where the renowned Red Dot design museum features lectures about magnificence in everyday life. Here, it’s not about unworldly art that is created by individuals who are king in their own mind while only trying to please the happy few. No, the Red Dot museum emphasises how beauty can and should be a foundation of our daily existence. By presenting common utensils in a staggering atmosphere, you also understand how good looks and smart design directly improve the quality of our everyday life. The same accounts for the i40. It doesn’t take a trained eye to see how marvellous it has been brought to shape, but it’s only in an inspiring environment like the Zollverein or the Landscape Park Duisburg Nord that you can really capture its brilliance. Yes, it’s a car that aims at the fleet market. Yes, it has been developed with cost per kilometre and CO2 emissions in mind. Yes, it primarily wants to offer spaciousness, comfort and easiness in every day life. Yes, it’s a tool that primarily wants to simplify the life of for the modern citizen. But that doesn’t mean it cannot look like a supermodel.

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TECH

Peeping Inside The Brain

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Being allowed a look inside Hyundaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s research and development centres, is like walking around in someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brain. Because no matter how huge the assets, the biggest wealth of a company is its knowledge, insight and vision.

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It appears like a village of its own, hidden in the distant outskirts of Seoul. It could even be taken for a gigantic factory, if it weren’t for the lack of chimneys. There’s no dispatch or distribution centre either in Namyang, and no trucks or boats leave the premises with finished products. Because nothing is produced in Hyundai’s biggest R&D centre except ground breaking concepts, new technologies, and revolutionary techniques. Nothing is exported either, apart from intelligence, knowledge and elaborated plans for new, high quality cars. Opened in 1975, Namyang now covers 3.470.000 square metres – about 500 football fields – and employs 8.000 people, the majority of them being engineers. Every day, a few hundred buses travel the distance between Seoul and Namyang: a huge transport of brainpower and experience. It takes at least ten books to explain what goes on in Namyang, or how exactly it functions. But it’s easy to sum it up. If Hyundai is a living creature, Namyang is the giant brain, with multiple nerve centres and neurotransmitters, that controls, guides and reflects. If Hyundai is a nation, this is the treasury, filled to the brim with an invaluable amount of intellect, ideas and vast knowledge. Spread out over three districts, this humming hub of intelligence is capable of developing the most complex products of our material world: mass-produced cars. Cars have to deliver power and character, they need to be able to travel at high speeds, need to cope with the harshest climate conditions, need to be comfortable, appealing, and good looking, but also friendly to the atmosphere and safe. That’s quite something as a brief. What makes it so utterly difficult though, is the fact that this incredible package of qualities has to be offered for a price that doesn’t exceed the cost of nicely designed dining room furniture. Not even planes, boats or computers come close to such a strict set of requirements. Namyang doesn’t just develop cars. It creates the cars of our future. This requires constant thinking ahead. And not just a few years down the road, but at least a decade to cover the three years the engineers need to design the car, and the seven or eight years of its successful career. Namyang’s R&D centre now works on the cars that will still be on sale in 2020 and beyond. Very few people today are aware of what they will be doing in 2020, where they will be living, let alone what they will be driving. Yet, the Hyundai engineers already know. Because they want to. Because they need to. Because they care. Because they can. Like a real brain has different lobes with specific responsibilities, the Namyang centre is divided into three distinctive parts. District A covers the entire engineering, design and power train department. Here, engineers conceive engines, gearboxes, and so many more aspects of modern car development. Apart from the obvious car parts that constantly need to evolve, be adjusted and refined, a lot of intelligence is invested in the development of new technologies that open new possibilities. Hyundai is not a follower, but a car manufactorer that explores new horizons, and invents new technologies that make life easier. Today,

Hyundai’s Namyang District A thinks, amongst other things, about nano glass that filters sunlight and offers far better visibility in rainy conditions. Furthermore, they also develop comb tyres that won’t puncture anymore, and even sunroofs with integrated solar cells. Besides that, continuous reduction of emissions is a never-ending quest. District C takes the ideas of the engineers at the A District and moulds them into a real form. This pilot centre produces real prototypes that are first used for thousands of tests, and then eventually destroyed in crash tests to improve safety. Each and every day, at least two cars are smashed against the wall, or against each other. Around 600 crash tests a year, that’s what it takes to crown Hyundais amongst the safest cars of their respective segments. And helps them to score so impressively at the Euro NCAP testing with a notable fourstar rating for the tiny i10, and a perfect five-star score for (amongst others) i30, ix20, ix35 and i40. Hyundai even runs a crash test dummy family of patriarchal dimensions. About 160 plastic men, women and children – fully packed with expensive sensors that can detect even the slightest of forces – endure all the pain and bear many, many accidents to make sure the Hyundai clients will never have to go through this themselves. The most complex member of this heavily tested family costs almost 2 million dollars. This is a complicated endeavour because every car, every human being and every crash is different. To make matters even more daunting, the rules too are diverse in Europe, Asia and America. To constantly improve its quality, Hyundai even buys every car of any other brand on the market, in order to fully dismantle them, measure the tiniest detail, and learn. Afterwards, these cars are often used in crash tests. Finally, the District B is responsible for taking every new model through its paces again, and again, and again. This department has a playground with 70 kilometres of test tracks, encompassing over 34 roads and 71 different kinds of pavement, including the famous Belgian cobble stones that are killing for a car’s suspension. Each year, millions of miles are clocked up to improve the durability and consistency of the cars, but also to reduce noise and vibrations. The District B runs a dust tunnel to make sure the car is completely tight, and several hot/cold chambers where the reliability of cars and materials is tested under severe temperatures and harsh climatic conditions. The showpiece, however, is a 45 million dollar high-tech wind tunnel that can create artificial winds up to 200 kph. This marvel of technology is essentially used to improve the car’s aerodynamic efficiency, but also to reduce driving noise at high speeds. Only after realising that wind is responsible for 60% of the noise at 100 kph, do you start to understand just how important this is. And how impressive the work is that has been done to make every Hyundai as silent as a mouse, even at speeds exceeding legality.

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The wind tunnel is equipped with 14 cameras registering even the slightest movement, and a 5 million dollar weighing balance, which is able to measure in three directions. It’s so sensitive it can detect an extra coin in the car. As the room is 99% soundproof, it has no echo. Each new model resides here for at least two or three months. During this period, the sound and aerodynamic engineers work together and then discuss results with the designers to reach the ideal compromise between efficient aerodynamics, flawless isolation and drop-dead gorgeous looks. To fully understand the local needs and requirements of its largest markets, the Namyang centre is backed up by regional R&D centres in all the major regions around the globe. America even has two: a big technical centre in Michigan and another one with huge test course facilities in California. Apart from the one in Europe, Hyundai also recently opened satellites in China and India. It’s no coincidence that the European R&D centre is located in Rüsselsheim, the very heart of the leading German car industry. It illustrates the confidence of Hyundai, but also the vast will not to content itself with the role as follower. No, today Hyundai defines its profile as a clear leader in design, technology, ecology, fuel efficiency, safety, and even in road holding and dynamic behaviour. All these qualities are appreciated around the globe, yet also depend on specific regional laws and local tastes. That’s why Hyundai runs local development centres, all embroidering further on the work of the mother brain in Korea. Thus Hyundai’s intelligence can also labour 24/7 thanks to the time-zone difference. No human brain matches that performance.

Hyundai’s R&D centre in Rüsselsheim

Hyuanda’s R&D Centre in Rüsselheim is relatively small, but very effective. Although only employing around 300 people, it is capable of fully developing a new car. To streamline the complex processes, it has been divided into four departments. The engineering and design division gives shape to new models and also handles the Euro NCAP safety homologations. Being the leading team for diesel engines within the company, the European powertrain department mainly concentrates on engines and gearboxes. A huge task, certainly when realising that the development of a new engine requires an investment of at least 150 million euros. Fortunately, the team has 11 test engine benches at its disposal, and a special room to optimise gearboxes. As reliability tests are all effectuated in Korea, the main theme of this team is the continuous reduction of CO2 emissions. Already today, Hyundai performs better than the competitors thanks to Blue Drive and keeps very close to the aim for 2012: 130 grams per kilometre. In the long term, Hyundai will even reach 95 grams on average. Advanced product planning is a small, but very important unit that keeps a finger on the pulse of society, to looking for gaps in the market, future trends and developing the product range of 2020. Finally, the TVI department does total vehicle evaluation. These are the guys who keep noises and vibrations down, increase comfort and adjust every model of the entire range to the peculiar taste of European car buyers.

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ADVENTURE The Hyundai ix35 Discovers Turkeyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cappadocia

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Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a majestic place that looks different from anything else. In Cappadocia, magnificence is ubiquitous and the caprices of nature are dazzling. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a comfortable car that goes everywhere. With a Hyundai ix35, boundaries no longer exist and you need only stop when you want to enjoy the miracles of nature.

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Cappadocia is a must-see for everyone interested in rich culture, ancient history and natural beauty. Though it looks more complex than rocket science, it has been created by nothing more than a few splashing rivers and endlessly burbling time. Exactly because this combination resulted in a landscape that looks more alien than the moon, it gives its visitors a taste of Mother Earth in her purest, undiluted form. It’s only a small yet unique piece of land consisting of diverse stone layers after the eruption of some surrounding volcanoes. Over the ages, the imposing ballet of the four elements - wind, fire, earth and water erected Brancusi-esque sculptures and a landscape that deserves to be labelled the eighth of the seven world wonders, each material having eroded in a very individual manner. It’s majestic from every angle. From the inside, it feels as if you’re at the bottom of the sea after someone had pulled out its plug earlier. But, if possible, it’s even more unreal when you look down on it from one of the neighbouring hills. Then it appears as if the rocks had been poured over the land like warmed mocha ice over a banana. Cappadocia used to be as flat as Holland before this battle of nature started. It was like a gigantic flat cake before the water nibbled away the tastier parts as if it was a little mouse. Moreover, Cappadocia is the world’s most entertaining lesson in geology, as the bedazzling rocks and intriguing fairy chimneys give a colourful explanation of how ingenious our globe is constructed, just like a transparent show car demonstrates how smartly its chassis and mechanicals have been constructed. Cappadocia is not only a Unesco World Heritage Site, it’s also quite literally the midpoint of the world. Horizontally, it lies perfectly where the continents of Europe and Asia meet, and vertically between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. For all these reasons, this region has always been a gateway between east and west and a crossroad of cultures and religions. Nature has understood this geographical importance as well by creating its own, breathtakingly beautiful hymn to underline this crucial role. It’s clear why there also is a second, completely hidden world with several underground cities, where people already thousands of years ago hid from their enemies; as there are almost too many reasons for this region to be a warzone where opposing opinions, philosophies and belief continually clash. But today, people of different nations, races and convictions found an ingenious way to live together in perfect harmony. Today, the local population doesn’t need to pretend to be hospitable to make a living, not least because friendliness and openness is a fundamental part of their being. It’s even more charming that Muslims guide interested tourists to and through the various Christian churches. Or does nobody care anymore about trivial things such as a bad temper or a bickering neighbour, after primal forces of another kind devised such an extraterrestrial landscape?

This meeting place of old and new, east and west, authentic villagers and international tourists not only builds an interesting marriage between authenticity and innovation, but also between respect for nature and how to use the environment to your advantage. When the soil started calving and people literally felt the ground flushing away from under their feet hundreds of years ago, they didn’t panic or run away. Instead, the local population put this whim of the elements to their use and conceived houses and temples in the rocks itself. Although erosion is an essential part of life here and people only have one certainty – that it will never cease – these caves still remain intact and can be visited and enjoyed by anyone with a penchant for adventure.

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Cappadocia is a nature reserve park of international acclaim, but it’s not a prison. Not for the environment and certainly not for humanity. No matter how important the landscape, unique the setting and valuable the scenery, there are no dos and don’ts. More than everything, absolute freedom is the key. It’s not only a strong belief, but a way of life. Cappadocia is not about strict preservation, but about living in harmony with your environment and, even better, about improving the circumstances in everybody’s favour. Cappadocia is Turkey’s best destination if you expect more from a holiday than lying around, getting a tan and passively waiting for time to go by. You can even go skiing on the flanks of the almost 4000 metre high Erciyes volcano that towers over the region like a teacher over his pupils. As is the case with almost all heavenly sources of total happiness, Cappadocia is not so easy to reach, nor simple to grasp. There certainly isn’t one means of transportation ideal for exploring every aspect of it. Long hiking or adventurous mountain biking are perfect for a detailed look, while Cappadocia’s magnitude can best be appreciated from a hot-air balloon that will surely turn you mute and stunned as it silently floats over the whimsical terrain. Horseback riding is without doubt the most relaxing way to become one with nature, and sporty visitors can opt for an exciting quad. But, if you really want to get every aspect of Cappadocia under your skin, you’ll need the one vehicle that combines all these qualities into one: the Hyundai ix35.

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Tested model : ix35 colour Oil Blue type 5-door SUV

Length/height/width 4410/1660/1820 Engine 2.0 CRDi

Maximum power

184 bhp

Transmission six-speed automatic Top speed

195 kph

Special features Four wheel drive, leather seats, automatic dual zone air conditioning, ...

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The ix35 is another example of how Hyundai has, over the last ten years, achieved a broad experience and built an indestructible reputation in the universe of compact and affordable SUVs. Yet, it’s much more. Everybody who has the luck to pass some days in its presence will recognise it’s not another compact SUV that sells well because of the popularity of this class of vehicles. No. The ix35 immediately ascended to the top of the sales char ts because it’s so obviously the ripe fruit of years of development and a wide experience in this segment. The ix35 is not just loosely inspired by the ix-Onic concept car shown by Hyundai in 2009. No, it’s a clear evolution of it. It’s an unbridled dream of only two years ago, moulded into a reality that is accessible for everyone now. It’s typical for Hyundai that a concept car is not always an artistic, almost irrational ego trip of the designers, but only a step on the way to the showroom. This approach is a perfect example of new thinking, new possibilities. Hyundai’s European styling division granted the ix35 refined and elegant lines that perfectly conceal how big it really is and how much space it offers. It’s a roomy five-seater with a variable boot space, offering at least 591 litres and even up to 1.436 with the rear bench folded down. The ix35 shows a highly individual silhouette that distinguishes it from every other car on the road, while the typical hexagon grille aligns it with all other members of the big Hyundai family. It looks sturdy without being intimidating, chic without being stilted, muscular without being uncompromising. And it shows off with standard 16-inch alloy wheels and pin-sharp roof racks. The rear view mirrors are electrically operated and heated. It’s inviting too, with its keyless entry, doors that swing open wide, and appealing atmosphere inside. The interior of the ix35 feels cosy and luxurious, thanks to the advanced styling, the quality materials and the abundance of leather to clothe steering wheel, seats and gear leaver. But there’s more to help forget that you’re behind the multifunctional wheel of a big SUV. The ix35 pleases with a sporty dashboard with trendy blue lighting, and, of course, is royally equipped with standard air-conditioning, a touch screen to control the comfort equipment, electrically operated windows, heated seats, a satellite navigation system, a trip computer, a USB and iPod connection, cup holders and so much more extra that it reminds you more of a luxury hotel suite than of a work

horse. Nonetheless, the driver is always seated high above the ground, thus enjoying a panoramic view of the surroundings. Parking sensors offer additional help in manoeuvring the ix35 through the edgy landscape with ease. A camera positioned at the back captures a perfect rear view in the only place that makes sense when you’re driving backwards: the rear view mirror. The 2.0 CRDi engine is a refined piece of mechanics as well. You won’t tell it’s a diesel - that’s how silent it is - except for its massive torque of almost 400 Nm, developing from revs only a little higher than idle. The 184 bhp strong fourcylindre nicely teams up with the six-speed automatic gearbox that constantly maintains optimum revs to make sure the driver always has the maximum torque available under the throttle, while the passengers enjoy pampering comfort. The ix35 wouldn’t be a true adventurer of the 21st century if it didn’t breathe respect for its environment with every pore. That’s why it is fitted with a standard particle filter and only emits 189 grams of CO2 per kilometre. Although most of the ix35s on our roads are equipped with the more economical two-wheel drive system, the four-wheel drive version is the perfect choice for Cappadocia. It has a sophisticated transmission that only asks for assistance from the rear wheels when the colleagues at the front can’t find enough traction. It all works so smoothly that you would never notice this complex interaction between electronics and mechanics. Except at the gas station, of course, because the system mainly detaches the rear axle to save fuel. If the climate is too rough or the circumstances too hefty for your brain to cope, you can also switch the four-wheel drive system on permanently. But, honestly, there’s rarely the need to. Underneath, the ix35 has all it needs to tackle the most difficult conditions, including the possibility to block the differential, an electronically operated downhill brake control system, a hill start assist, a traction control system, an electronic brake force distribution and a smart electronic stability control. The latter helps to keep the car on the road when travelling fast, but can be switched off on sandy terrain, where a bit of controlled wheel slip helps to keep the car in movement. Nonetheless, this 4x4 has mainly been developed for a modern lifestyle and has everything to appeal to everybody. This unique combination makes it perfect for heavy off-roading and clocking up miles endlessly. The ideal companion to travel all the way to Cappadocia and then explore every little corner of it.

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IN CAPPADOCIA the ix35

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Hyundai’s newest design philosophy - ‘flow, inspired by nature’ - was never more at home than in this region, as the ix35 blends perfectly into the landscape and shows the same dramatic and sometimes even razor sharp lines as these mountains. They seem accidental, at the edge of capricious, but in fact are totally dictated by the laws of nature. Erosion in the case of Cappadocia, aerodynamics in the case of the ix35. And the global laws of aesthetics, of course. Cappadocia can be very harsh and unaffected, which, strangely enough, makes it one of the most refined parts of Turkey, just like the ix35 is one of the pinnacles of the rich Hyundai portfolio. Cappadocia is only a small piece of land, yet has as many faces as the ix35. Every rock fascinates with its very own colour scheme, each dolmen surprises with its particular form, each of the little towns charms with its own character, thus making the region very diverse and ideal for a rich holiday. Uçhisar looks out over the region as a captain over his ship, Ortahisar cuddles the hills, Avanos refreshes itself at the river and Gorëme hides between the skin folds of the earth. The ix35 too is all in one: it’s sporty and comfortable, but also flexible and reliable. It corners as swiftly as a city car, yet on highways feels as robust as a rock. And it can attack the toughest obstacles, while the passengers feel as if they are relaxing in a lounge club. The roads in Cappadocia can be challenging and even the highways are pockmarked with big holes and heavy bumps, but the ix35 filters everything out as if it’s a flying carpet. The high seating position offers a good overview and helps to enjoy the region at its best. The panoramic roof provides a perfect view of the majestic rocks while driving through the valleys. Even the landscapes of Cappadocia can’t intimidate the ix35. No climb is too steep, no path too dusty, no descent too dangerous, no pass too small for the ix35 to show its frisky snout there with a cheerful look in its eyes. With its Active Eco button that keeps the revs down, the ix35 is warmly welcomed here. It makes the engine a bit more sedate, but that ‘laziness’ fits the relaxed Turkish lifestyle nicely.

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Both the ix35 and Cappadocia perfectly illustrate that luxury isn’t necessarily unattainable and adventure mustn’t be the exclusive privilege of the happy few. A good example are the charming cave hotels. Those Barbapapa-like buildings that have been established in former animal caves beautifully demonstrate how this population doesn’t constantly fight the elements, but has harmoniously integrated into this region. This close encounter of many Milky Ways isn’t a clash of cultures anymore, thanks to Attatürk. Not unlike Hyundai’s founding father Chung Ju-Yung, he was a visionary man with a clear focus and an iconic aura. Both have understood how to charm with a melodious marriage between east and west. In the case of Cappadocia, it is about a curious mix between nostalgia and modernism, but also between purity and comfort. For Hyundai, this enriching pollination is visible in the refined merger of transparency and intellect, but mainly in the unique combination of good old quality and innovative thinking that opens new possibilities. Just look at the ix35. It’s a complex piece of technology that is endowed with an astute design, but it has a simple blueprint and a relaxed handling.

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CARE

Allan Rushforth, COO & Senior Vice President Of Hyundai Motor Europe, Cares. About You. About Your Car. About Hyundai.

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‘We are convinced that our five-year Triple Care warranty is the most comprehensive and competitive program on the European market.’

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‘Hi there. I’m Allan Rushforth. I have been Hyundai Europe’s Senior Vice President and COO since 2007. I started working for Hyundai when the previous i30 was launched, and as a consequence have accompanied the arrival of the complete “i” range in Europe. A lot has happened since the start of the ix35, that kicked off a massive product offensive with ten new models and derivates in only a year and a half. This really turbocharged our fortunes in Europe, just when CO2-based tax regulations and the scrappage bonuses in various European countries drove the market towards us.’ ‘There’s no doubt about it that the financial crisis played in our favour too over the last three years. The basic characteristics of our DNA - the combination of good quality, low emissions and a unbeatable value for money ratio - were explicitly present and visible at exactly the right time. In normal circumstances, people don’t change brands that easily, particularly not in Europe. But in difficult and financially worrying times, customers are extremely conscious of value they are getting and are more open to brands beyond those they were already familiar with. Especially when it comes to cars, they look for brands they can trust. Our products and services – and particularly our famous five-year Triple Care warranty – exactly answered the demands of the public and persuaded them into buying Hyundais.’ ‘When I started at Hyundai, our market share was 1.6%. Today, we’ve achieved an impressive 2.9%. While our share grew constantly, the market has done some strange things beneath us and declined dramatically after 2007. Whereas other brands had to cope with a sharp downturn of sales, we shifted in Europe from around 320.000 sales in 2009 and 2010 to 400.000 in 2011. That’s how we improved both share and volume, driven by the arrival of new products, often in new segments. A growing market share is crucial in the car business, as there simply isn’t a European business model that allows profitability while sustaining diminishing volume. Whether you are a Korean volume brand or a premium car maker, volume and scale matter. That’s why it’s so crucial to improve our business model in Europe. Today, Hyundai’s global market share lies around 5.2%. With our European market share at maximum 2.9 right now, it means that there still is a considerable space for improvement. Our medium term objective is 5%, thus selling more than 500.000 vehicles a year, and bringing Europe in line with our global market share.’

‘Winning a greater share will certainly be a long and sensitive process, because Europe is a very mature region and hosts many very competitive and very successful brands. Europe is by far the world’s most difficult car market, mainly because the clients here are very aware of what is available, but even more so because there’s so much diversification. Each of the 28 European countries where we are present, maintains a particular tax system, special requirements, presents different cultures, sometimes conflicting traditions, and of course so many languages. But that’s good. It challenges us to raise the stakes constantly. Nonetheless, all customers always have basically the same wishes and requirements. They want to be cared for, they want to be looked after, seek great value for their money, and they look for a reliable, trustworthy brand. Fortunately, we’ve created the right circumstances and the right products to deliver those things. So, at the end of the day, our business is not so very different compared to other parts of the world, or from one market in Europe to another.’ ‘The new i30 certainly is one of the structural pillars of our business. The first generation i30 was a very rational car that turned out to be an extremely reliable purchase for our customers. We sold around 110.000 units per year. That’s almost 25 % of today’s total volume. For the new generation, we expect to take an even bigger share, and certainly to realise a higher volume. To reach that goal we transformed the rational touch of the existing i30 in the new vehicle, and added an emotional feel. The new i30 combines good looks and dynamic styling with high quality, low emissions and great value for money. The new i30 offers the best in everything, but is certainly not an end. We will always improve on every possible terrain. That’s why I don’t want to consider any of our models as a compromise, not even between emotion and reason. It just presents the best in terms of fuel efficiency, value, emissions and so much

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more. Basically aiming at the European market, it’s crucial that the i30 has been designed and developed at our R&D centre in Frankfurt. The European requirements are just unique in terms of almost everything. For us, the European R&D centre is a must to develop the right products. Besides, 73% of our cars sold in Europe, are also constructed on European soil.’ ‘In Europe we now particularly want to improve our brand image and brand awareness, our reputation, and the suitability of our products to meet the demands of European consumers. We have a very strong tool to achieve this: our fiveyear Triple Care package which consists of a five-year warranty, plus five-year complementary health checks for the car, and also free road-side assistance for the same period. Although this Triple Care program might sound like just another offer from just another volume manufacturer, we are convinced that it’s the most comprehensive and competitive program of its kind on the European market, exactly because our vehicle warranty package is valid for an unlimited mileage. This extensive guarantee encourages people to trust Hyundai, it’s a statement about both the corporate and structural integrity of Hyundai and of our cars. Moreover, this program helps us to work actively on keeping and cultivating the customer, even when he decides to change his car after many years. This is very important for us, because our business today largely consists of winning clients from other brands. We are growing so quickly that almost 70% of all Hyundai vehicles in use in Europe are less than six years old now. No other manufacturer in Europe has the opportunity to focus on customer retention like we are able to with our five-year Triple Care scheme. This program even helps us to get in touch with second owners, and to persuade them with our great cars and our fantastic services to opt for a Hyundai if ever they consider buying a new car. Although it’s typical for young brands to be very aggressive on sales, we are everything but. We prefer to accelerate our maturity by actively working on customer retention. In general, however, I would argue that our impressive warranty doesn’t help us to sell more vehicles, but it confirms our confidence in our cars.’ ‘Because the European market is pretty static, we are winning customers from direct competitors like Ford and Opel. This we do by offering high quality cars that are built in the right places globally, so that the economics of our car manufacturing fall into place, and often set the benchmark on emissions, although this is unknown to many clients. We are also likely to win from Japanese brands, that missed the consequences of the financial crisis, and have also faced quality problems in America. While they experienced big difficulties in trying to sustain their business momentum, especially against the background of a very strong yen, we took the opportunity by presenting a compelling and desirable alternative.’

‘Until today, the majority of our business has been retail; with the fleet market relegated to second place in the past. Right now, it is a priority for us especially with cars like the i30 and i40. The idea is to grow organically in Europe, by maintaining our retail success whilst building a flourishing fleet business on top of that. Hyundai already has a good reputation for presenting great value cars in the retail market. So, right now, while the fleet market is thoroughly thinking through its cost of operation, we can bring a whole new proposition to this sector. In short, we offer desirable products with good fuel efficiency and a strong perception of value. This unique cocktail creates the perfect opportunity to promote ourselves in the highly competitive fleet market. We don’t do special things to attract new to the market car buyers, though. We prefer to be consistent in what we do. We work hard on our brand, which is possibly our most challenging task, while focussing on desirability and trying to move the Hyundai purchase from a rational to a more emotional decision. In fact, we are maturing, and rounding off the Hyundai brand. This is already happening with the i40 and the new generation i30, which both excel with our fluidic sculpture design. People not only buy them because they are great value. No, they just want them.’

‘Our cars and particularly our famous five-year Triple Care program exactly answered the demands of the public in difficult and financially worrying times.’ ‘I’m not afraid that this paradigm shift will stand in the way of our perceived quality. I would even argue that we have not sufficiently communicated the high quality of our products. It might just be possible that the excellence of our cars exceeds that of our processes and that our hardware – the cars – is better than our software – the underlying marketing system that communicates how good our cars are. I’m convinced that we can offer an emotional touch, while retaining our manufacturing quality. It’s not easy to express inherent quality, although there are of course certain areas where the car’s quality is felt and understood more easily. For instance, we communicate this in the interior, with premium materials, with the impressive finishing, the high constructional standard, yet also with the way the vehicle handles, the organic form of the gear knob, and the comfort of the seats. But quality is always implicit, not explicit. Only by living with the vehicle over time, do clients come to understand its features and the inherent excellence. It’s great that our cars have such high structural integrity that will always be present. Even far beyond the range of five-year Triple Care.’

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ambitions The Hyundai Grandeur Grants Seoul A Visit

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WHILE Seoul was evolving into one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest cities, it suddenly revised its ambitions. Once the stage of a raw search for pure growth with a blistering pace, Seoul now warmly embraces grandeur and magnificence in everything it does.

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As every visitor will acknowledge, there’s something special about Seoul. It may not be noticeable at first, but after walking these streets and talking to these people, you will certainly spot a mild melancholia behind the focussed minds. It’s not much more than a gentle feeling - like a meek wind whispering through the streets - but it gives this cosmopolitan city and its inhabitants an affectionate, almost touching aura that softens the existence. This compassion originates from the tough struggle for survival this city has gone through just seven decades ago. Back then, Seoul was almost wiped off the planet after what seemed to be a series of never-ceasing wars, while the inhabitants were dejected - on the edge of desperate - following so many continuous and rude hostilities. However, since those awful days, this capital has been the theatre of one of the miracles of the 20th century, and of a renaissance that is unique in world history. After the still messy sixties, Seoul has developed into a metropolis with a velocity almost too breathtaking, even for ambitious Koreans. The results are so impressive and expansive, it takes an aerial photograph to even start to understand the dimensions into which things have grown over here. Today, Seoul does not only rank in the top ten of the global cities index, it also sets financial and industrial benchmarks for the old world. With over 10 million happy inhabitants, Seoul is not the biggest city of the world. Yet, it’s the biggest conurbation that is fully rooted in the 21st century. But most of all, it’s a nice place to live and an inspiring destination for everyone who wants a taste of the magic behind the Korean fairy tale.

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Seoul is not only the home of Hyundai, but also the capital of Korea, a relatively small country that has nonetheless enacted a major impact on the world economy in recent years. Yet, Seoul is so much more. As roughly a quarter of all Koreans live in the urban centre and another quarter in the greater Seoul area, this pulsating hub is a perfect mirror of the country’s soul. The city really reflects how this nation works, how these people live, how this nation expands. Maybe that’s why the Koreans pronounce the name of their capital like this: for them, it is called ‘Soul.’ Though its history travels back almost 600 years, there are very few reminders of the rich Korean heritage to be found in Seoul. Unfortunately, almost every token of this peaceful culture has been destroyed by the merciless wars that terrorised its population in the past. Today, there’s not much more than some palaces and temples that liven up the Changdeok Park and the historic town of Bukchon, only a rice bowl’s throw north of the city centre and the Hyundai Group Headquarters. No matter how hard to bear, this situation has never depressed the Koreans, though. Today, this ambitious civilization merely considers it another opportunity, while focussing on the future and developing a new society from a clean sheet of paper. That’s why this metropolis copes so well with the standards and requirements of the 21st century. Although Seoul has one of the highest inhabitants per surface rates, you would never tell. Expansion, growth and the search for prosperity may still be key, striving for a high quality of life is king. Just like Hyundai has fastened on to a strict plan and a straight vision to explore the world, every foreigner in Seoul will need a good map and a smart strategy to unveil the charming corners of this devastatingly huge city snuggled between the green mountains and the endless sea. Sporty souls have to check out the former Olympic Park, nostalgic people will appreciate the wide parks with their ancient temples, and shopaholics go bananas in the narrow streets around Myong-Dong, where tiny shops, hip brands and local stalls coincide with the biggest designer labels. Amateur anthropologists will be intrigued by the sweltering atmosphere around the city centre and Seoul station, modern people will happily buzz around in the Gangnam area - the Silicon Valley of the Eastern world - while hard workers go and relax in the multiple parks around the Hangang river after office hours. But those who want it all, need to spend time in Cheongdam-Dong and its surroundings. There, it feels like you’re in the hippest quarters of Berlin, as art galleries, little restaurants and historic houses harmoniously line up in the shade of the mountains north of Seoul. No matter how different the character of all these districts, they all have the same soundtrack, performed on every street corner by continuously buzzing crickets. It perfectly reflects Seoul’s diligent nature, a city with many faces, but only one gear: fast forward.

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Although isolated by the sea, this country has such an open view on the world that the old continent to the west can learn valuable lessons from it. And it’s only aggressive in how it improves the quality of the products and services it provides. In the meantime, Seoul proudly shows how prosperous it is in every pore. This world capital has no slums, yet no gated communities for the very rich, and very few of those either. Of course, some people have done fairly better than others, but there are no excesses in either direction. Here, everybody seems to have his act together, and envy doesn’t exist in these streets. Here, the good life is just out there, waiting to be grabbed like ripe oranges. This particular view on society is perfectly reflected in the Hyundai portfolio that evolves from the frisky i30 and familiar Avante through the popular Sonata, over the stylish Grandeur to the grand Genesis and the majestic Equus, but without being too Spartan in the one, or too exclusive in the other direction. Because Hyundai means ‘modern’ in Korean, this well-sounding name constantly pops up in the newly created streets, although many have little or nothing in common with the Hyundai Motor Company that is known so widely. Neither do the Hyundai outlets that are for Seoul what Bloomingdale’s is for New York, Harrods for London and Galeries Lafayette for Paris. However, as an industrial group, Hyundai has a massive influence on Korean life. When crossing a bridge in your Hyundai Grandeur, chances are almost 100% that the bridge itself has been developed and constructed by Hyundai, just like the boat that travels beneath it. The Hyundai Motor Group division too leaves an impressive mark on this society, as almost 50% of the cars on these roads carry a stylish H on nose and rear. Korea is a nation of bridge builders in every possible meaning. Between both banks of the Hangang River that severs Seoul, of course, but also between east and west, between mass volume and premium quality, and between respect for the heritage and a vision for the future. There’s not one place that illustrates this better than Seoul’s ancient City Hall. After it appeared far too small for this world capital, it wasn’t torn down or reassigned to a completely different purpose. No, the authorities are boldly constructing a new, ultra modern City Hall around, and even above the old one. When completed in a few years - it never costs much time here to realise even the most ambitious projects - it will dominate the old City Hall, however without crushing it. Respecting history without letting it restrict you, illustrates nicely how new thinking can lead to new possibilities.

That Seoul was crowned Unesco city of design in 2010 isn’t only reflected in staggering architecture, but also in nice products, good-looking cars out of the Hyundai portfolio and, yes, even in the people. Here, everybody has an innate tendency towards beauty, design and elegance. Koreans are always nicely dressed, while good looks and sophistication are an essential part of their existence and a negligent appearance is never an option. The numerous districts are packed with the coolest shops, people wear becoming designer clothes, modern architecture is to be found on every corner and stunning Hyundais colour every street. Nonetheless, the best is yet to come. For Seoul and for Hyundai.

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Tested model : Grandeur colour Silver

type 4-door saloon

Length/height/width 4910/1470/1860 Engine 3.0 GDi

Maximum power

270 bhp

Transmission Six-speed automatic Top speed

230 kph

Special features Automatic dual zone air conditioning, keyless-go, power seats, premium sound system, â&#x20AC;Ś

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the

Grandeur

After the new Sonata, the Grandeur is another example of how Hyundai is dedicated to design and its new form language around “flow, inspired by nature”. Selecting which Hyundai looks best is as difficult as crowning the most beautiful girl at the Miss World contest. But it’s obvious that this fresh Hyundai style unfolds neatly within the proportions of such a big sedan. Being both majestic and sporty, this four-door manages to combine elegance with a muscular stance and a sculpted face. To sum it up, it’s grandeur, moulded in a form. As the Grandeur is perfectly positioned between the democratic Sonata and the luxury Genesis - enticing with the price tag of a medium-size sedan but the equipment of a top limousine - it offers the best of both worlds for the modern Seoul urbanite. Behind the multifunctional wheel the fortunate driver can enjoy the comfort of the heated and ventilated, multi-adjustable seats with massage function - of course fully outfitted in top class leather - while the elegant dashboard shows a clearly visible and very useable lay-out. The heated steering wheel will certainly be appreciated during the legendary cold Korean winters, while the dual air-conditioning and the majestic panoramic roof are ideal to tackle the hot and moist summers. The interior also surprises with neat details like the extra room behind the centre console. On every other car, that place is just a waste of space. Here, it offers the opportunity to leave cell phones or other stuff that otherwise would disturb the dashboard’s tidy appearance, its feel good materials, the stylish carbon fibre surfaces, and its perfect fit and finish. Despite the elegant saloon body, the Grandeur offers a trunk the size of a minivan, with even the possibility to stack skis for every winter sport amateur who considers the mountains around Seoul his private play garden. Although almost 5 metres long, the Grandeur is the perfect companion for the modern, dynamic citizen. Its swift reactions, feather-light steering, smooth six-speed automatic gearbox and perfect surround visibility lead to a relaxed atmosphere that is needed to cope with the bee hive traffic in Seoul. The cameras front and back help navigate its sculpted body in between thousands of other cars, without risking scratching or denting the attractive bodywork.

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The comfortable and comforting mindset of the Grandeur really comes alive when travelling outside Seoul, where life stands still and nature is exhilarating. Korean roads are often pockmarked and rough on the suspension, but feel billiard smooth if dealt with by the Grandeur. This doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t prevent the Grandeur from tackling corners with much gusto, keeping its body reassuringly taut, while the 16-inch front wheels grip the asphalt like a lionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s claw hooking into fresh meat. When in a hurry, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll surely appreciate the 270 bhp strong 3.0 GDI engine that helps this sedan accelerate in less then 10 seconds from standstill to 100 kph. But you might just as well use the eco button. Which is quite the choice if you want to fully enjoy the stunning nature of these greenish mountains as the sat nav guides you through the nicest parts of the Korean countryside. Then, the motor management system smartly smoothens out the throttle response and the gearbox reactions to save even more fuel and to keep CO2 emissions down as well. Up to a 7% gain is possible, without any effort and even without noticing it behind the wheel. Because new thinking can also lead to new possibilities for the environment and for your budget.

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In the Korean mind, keeping up appearances is very important and the social image is taken utterly seriously. The Grandeur does reflect this attitude through its name, but even more through its design, and above all through its unbeatable value for money ratio. The Grandeur is not only dressed to impress, it’s also equipped to be the perfect lifetime achievement award for the successful Koreans who are inspired by its neat lines, modern graphics, state of the art technology and inherent quality. This unique combination of characteristics immediately explains why the Grandeur, only months after its launch, colours the streets of Seoul in such numbers that it almost seems to own the place. Lost in its raging ambition to become a world leader, and caught in the excitement of a building boom that developed this city with startling speed, Seoul’s leaders may have forgotten to focus on a visionary infrastructure and haven’t always kept an overview. This certainly gives the city a proper face, but it lacks overall harmony and results in a tough traffic situation. Nonetheless, the traffic is never as threatening as in Paris, London or Mumbai. The Korean minds are far too gentle to opt for aggressive driving. Almost all cars are brand-new and people drive in such a disciplined manner that there’s hardly any need for the numerous police force. Fortunately, Korea is making up for the errors of the past by orienting toward contemporary design and smart, humane planning first. And yes, Korea does that too with the speed of light. In this respect, it closely mirrors the evolution of Hyundai, which has also managed to establish itself as a design driven brand in the span of only a few years. It’s nice to see how the contemporary design of Hyundai reaches back to elements of Korean history, certainly because it’s never too evident, simple or cheap. But the trained eye can discern traces of the ancient temples and the swooping pagoda roofs, reflected in the exciting lines and surfaces of modern Hyundai models.

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Seoul is not like London or Rome, where certain quarters are so filled to the brim with palaces of luxury that it’s even bedazzling for a blind man, while others are a disgrace for humanity. In Seoul, the good life is to be found everywhere and luxury is an essential part of life for anybody desiring a share. The same goes for the Grandeur, which is easily accessible and accommodating, offering luxury and quality mainly through its refined details and sophisticated finishing. It’s not about gear or bling bling, but about the way the materials feel, the button surfaces respond, the doors close, the steering reacts, and the way the car stands on its wheels and interacts with its driver. It’s not about big chunks of power, but about control and swiftness. It’s not about naked numbers, but about how technology is there to serve you with a certain resoluteness that bestows confidence. A good example are the frolicky drops on the centre console lid which are invisible during the day, yet stylishly illuminate at night when the city too offers up its last secrets. With its roomy cabin, big boot and classy appearance, the Grandeur is the ideal companion for millions of Koreans who make their daily living in the Gangnam

area, where technology for tomorrow and the day after originates, yet it feels and moves like a fish in water in the bustling city centre. But it’s most at home in the streets just north of it, where those Koreans live that have done really well for themselves. It’s striking how a relatively small country - not even a quarter of the size of France and not even the population of Spain - can have such an influence on the global car market, and even on the entire world. Evidently, this has to do with the nature of these people. Korea is not a country of fighters and warlords, but of engineers and economic strategists. That’s why Korea, after having been dominated and even humiliated by neighbour Japan, has this burning ambition to perform better, produce superior products, be a leading nation. This need to be greater, more appealing, neater, was crucial in evolving from a developing country into a world leader within a half century, and the Grandeur is the fruitful result of this project. Every Hyundai client can only benefit from this eloquent ambition.

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STORY New Thinking Spells Success

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Chung Ju-Yung was only a farmer’s son, the eldest of six boys, when he was born in November 1915. But the day he said his first words, and tried out his first steps, his family immediately understood there was something about him. To become a teacher was his biggest dream. He would educate others; try to improve their quality of life. Unfortunately, his family was simply too poor to pay for the required higher education. So he had to labour hard on the farmland of the Korean countryside, where modern civilisation was light-years away, comfort non-existent, and injustice a fundamental part of life, since the Japanese oppressor left its stamp on almost everything. Chung Ju-Yung was still only a boy, when he enjoyed the sweet smell of adventure and success, after earning his first money selling wood at the local market. It made him think about his future. Maybe his neighbouring villagers could accept their harsh destiny, but he was just too ambitious for such a submissive attitude. Not that he didn’t want to work like a donkey. But he surely objected to being condemned to a life in poverty. He was only a teenager when he took up his first jobs in the city. Although every attempt more or less failed, he certainly didn’t give up his dream. Chung Ju-Yung was still only eighteen, when he finally managed to move to Korea’s capital Seoul, where there were more opportunities for a determined youngster having everything to win and nothing to lose. He laboured in the harbour of Incheon, was a construction worker at a school and also functioned as the handyman of a syrup factory, before becoming deliveryman at a rice store. Within six months, Chung Ju-Yung managed the shop on his own. Only two years later, he owned it. Unfortunately, he was forced to close it down in 1939, because of a national rice-rationing system. In the early 40s, when motoring slowly took off in Korea, Chung Ju-Yung bought a workshop from a friend and started a service garage. Within three years, he employed 70 workers and made good profits. Then, the Japanese occupational government forced him to merge with a steel factory.

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Chung Ju-Yung was already 31, when Korea was finally liberated from the Japanese occupation and he from the illogical rules and unfair regulations that slowed his ambitions. Smelling the opportunity, Chung Ju-Yung immediately started up two new companies: Hyundai and Hyundai Civil Industries. These names already revealed his determination to create a shiny future by doing things differently, as Hyundai is Korean for ‘modern’. Chung Ju-Yung was convinced that he could contribute hugely to transform this suppressed nation into a modern society. He was also aware that his own companies would grow with the same pace as the post-war reconstruction and consequent industrialisation. Things really took off after he had established good contacts with the US Army - with the help of his English-speaking younger brother - and managed to procure some huge tenders and contracts to construct their infrastructure. Chung Ju-Yung was a quick learner and he perfectly understood how he had to gain major contracts that were outsourced by the government. By doing so, Chung’s companies brought about almost the entire transportation infrastructure of South Korea, and were also responsible for the construction of the impressive Soyang Dam in 1967, the modern Gyeongbu Expressway in 1970, Kori’s nuclear power plant, and much more. While expanding with a speed that was unmatched in Korea and the world, Chung Ju-Yung never just betted on one card only. He kept on diversifying his company continuously and searched for prosperity and progress in every possible direction. Chung Ju-Yung was 52, only 21 years after having started Hyundai, when he returned to one of his first loves: cars and mechanics. Albeit this attempt was on a very different scale. It was on December 29th, 1967, that he founded a whole new venture that would grant his companies world fame: the Hyundai Motor Company. In order to launch himself in this complex sector, and to entice his country with the delights of personal mobility, he collaborated intensely with the Ford Motor Company of America at first. But eventually, it only cost him six years to nail the ins and outs of car construction and develop the first real Hyundai: the legendary Pony.

Chung Ju-Yung was 86 when he died in 2001, leaving behind a heritage that was almost too immense to comprehend. Yet, Chung Ju-Yung left much more than only material facts and impressive figures. He may not have been the only successful South Korean businessman of his era, but he was the biggest. And the smartest. Most of all, he was the only one who was engaged in vast philanthropy projects. Already in 1977, he founded the Asan Foundation to help the most needy of his society, in a time when most other Koreans were solely focusing on turning a profit. It was one of its corporate values that a company should contribute to the wellbeing of the entire society. In his mind, running a business properly wasn’t only about how to make money, but equally about how to spend those earnings again. The Asan Foundation has established nine hospitals throughout South Korea and presently focuses on medical support, social welfare, research and education. Chung Ju-Yung received an Olympic award for his successful lobbying to have the 1988 Summer Olympics hosted by South Korea. Apart from endlessly polishing South Korea’s image in the world, he also laboured to improve the relations between North and South Korea. Even in the autumn of his life, he engaged money, influence and means to solve this injustice towards humanity. Today, Chung-Ju-Yung’s children occupy top positions in the gigantic Hyundai Group, which has been divided into numerous independent entities, including Hyundai department stores, BNG Steel, heavy industries, shipbuilding, marine and fire-insurance, and a bank. In 2011 the Hyundai Motor Company is presided over by Mong-Koo Chung, one of the eight sons of Chung Ju-Yung.

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FREEDOM

The Hyundai Equus Hovers Over Californiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Highway 1

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The Californian Highway 1 is the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most beautiful road, according to experienced travelers. It presents an explosion of beauty behind every corner, it delivers more driving pleasure than the most challenging race tracks and it breathes ultimate freedom every inch of the way. Highway 1, where the American Dream becomes reality, is the ultimate cat walk for the Hyundai Equus.

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It’s the mother of all highways, and it connects the two most attractive poles of America’s Golden State, California. Highway 1 is a stretch of about 1.000 kilometers, going from just north of San Francisco all the way to southern Los Angeles and beyond. Or from south to north of course, depending on your perspective. Yet, no matter which direction you choose, it’s always like travelling from heaven to paradise. Noblesse oblige for a road that unites these two magnificent cities, it meanders the whole time right along the coast of the majestic Pacific Ocean and offers such a complete palette of exhilarating views that even the Hyundai Equus is overwhelmed. Although Highway 1 forms the ideal backdrop for an elegant road movie, it’s not very easy to find. Unlike the products from Hollywood, this rolling theatre has no real beginning and certainly no clear end. It’s just far too multifaceted for such a simple approach. It has more of a developing story with an endless amount of episodes, to make sure that every enthusiastic passerby can hop on whenever he likes. But it clearly offers a catharsis for everybody who performs the entire drive. No matter when, how or with whom, travelling Highway 1 will certainly improve everybody’s vision on life. An ideal starting point might just be the Golden Gate Bridge. This majestic monument of modernism bonds the boiling centre of San Francisco with the rich nature reserve, the mild climate and the abundant vineyards around Sonoma and the Napa valley. San Francisco, where the roads are straight and the mindset isn’t, has more districts than the Hyundai portfolio has different models and there’s fun for grabs for every wallet and taste. From easy entertainment at Fisherman’s Wharf to the mysterious atmosphere around Twin Peaks, over the post-hippy ambiance of North Beach, the diligent ambitions of China Town, the bohemian Haight-Ashbury, or the open-minded Castro Area. There are only a few constants: the nostalgic Victorian-styled houses or the historic cable cars that climb and groan over the town’s 44 hills. The Equus? Being the ultimate Hyundai, it’s at home everywhere.

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Travelling from San Francisco south towards Los Angeles, State Highway 1 opens up like a pop-up fairy tale book and all facets of America can be observed along its colorful shoulders: from simple homes to magnificent villas, and from almost desert places to nature reserve parks excelling top class zoos. The road itself comes in many varieties as well. Sometimes, Highway 1 is only a small lace of asphalt, merely two cars wide, meandering through a rural landscape that sports more cows than cars. On other occasions however, this legendary road can also be a football field-wide six-lane city highway where there are only animals to be found behind the wheel. It takes a car standing vitally on its feet to tackle all these aspects without problems, and it demands a healthy mindset to cope with the staggering impressions that loom so rapidly it feels like being in a 3D Peter Jackson movie. Fortunately, the endless beauty, the unlimited freedom and the eternal presence of the ocean are always there to comfort the audacious traveler.

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A stunning stopover is the peninsula around Monterey and Pacific Grove, where an abandoned sardine cannery houses the world’s largest aquarium and Oscar-winning author John Steinbeck found inspiration for his world-class novels. You can still travel in his traces, wandering about this country and its social diversity. Today, this region attracts more stars than the black hole. Even Doris Day passes her days in this charming town. Only a sea star’s throw further south, the world famous 17-Mile Drive brings you to delightful Carmelby-the-Sea where Clint Eastwood once was mayor and still influences the flow of things. 17-Mile Drive is a mundane chunk of asphalt, twisting next to the capricious Pacific Coast, and through the green woods that are decorated with majestic villas. It’s a gated community where success seems to be hanging on the cypresses like ripe oranges. It’s reserved for the rich and famous only, but the Equus is welcomed here with open arms. It’s hard to specify what or how, but there’s something about these 17 miles and the ghost trees that align it. It’s almost filmic, especially when the area is covered in the typical early morning or late evening fog. Moreover, it’s as perfect an entry to Carmel and its cozy shops, inspiring art galleries and delicious restaurants as a red carpet to the Academy Awards. It’s fascinating how Highway 1 interconnects two fabulous, enterprising cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, with nothing but stupefying nature and a handful of amiable towns where striving for ultimate freedom is the common religion. Voyagers only need to open their mind to enjoy the wildness of the constantly changing landscape, of the eternally pounding sea that bounces its abundant energy on the endless beaches, and of the air that is filled with

pelicans and eagles in perpetual liberty. The protective Equus is the perfect cocoon to visit this public wild reserve park, and to witness how seadogs, otters and sea lions idle in the mild sunrays. It feels as if you’re watching a Richard Attenborough wildlife movie from your home TV theatre with the throttle as a fast forward button. Before tourism was invented, Highway 1 was the preferred route of Spanish missionaries who constructed about twenty missions along the Pacific Ocean in order to spread their creed. That explains the numerous cities named San Something, always exactly a day’s ride on horseback from each other.

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Since these settlements have grown into real cities and the noble art of travelling has evolved from necessity to leisure, visiting one city per day still is the ideal pace to discover the sparkling towns along Highway 1. But it does become increasingly hard to choose the finest in this array. Santa Cruz is as colorful as a candy store, but this real-life play garden might be a bit too easy and casual to keep you sharp for more than a few days. Nonetheless, it contrasts fascinatingly with the virginal state of nature, the massive rocks and the inherent solitude around Big Sur. San Luis Obispo is the happiest town in America, according to scientific studies, while Santa Barbara makes you wonder why celebrities always feel the need to travel to Saint Tropez. Like the Equus, it’s at the time mundane, yet charmingly easily accessible. Both look their best late in the evening, when the sunlight is filtered through the palm leaves before disappearing in the endless blue Pacific, thus slipping the granite grey Equus into a golden jacket that suits him beautifully. In the shade of Los Angeles there’s also the flamboyant city of Santa Monica with its Muscle Beach and rollercoaster paradise, involuntarily symbolizing the American way of life in all its colour. People here are so friendly, you get to talking with everybody about whatever what. But mainly about the Equus that attracts a greater audience than Brangelina.

Although Korea is thousands of miles away, there’s only the Pacific Ocean dividing both countries from each other - or uniting, depending on how you look at things. Not even 40 years ago, diligent Koreans came here to make themselves useful in mining, laundry or other jobs no one else wanted to do. Now they are leading the way in this universe of cars, where motoring is not a burden yet, but still a lifestyle that is closely connected to the personal freedom so warmly embraced in the States. Here, there’s only one border: the Pacific Ocean. And even that is a never-ending source of new opportunities. Cars too experienced this when they started to conquer the world about a century ago. When the automobile was still mainly aimed at the very rich in Europe, it was understood here as a democratic tool from the very first day. To integrate motoring within society was much easier too, because almost every road and building is younger than the oldest existing cars. For that simple reason motoring became a much more fundamental part of the street scenery in this juvenile civilization, and cities like Los Angeles essentially grew around the car, instead of the other way round. Perhaps the most beautiful place along the West Coast is Venice Beach, a small entity within Los Angeles that was created 100 years ago by a wealthy American, gifted with even more fantasy than means, and the ambitious plan to create a modern, transatlantic interpretation of Italian Venice. Although much of the canals disappeared over the years, this vicinity still is an earthly paradise that seems to be immune to the stress of modern urban life. Nonetheless, it’s only a baseball’s throw from the strip, the beach and even from downtown Los Angeles. Like the Equus, it offers the best of all worlds. It’s quiet yet worldly, and it’s charismatic yet practical. Europeans may consider it an architectural nightmare because it lacks visual harmony and every building has its own face. Even so, it’s beautiful, because every house reflects the personality of the individual, just like the Hyundai portfolio, where every model presents its own fascia. It’s one family with one aim, yet with many talents and personalities. It’s created out of nothing and has no heritage whatsoever, but exactly for that reason it is as free as a bird. But the real Californian hub is Los Angeles, the city where it all happens. From the Hollywood Walk of Fame to the Farmers Market, from the gigantic Koreatown to Sunset Boulevard, from the famous movie studios to glitzy Rodeo Drive. It’s no coincidence that Los Angeles is the world capital of the film industry. As every industry tends to do, this business too chose the location that suited its purpose best. Here, it was the proximity of almost every landscape even the dreamiest scriptwriter could come up with. From the desertscape of Death Valley to the natural lushness of the National Parks, from the mountain ranges to the ocean. That’s why this town is heaven on earth for the 18 million people who consider it their home. Or try to make it theirs. Because this really is the place to be.

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With its astute face and muscular hips, the Equus looks different from anything else in the luxury market. Although it’s a big car, at the positive side of massive, it surprises with the same elegant and airy appearance of an Airbus taking off into the sky. It is a proposition of another kind. It’s the world’s only car that shares its brand name and badges with budget cars, yet dares to take a shot at the big names of the premium club. Even if the Equus has the looks of a top model and the moves of an Arabic princess, it welcomes its driver with the discreet attitude of a perfect

butler. As soon as you enter its perimeter, it recognizes your presence and ignites the stylish lights hidden under the rear view mirrors. It feels like having the exclusive VIP ticket to a private party when the keyless entry opens the gate to this venue of good taste, without you having to engage in any additional effort. Getting behind the wheel is like entering a gentleman’s club that excels with nothing less than exquisite materials, and a cozy atmosphere. Once seated, the Equus warms itself up with a jocular wink of the instrument panel and performs a happy tune to clarify that its multiple talents are there to serve and to protect. Under the bonnet lies a majestic 5,0 litre V8 that performs 429 bhp, 451 Nms of torque and displays more refinement than a Russian ballet dancer. Despite the bulk power, it’s certainly not a nervous fighter. This engine conducts itself like the reserve capital of an old dynasty. It doesn’t need to be addressed constantly to make you happy. Knowing this abundance is there when you need it, is all the fun. The engine is as silent as an eagle in the sky, yet helps to waft the stationary Equus in less than six seconds to 100 kph. The Equus is of course rear-wheel driven. A limousine with that much power under the throttle and such a refined aura simply needs this layout to combine perfect control with a certain generosity that is stellar in this class. No matter how you look at it, a car of this magnitude simply cannot be dragged through. It has to be pushed by 429 silent knights. The silky smooth eight-speed gearbox always tickles the best performance and the most comfort out of the powerhouse. It keeps the engine right in the comfort zone, where it’s as silent as a whisper and consumes less than a monk, yet eagerly accelerates faster than Usain Bolt. Despite all that poise, the Equus only needs a mere 11,1 litres for 100 exciting ones on the highway. The Equus is a travelling mansion equipped with the swiftness of a flying carpet. The sophisticated air suspension with electronic damping control filters all potholes and marks out of the road, and the 19-inch chrome wheels move over the tarmac like a fluffy kitten over a mattress. The isolation is so perfect that you almost forget how fast you’re travelling. You don’t hear anything, except for your preferred music from the exquisite Lexicon surround sound system that turns the Equus into a mobile opera hall. Yet it only demands a flick of the sports button to turn the Equus a bit more responsive, tighter on suspension and sharper on steering and transmission, for the rare occasions when in a hurry. The Equus has multifold adjustable seats with a complex massage function, including a trumping VIP treatment for the passenger in the rear. On this modern throne, he or she can also enjoy the coolness of the refrigerator, the private airconditioning system, a retractable footrest and an eight-inch screen to follow exactly what the driver is up to.

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Despite being a limousine that exposes its talents mainly for the fortunate passengers in the back, the driver is never forgotten in this palace of wellbeing and gets top technology behind every button or switch: from an adaptive front light system to an integrated electronic vehicle stability management. Furthermore, it has adaptive cruise control, forward and rear view cameras to keep its sculpted body free from parking scratches, Xenon headlamps that set the road in full light, and a lane departure system that beeps and warningly tightens the seatbelt when the dozing driver is about to leave the road. It also has nine airbags, seat belt tensioners, active headrests and everything else that keeps you and your beloved ones in perfect shape in the unlikely event of a crash. The seats can be cooled or heated, the steering wheel can be warmed as well, the navigation system is easy to handle and the ergonomics are as comforting as the Hilton’s royal suite. Inside the Equus, you experience nothing but the softest of leathers and stylish dark brown walnut trim, while the silky smooth alcantara against the roof looks nicer and feels more expensive than Flemish carpets. The buttons, switches and materials all seem as if they’re constructed for eternity, yet with the refined touch and eye for detail that is reserved for true jewelry. Apart from that, the Equus also surprises with very straightforward inventions like the simple hook in the trunk to hang your groceries and keep the boot free of rolling or dirty stuff. It’s almost too simple to notice, but this is the kind of luxury that is highly appreciated in the States. Nonetheless, the luxury feel of the Equus doesn’t only originate from the obvious features. It also roots in less tangible characteristics like the intimate lounge lightning, the elegant surroundings of the seat adjustment buttons or the stylish Equusneon lights on the doorsteps, sparkling in your view as soon as you enter this paradise.

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Tested model : Equus colour Granite Grey type 4-door saloon

Length/height/width 5159/1491/1890 Engine 5.0 V8

Maximum power

429 bhp

Transmission eight-speed automatic Top speed

240 kph

Special features Electronic air suspension, lane departure warning, first class rear seats with electric adjustments, ...

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The Equus is the perfect set of wheels for America, the continent where a car still symbolizes ultimate freedom. In this country, a car is the key to everything. It brings you to the drive-in cinema, the drive-in bank and evidently also to the drive-in fast food restaurant. Here, you are only considered an adult individual the day you earn your driver’s license. It’s no coincidence that Hyundai is conquering America with the speed of light, only a few centuries after the Spanish conquistadores did something similar. The Equus is not a simple soldier, though. Being the general of the multitalented Hyundai troops, it’s the embodiment of the American Dream: here, everybody can make it, if you have your stuff lined up well. In this new country, where mental freedom rules and everybody can gain respect with nothing more than what he does and what he is. Here, new thinking really opens new possibilities. Especially in California, where people are very open-minded and able to judge the Equus on its true values because they can reflect beyond the strict borders of the premium market. Its underpinnings are as multifaceted as it can get and its personality has as many aspects as the different districts of San Francisco. But, just like San Francisco, the Equus is never intimidating. In all its complexity it’s very comforting, effortless to grasp, and it immediately gets under your skin. As the epitome of Hyundai, the Equus garners deep respect in the States, a country that breathes motoring culture in every facet of its society, but even more clearly a nation that has known how to build limousines since the late thirties. The American car has been the pride and joy for years, yet people here are honest and free-minded enough to acknowledge that they have lost their dominance in the one segment where they had been world leader for decades.

Just like the people in America, Hyundai has a healthy relationship with its history. Though it has deep respect for its heritage, it is never kept hostage by it. The focus is clearly on the future. That accounts more than everything else for Los Angeles: not even 100 years ago it was just a nice little town, almost as fresh as lettuce. Today, it’s a world capital with both the size and population of a medium-sized European country. Unfortunately, this unlimited growth and the inherent nerve-racking traffic can also create such a frightening atmosphere that you’ll need the relaxing nature of the Equus to calm you down. It’s as if you have your personal mental coach always within reach, as this lounge on wheels copes with the complexity of this exciting capital much like a computer seemingly effortlessly tackles amalgam algorithms. The Equus can be fast if you want, but there’s never the need in the States. People here are seldom in a hurry and certainly not on Highway 1, where magnificence is an essential part of being, and not even the sky can be considered the limit. Everything in California radiates calmness, sedateness, and inner peace. The Equus only amplifies that feeling with its balance, rich equipment and premium materials. Its character suits the serene driving style that lies over American roads like a warm, comforting blanket. This liberating approach is also reflected in the Hyundai portfolio that dares to question the basic assumptions of the automotive industry as well. As opposed to its competitors, Hyundai doesn’t feel the need to be present in every segment or to offer uncountable variants of the same theme. Neither does it apply option lists excelling the menu of the Chinese takeaway. That clear cut approach is certainly one of the keys of its success in America, where everything always comes in abundance - from food to excitement and also to horsepower - but never with a supplementary bill. It’s a cliché the size of a skyscraper, but in America everything really is big. From cup holders to trees, from hamburgers to pick-up trucks. That’s why you can’t make a good impression here only by the size of your gear. Like the Equus, you have to have more qualities under your belt than volume alone. Fortunately, the versatile Equus is at home everywhere. From the curvy roads around Big Sur to the dense traffic around Los Angeles. But the Equus really is king in Santa Barbara where the climate is mild, the shops are surprising, the ambiance is aristocratic, the beaches golden, the sea silver and the terraces endless. It’s like the Côte d’Azur, yet without the cramped feel and high rates. This city has not much history in its veins, but has no airs or pretences either. Here, everything is exactly what it proposes to be and you always know in advance what you are going to get. Posh hotels really are posh and value for money is not an easy sales talk, but a deeper philosophy that is wholly respected by everyone. That explains why the Genesis became Car Of The Year in the States. That’s why Hyundai performs so well here. That’s why the Equus is the king of Highway 1.

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American Dream

John F. Krafcik, President And CEO Of Hyundai Motor America, Explains How Hyundai Combines “New Thinking” With “New Possibilities” In The U.S., With Great Success.

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‘From a company that was happy to be a follower, Hyundai clearly evolved into a dedicated leader.’

‘Hi, my name is John Krafcik. Since I joined Hyundai Motor America in 2004 as President and CEO, I’ve experienced a massive change. From a company that was happy to be a follower, we clearly evolved into a dedicated leader. Today, every management level is convinced that a brand can and must be defined through the things and areas in which you are leading the way. At Hyundai, we decided to focus on fuel efficiency and design. Our design approach resonates well globally, while maintaining our status as a U.S. market leader in fuel efficiency. But it’s the unique combination of beautiful design and impressive fuel economy that is so well perceived by the public. No other brand has ever put both together before.’

‘To streamline all this, Hyundai Motor America sticks to a strict brand strategy. It’s called ABC. As the name already suggests, it’s basically a very simple idea. Yet, it’s an approach that has been with us for years. The basic thought is that to establish a brand, you first and foremost need a strong foundation built on confidence and customer trust. This relies on the brain, because it requires a rational way of thinking. Hyundai answers to that primary need by delivering great quality and by offering our customers our celebrated 10 Year/100.000 Miles warranty. Furthermore, we made a spectacular jump forward with our rather famous ‘Job Loss, Vehicle Return Program’ that we launched when the economical recession of 2008 hit America in its core. With that program, everyone who bought a Hyundai and lost his job afterwards, could bring it back and walk away with no financial harm done. It was a nice way to differentiate Hyundai in difficult times for everybody. While the government had to pay billions to save the struggling national car industry, we put ourselves in the picture by doing something positive for ever ybody. The public appreciated that we addressed the real problem: the fact that everybody was afraid to buy things, because no one was sure they would be able to pay the credit afterwards. Taking that concern off the table brought us a huge success. After running that program for more than two years and after selling almost one million Hyundais, no more than 600 cars were returned. Afterwards, we launched a new and innovative ‘Guarantee Residual Value Or Guarantee Resale Value’ program. We are now the only car manufacturer who will specify exactly how much your newly bought car will be worth after two, three or four years of ownership. The trade-in value assurance program reassures people that when buying a Hyundai, they acquire something precious that will retain its worth better than almost every other brand on the market. No other car maker ever offered such a service.’

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‘Blue Drive is the second part of our ABC strategy and is directly related to social responsibility. Here, the insight is that modern people are increasingly reluctant to buy something as expensive as a car from a company that they don’t trust or that they don’t perceive as being socially good. We strongly believe that good things happen to those who perform good things. Because we are convinced of our responsibility towards the planet by reducing emissions and CO2, we choose to lead in fuel efficiency. But, no matter how dedicated we are, we behave as technology agnostics. It’s nice that other brands label themselves as leaders in hybrids, but we are number one in fuel efficiency. And that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Who cares how many hybrids they have in their portfolio, when our cars are more fuel efficient on average than theirs? Who’s doing better for society? The hybrid maker or Hyundai? We offer hybrid technology as well, but only to achieve our corporate ecological goals. We don’t aim to be number one in hybrids or other technologies as such. We think that a company that focuses on a certain technology without being leader in fuel economy on average, is somehow using a greenwashing strategy. The idea seems to be to make some hybrids over here to distract everybody, in order to sell a bunch of trucks over there. We don’t take that approach, and simply don’t sell big gasguzzling trucks. Apart from our ecological engagement, we also run our wonderful philanthropy program called Hyundai Hope On Wheels that helps to find a cure for children’s cancer. In 2011 alone, we already donated 10 million dollars, and in total we gave around 43 million dollars for our primary charity. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do, but also because it brings the complete Hyundai team together. Finally, the top of our ABC strategy is the emotional connection with our customers through design, but also through the way the car feels: handling, steering, and driving pleasure.’ ‘What makes it really interesting is that this pyramid is three dimensional. The first dimension obviously is about the products themselves. We want all our cars to provide the assurance that the quality is there, but also that they are constructed with an eye on social responsibility through their great fuel economy, that they are fun to drive and appealing to look at. But that’s not enough. We also have to deliver these values through our communication and our behaviour. The retail and ownership experience is increasingly important in all this. Combining all that with our corporate goals, more or less sums up how this company functions. Of course, we also cherish high level goals in terms of sales and market share. But we will achieve those easily this year’. ‘Worldwide, Hyundai is very strong because we don’t rely on one market. Apart from performing well in Europe, Asia and America, we are number one in India, have a dominant position in China, are growing in Brazil, and keep on being very strong in Russia. Compared to any other auto maker, our geographic foot-

print of sales volumes is very balanced and we are not overly dependent on any one region. Hyundai and Kia are still independent companies, yet if you count both together, we sell annually about one million cars in America, one million in Korea, one million in China and about the same amount in Europe, Russia and India combined. Such an equilibrium is very enviable in the car business, because it makes us less dependent on currency exchange rates. For many years now, it’s Hyundai’s corporate philosophy to not just build cars where we sell them, but also to design and develop them there. It helps us to react more quickly, and to stay closer to the market. That’s why Hyundai runs R&D and design centres in Korea, Japan, India, Europe and of course in the U.S. Some of our models are only conceived for the local market, others like Elantra, Sonata, and Genesis Coupe have global ambitions. That really depends on the segment and the local requirements. The Sonata primarily aims at the Korean and U.S. market, while the new i40 is really European and the Tucson/ i35 is a global car.

‘No other brand has ever before combined beautiful design with impressive fuel efficiency. This unique proposition is the basis of our success.’ Although Hyundai works independently in each continent, we globally stay loyal to a very strong corporate strategy that is primarily driven by quality. We don’t strive to be the biggest, nor do we set goals in terms of wanting to build ten million cars a year, like other companies keep on doing. We used to do that too, but we’ve changed. We have other priorities for the next four years. We want to strengthen the brand more, and we want to transform the customer experience continuously. On the soft side of the business, we want to establish even more top class teams. Basically, we just want to be the highest quality auto maker.’ ‘In our old way of thinking, Hyundai used to set out goals like wanting to be within the top five of the world’s auto makers in 2010. That’s gone now. Recently our chairman declared that we could build at least 200.000 more cars this year if we wanted. But he refused, because he prefers to concentrate on making perfect cars. We happily skip an extra 200.000 cars if this added production means that not each car is absolutely perfect, as might have happened with some of our direct competitors. I’m proud about this approach. Not pushing production towards its ultimate capacity leads to the remarkable situation that we have more potential buyers than we can provide cars. The fact that Hyundais carry a notion of scarceness improves their value and gives the long term Hyundai owners a warm feeling. We are really at the point where we intentionally restrain our

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volumes to guarantee that the quality is there. We prefer a healthy business and we avoid expanding too quickly to make sure that we will still have a strong brand ten years from now. Such a bold and different strategy is very unusual for an automaker, especially one that has a history of expanding too quickly. But Hyundai is a different kind of company now. A very mature one, to say the least.’

‘We don’t strive to be the biggest anymore. Neither do we set goals in terms of wanting to build ten million cars a year, like other companies keep on doing. We just want to be the highest quality auto maker.’ ‘Nonetheless, we are in the top five of the biggest car makers right now, thus performing even better than we promised ten years ago. How did we do that? Quality is the key. But our secret sauce was this combination of fuel efficiency and design. Both Sonata and Elantra doubled their sales numbers in the US because they are widely acknowledged as the most beautiful cars of their segment, while also performing the best fuel efficiency. The public is getting increasingly sensitive about this, now gas prices are constantly rising. Hyundai anticipates by offering cars that are rational on fuel, but emotional on design. On top of that, people have heard so much good about our quality that the doubts of five years ago have evaporated. When thinking about Hyundai, many now immediately think good quality. It may sound strange, but the economical crisis of 2008 has helped us a lot, because the public suddenly thought more deeply about their car purchase and did more research than usual. That’s how they discovered cars like the Sonata and found out that it looked very attractive. Not for its pin sharp sticker price however. We are still slightly cheaper, but only within a two percent margin of a comparable Toyota right now. It’s our warranty that has a very large impact. And it was a very big moment for Hyundai when Genesis won Car Of The Year in 2009. All these things were happening at the same time, while the economy as a whole was not performing so well. Suddenly, Hyundai became this Cinderella and everybody noticed that we really had our act together, offered great cars that look good and are fuel efficient.’ ‘Our dealers contributed massively to this success story as well. They are performing very strong, since we sell top end cars like Genesis and Equus under the same name and in the same showroom as Accent or Elantra. All of our competitors opted for a very different approach by creating a new premium brand, like Toyota did with Lexus, Honda with Acura, and Nissan with Infinity. It’s their strategy to sell more premium cars through such a separate brand. We didn’t feel a big desire to just copy them.

It’s not our goal to sell a certain kind of car anyway. We want to build a better brand and create an enhanced experience for all our customers. The thing is that these premium cars generally constitute for about 10% of total revenue and maybe 5 or 6% in terms of unit sales. With that knowledge in mind, we concluded that is was much better not to create a separate brand alongside Hyundai, but to make Hyundai stronger by itself. So, when we launched Genesis and more recently Equus, which is now the most appealing car in the world, according to J.D. Power – we made them Hyundais. Great Hyundais. And we decided that all our Hyundai dealers can sell all our models, including Genesis and Equus. Maybe some people will not want to buy them because they have the same brand name as a lower priced car. But you know what? As it’s only 10% of our revenue and only 5 or 6% of our unit sales, that’s no big deal. It’s our goal to build this brand, of which 90% are Elantras, Sonatas, Tucsons, Genesis Coupes and all the rest that aren’t 64.000 dollar cars. What exactly happens when Lexus is completely separate from the Toyota dealership on every level? Obviously, all the best retail experience ideas immediately go to Lexus and potential Lexus clients get a special treatment. Those shopping for a Toyota however, are more or less second class citizens who are not treated as well. It’s our philosophy to train our people at the Hyundai dealerships to take good care of Genesis and Equus customers, and then transfer that approach also to Elantras, Accents, Tucsons and all our other models. Apparently, it works spectacularly well. We improved impressively within one year in the J.D Power sales satisfaction index and sold almost 30.000 Genesis sedans in 2010. We just started selling Equus, so it’s still too early to draw conclusions. This leads to the conclusion that we still sell premium cars with Hyundai badges extremely well. But, while doing so, we also lifted our retail experience for 500.000 people instead of only for a few 10.000 with lots of money. This is just an example of how we run things a little bit differently at Hyundai.’

‘Suddenly, Hyundai turned into this Cinderella. Everybody noticed that we had our act together, And that we offered great cars that look good and are fuel efficient.’ ‘Moreover, we combined this with a series of retail innovations like providing an iPad as an owners manual. That is kind of cool. We also have “Your Time/ Your Place” vehicle demonstrations. We found out that for too many people, buying a car is like going to the dentist. Despite all the marble, cappuccino machines, waterfalls and shoeshine, people don’t like to go to a car dealer. Modern customers much rather prefer that their car be picked up so that they can go on with their lives on their terms. If you’re in for an Equus, you just call us and we

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will arrange a test drive at your house or business, at your convenience. This we combine with our famous Equus Service Program. If your car needs an oil change or service, just call - or use your iPad to contact us - and we will pick the car up at your home, leave you a Genesis or Equus as a replacement and return yours, nicely washed, when everything is done. You never have to go to a car dealer anymore. This is a very different strategy, but I dare to argue that Equus owners are happier with their retail and ownership experience than customers of other premium brands.’

‘It’s not our goal to sell a certain kind of car anyway. We want to build a better brand and create an enhanced experience for all our customers.’ ‘Since Hyundai was founded in 1967, we’ve only been around for little more than 40 years and we don’t have a big heritage. Yet, looking at some of the established brands, a huge history can apparently also be baggage that can weigh you down. We don’t have an impressive history, but aren’t encumbered by the past either. We can try new ideas, are more technology based, and are never tied down because of a long or heavy heritage. In some ways that can be a good thing. America also has a relatively short history. That can be felt like a negative thing, but it can also be very liberating, because we’re just looking forward for new solutions and new ways to satisfy customers. Right now, Hyundai has a very balanced product portfolio and I don’t see us adding very much for the future. We have more sedans than any other brand in the U.S. from the B-segment until E plus. Besides that, we also have specialty cars like the Genesis Coupe. However, we don’t have this burning desire to become a pickup truck maker like Toyota, Nissan or Honda. We want to stay focused on cars and crossovers like Tucson and Sante Fe or Veracruz. Are there other aspects we can improve on? Certainly. Quality is a never ending quest. Integration of new technologies too. How do we make sure that our customers use their smart phones safely? We don’t want them to drive while checking out screens at the same time. So the industry has an imperative to find a way to integrate that and make it easy to use. I guess we can improve on everything, because the ultimate goal is perfection. Even on design. It feels like we are just getting started. For the future, we will keep on trying to surprise and delight our customers. Besides that, we would like to think of ways to become a total mobility provider, because there will be lots of different solutions and new technologies in the future. But it’s hard to predict which is going to win. That’s why Hyundai is placing bets across the table on pure electrics, plug in hybrids and fuel cell technology. We run one of the best development programs and are now working on the

third generation. But we also keep on optimizing the internal combustion engine, because there’s still more potential left. While cars will certainly become a note on the internet on the shorter term – and will start to communicate with each other – we will keep on working on sustainability and the reduction of our carbon footprint of all our products, but also of our production processes. We are very focused on that, because we want to stay a leader on that field. Apart from that, our ABC strategy will still guide us in ten years from now. Why? Because it’s so enduring. We will always have to win the confidence and trust of the customer. We will always need to be socially responsible, and we will always want to form that emotional bond with consumers.’

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LUXURY The Hyundai ix55 Graces Paris

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Paris is not only the capital of French culture and passionate love, but even more so the epicentre of the good life. Luxury is not a sales argument in the city of light, but it is a way of existing. The Hyundai ix55 feels as at home here as a kitten curled up in a warm nest.

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Anyone who hasn’t breathed the charm of Paris at least once, hasn’t really lived. It’s a must do for everyone with the slightest interest in human culture. It’s the city where everything is possible, and the Eiffeltower itself could only have originated in this soil fecund with creativity. It not only watches over Paris as a beacon of trust, but also witnesses silently how unlimited imagination can lead to majestic things. However, Paris is more than a refuge for Jules Verne addicts and other fans of unbridled imagination. Take a tour from the Arc de Triomphe along the Champs Elysées – one of the world’s few streets that have a song written about it – and be bedazzled by the grandeur of the Grand Palais and the baroque styling that seems to be thrown over the Place de la Concorde like a royal blanket. For every other world capital, such an impressive view would suffice to be baptised a Unesco World Heritage Site. But in Paris, it’s only one of those places that immediately transform every little walk into a travel through time. Further down the road, there’s the Louvre that once was a refuge for artists without inspiration and now houses the world’s most important art collection. Just a macaroon’s throw away, the Hotel de Ville and the Palais Royal are silent remnants of the golden era when France was still the Grande Nation. And in the direction of Montmartre, the opera house shows more golden details than the crown of the English Queen. These few square kilometres illustrate majestically of how much greatness humankind is capable, if not limited by budget restraints or practical worries. It’s such a paradise of extravaganza, the art director of Disneyland wouldn’t in his wildest dreams dare to create something akin to it. Not one place in the world illustrates better what happens when big personalities with a clear focus let their imagination soar. That’s why the Hyundai ix55 shows an approving smile on its face when it drives through these streets. As the sweetheart of a world leader like Hyundai, it knows what this is about. This stretch of ultimate culture is only a few miles in length, but represents light-years of innovation and of men’s striving for perfection.

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And yet, this world famous area is only the obvious part of Paris. This is the inevitable appetiser before cutting into the tastiest delicacies of the capital of Epicureanism. But it takes a bit more time to find the true marvels that are hidden in the pores of the city of light. Paris is, of course, holy ground for shopaholics. They can unleash the beast hidden inside in the aristocratic sphere around the Rue de Rivoli, the Avenue des Champs-Elysées, the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré and, last but not least, the Place Vendôme where the most exclusive brands reside and the ix55 blends into the scenery like a golden lion into the yellow Kalahari desert. But Paris has so much more to offer. In the quartier Ile Saint-Louis, behind the Cathedral of Notre Dame, every block houses surprising shops or charming restaurants, which soothe the appetite, but don’t strangle your wallet. Satisfied as Louis The Fourteenth after his birthday party, you could stroll along the right bank of the Seine afterwards, while enjoying the artists gathering around the river, towards the quarter of Saint-Germain-des-Prés and the Place Saint-Sulpice to grab some homemade macaroons at Un dimanche à Paris. A must, even for those who don’t like Paris’ sweetest pride and joy, because the buying is half the fun. This district is like a big treasury box where you can find gems that you’ll never discover elsewhere. Apart from the obvious luxury - the shiny jewelry or the designer dresses of the hippest brands - this neighbourhood also harbours true specialists or expert shops for leather notebooks, handmade paper, artworks, gold fountain pens or anything else that feels unique and makes life worth living. As the broadminded streets in this area still breathe the esprit of great thinkers and novelists, they also show Paris’ slightly naughty edge and even the je m’enfoutism of born rebels like Françoise Sagan or Serge Gainsbourg, while the Hyundai ix55 performs as a trustworthy haven and a warm home on wheels.

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Like any other world capital Paris never sleeps. But, like any other megacity that enjoys a charming river murmuring through the madness of modern existence, Paris also shows a certain je ne sais quoi that grants a peaceful mind. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a city that makes you lyrical and awakes the poet within the most cynical men. Here, people fall in love with each other and with the things around them. In Paris, everybody wears pink sunglasses, lending everything a nicer, more desirable aura. In Paris, the light is always a bit warmer, the weather a speck milder. Everything radiates a certain cosiness, while frivolous harmonicas grace the streets with nostalgia. Even the sturdy Hyundai ix55 becomes zestier here. But most of all, Paris is a certainty. It never lets you down. It has a pounding heart, a never-ceasing hunger for art and culture, and an unquenchable thirst for joie de vivre. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the perfect stage for the ix55 to show the many tricks it has up its sleeves.

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The Hyundai ix55 is the biggest member of the Hyundai family. A true 4x4 that tackles the worst obstacles as if they didn’t exist. Yet, it’s everything but a truck, which is only meant for transportation. It’s a real lap of luxury, developed to enjoy the moment, to grab every occasion that crosses your path. It will never restrict your movements. It will only broaden them. That also goes for the streets of a capital like Paris. You will never have to say sorry and goodbye when you run into friends. With seven royal seats, all fully covered in the softest leather, the ix55 is the perfect home for the welcoming and gracious kind. This car creates opportunities rather than limiting your freedom. Even when it’s only about going out to score a pair of new designer boots, the ix55 won’t curb you if along the way you finally find that beautiful cabinet you’ve been looking for half your life. Just fold the rear seats down and you create a trunk space equal to that of a medium-size van. Up to 1.746 litres. Maybe your budget will run out of space, but never your ix55. The sturdy snout of the ix55 houses a chunky 3-litre V6 diesel that delivers 240 bhp and launches the nearly five metre long SUV in only 10,4 seconds from standstill to 100 kph. It only loses its battle against the pounding wind at 200 kph. Even more important though, for such an enthralled artist of life is its massive torque. The ix55 already has a tree-uprooting 450 Nm under the throttle at 1750 revs. That’s more than sufficient to make the seven-seater as swift as a sporty hatchback, and you always have enough power at your disposal to dive into every hole the hectic city traffic allows you. Behind the wheel of the ix55 the famous Parisian traffic isn’t threatening. It only offers a continues flow of opportunities.

Tested model : ix55 colour New Bronze type 5-door SUV

Length/height/width 4840/1807/1945 Engine 3.0 CRDi V6 Maximum power

240 bhp

Transmission six-speed automatic Top speed

200 kph

Special features Navigation system, electric steering wheel, 7 seats, sunroof, 4-zone aircon, power tailgate, …

The diesel engine combines seamlessly with the six-speed automatic gearbox. It’s the ideal couple for every terrain, from the centre of the city, along the highway’s left lane and all the way to gravel paths in the mountains. Control freaks can use the shift leaver to change manually, but there’s really never ever any need for such bland action. The electronics constantly choose the perfect ratio to keep the ix55 alert and the revs in the optimum region to make sure that the engine always offers the ideal combination of speed and economics. The ix55 travels comfortably at considerable speeds, while only using 9,4 litres for every 100 kilometres. That means you don’t have to stop frequently to fill it up again, nor to stretch the legs and empty the head. Thanks to the near perfect isolation you never hear how the drive train labours for you. Not during acceleration and neither while eating up highway miles. Noblesse oblige for such an SUV, this ix55 is equipped with a permanent fourwheel drive system. It’s reassuring that the mechanics and electronics are always there to keep the ix55 right between the lines and under control, even when you’re not paying full attention to the snares of modern day traffic. You could do without, perhaps, like you could do without a night watch outside your five star hotel. But it’s good to know it’s there, just in case. That too is luxury. Just like simplicity, as a matter of fact. The straightforward layout of the dashboard is both stylish and easy to read. The centre console can be cooled with a simple turn of a switch, while the Infinity sound system gives you the feeling of being in a box seat at the Parisian Opéra. Goosebumps guaranteed, if you slide in the right CD. More than trying to seduce with wannabe gadgetry, the ix55 illustrates its luxurious feel with its kind character. It’s so generous with its opulence that you simply want to share it with friends and family. The ix55 is not a true stoplight sprinter, though. Its size, its calm heart and its comfortable suspension mainly invite you to drive peacefully and relaxed, in the same way the atmosphere and the knee-high carpets at the Plaza Athenée coax you into a tranquil mode too. Like the best hotels and most exquisite restaurants, the ix55 as well comes in an ‘everything included’ edition only. If you opt for the Executive version you get full leather seats, a sat nav, USB and iPod connection, cruise control, light and rain sensors, multifunctional steering wheel, dual air-conditioning, keyless-entry, pizza-sized 18-inch alloy wheels, a sunroof the dimensions of a billiard table, xenon lights, memory-controlled seats, and so much more. The only things that are not available are options. All in all, the ix55 is the perfect luxury suite. It offers the comfort of the Georges V or the Plaza Athenée hotels, yet is much more accessible. For the price of five nights in these palaces of splendour, you can be happy as a king in the ix55 for the rest of your existence. And you can travel the world as well. Although you might just want to start in Paris.

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At Hyundai, the x always stands for the car’s leisure touch, but in the case of this ix55 it means so much more. This x also expresses the intangible, almost mysterious aspect of pure luxury. Although even genius thinkers like Oscar Wilde and his simple taste – always go for the best – had their minds wrapped around the real criteria of luxury, it has always been in vain. Magnificence can’t be captured in Excel files, data sheets, or facts and figures. But you immediately understand what it’s all about behind the wheel of the ix55. Especially, if you’re fortunate enough to steer it through the Rue SaintHonoré or the Avenue Montaigne, where the pavement seems to be golden and the atmosphere speaks of ultimate refinement. You just know this is it, as soon as pure, undiluted bliss will conquer every vessel of your body like a mild fever.

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Grandeur certainly isn’t about size. The Parisian Grand Palais isn’t grand because it’s big. Just as with the ix55, its majestic dimensions are only a basic, evident assumption on which you can start to establish something of real magnitude. The real splendour comes from the refined materials, the smart design and the eye for ultimate detail. The ix55 shows a clear design, a tad of shiny chrome at exactly the right places and no glitz. It’s dressed to impress in Paris, where you won’t be judged better just because you wear more make-up or more jewelry. Style is never about quantity, but about presence. As every shopaholic will experience in Paris, true luxury is rarely expressed in complex shapes or difficult forms. Very often simplicity is the key to the easy life. Like a handmade watch, which doesn’t need to justify its significant price tag with an abundance of dials and switches. The same goes for the ix55. It’s a rolling castle, yet with straight lines, easy handling and a comprehensible dashboard. It might not seem the smartest move to steer the biggest of the grand Hyundais straight into the heart of a world capital like Paris, where dense traffic moves through small streets like a corpulent snake slides through a rabbit hole, but it gets away with it. The ix55 is everything but the hunchback of Notre Dame, who can’t find his way in this mundane paradise. It’s a big car, but its refined design completely conceals its majestic dimensions. Especially in this gold brown colour that highlights the yellow patina of Parisian facades. Although a mammoth car that offers comfort for seven, the ix55 swirls through the streets of Paris as swift as a tuna in an Atlantic corral. In the small streets of Montmartre it seems to shrink around the driver, thanks to its perfect power steering and its silky smooth six-speed gearbox. High on the driver’s seat, it feels like being on the king’s throne, carried through the town by invisible

carriers, while other traffic swarms around you like bees in a hive. And it’s the ideal gear to win the fierce battle around the Arc de Triomphe. But as soon as you set a wheel on the highway, the ix55 transforms into a travelling castle that feels as steady as a rock and as massive as cold steel. There’s only one disadvantage about Paris. Its grandeur is so masterful that it’s hardly possible to capture it in words or images. You have to experience it for yourself. The same applies to the ix55. As long as you haven’t been behind the wheel yourself, you cannot really imagine how appealing it is to the human mind. Best is, to combine both. With an ix55 in Paris? That’s like Christmas and Easter on the same day. That’s when true love will catch you.

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HERITAGE Hyundaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Archive Of Steel And Human Intelligence

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Hyundaiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s museum is not a place to mourn the golden days gone by. No, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an eternal source of rich stories, but even more of new thinking based on old knowledge.

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It’s only a small building, almost hidden within the immense terrain of the Namyang R&D centre outside Seoul. But it’s inspiring for everybody who wants to be entertained, or who wants to learn. If only Koreans were a nostalgic people, this museum would certainly have been located in Seoul’s city centre, where it could contribute to the cultural treasures of this nation. By explaining how Hyundai grew so immensely popular all over the world, this museum also illustrates how South Korea developed so quickly into a modern society in the wake of this carmaker. Yet, because this nation and Hyundai always look ahead, this car museum is located inside the R&D centre where it helps today’s engineers by educating about the past, how to improve the present in order to develop a better future. While exhibiting the most crucial models of Hyundai’s relatively short history, the Hyundai museum also shows how spectacularly car technology has evolved over the last five decades. Visitors can only begin to understand how complex a modern car is, when witnessing a cross-cut of a 21st century Genesis next to the chassis of a 1967 Pony. This impressive progress accounts for nearly every single part: from engines to steering wheels, from dashboard clusters to door opening mechanisms, from simple exhaust pipes to electronically controlled three-way catalytic converters. The Hyundai museum narrates the amazing tale of how a small car company from a country that was deprived of any motoring culture whatsoever, became a world leader setting the benchmark for the future. But it’s not a relic show for those who love to dream about the olden days and how everything was so much better back then.

‘This car museum is not a relic show for nostalgic people. It’s there to help today’s engineers by educating about the past, how to improve the present in order to develop a better future.’ What has become a thrilling rollercoaster ride through the automotive world, started prudently in 1967 with the very first Hyundai ever, the Cortina. As Chung Ju-Yung was intrigued by America and its achievements, and had established strong contacts with American businessmen, it seemed more than obvious to collaborate with an American car manufacturer in those pioneering days. Nonetheless, it was very ambitious, bordering on vain, to start building cars for Korea during an era when the annual demand there didn’t exceed 30.000 units. Hyundai’s first-born was in fact only a rebadged Ford Cortina that was constructed and sold within the borders of South Korea. But it stayed in production for eight years. Enough to learn all the singularities of selling cars, but also to understand how to construct and develop them independently from then on.

As always, Chung Ju-Yung wanted more. Very quickly, the company dreamed of developing its own models, albeit with the help of a handful of British engineers. After having consulted the most capable professionals in the world, after six years of thinking and more trial and error, the brand new Pony was born. The car surprised the entire world with its rakish bodywork, sharp prices and constructional quality. Designed by Italian grandmaster Giugiaro, powered by a Mitsubishi engine and graced with a suspension that was fine tuned by the best of English engineers, the 1975 Pony was perfectly geared to conquer the world. The timing couldn’t have been better. Although it had seemed premature to start Korea’s proper car production only eight years earlier, the Korean economy suddenly galloped off rapidly in the mid seventies, while a network of freshly built express highways across the county desperately needed cars to ride them. The Pony became an immediate hit in South Korea, but also tickled the first dreams of exportation. In 1976, a batch of six cars left for Ecuador. Later during the same year, the Pony was also exported to Belgium where the Moorkens family set up a small, but professional dealer network for this new, unknown brand. During its sevenyear career, almost 340.000 Ponys were born, of which 67.000 were exported. The successful Pony was replaced by the Pony2 in 1982. Although merely a facelift, it outsold its predecessor easily. It was very successful overseas as well: of a total of 410.000 units produced, more than 150.000 were exported. Despite having lost the rakish lines of the first model, the Pony2 was very popular as a taxi thanks to its low running cost, comfortable behaviour and reliable nature. Although not available in the US, after having failed the severe emission tests back then, the Pony2 sold very well in Canada and thus slightly nudged the door open towards North America. Its attractive pricing helped the Pony2 to become Canada’s best-selling car. The standard Pony2 had vinyl seats, while the more up-market GL version lured with seats partly executed in fabric, a real clock, a passenger-side mirror, tinted glass, and a rear window wiper. The GLS added, amongst other features, a vanity mirror for the passenger, fully upholstered fabric seats, and even a 50/50 fold-down bench in the rear.

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After five years of development, Hyundai launched a second model to back up the Pony. The 1983 Stellar also had a Mitsubishi drivetrain and was again designed by Giugiaro’s Italdesign, but aimed higher in the market, at those who had been driving a Cortina before. The Stellar is the first example of typical Hyundai wordplays, as the name originates from the combination of ‘stellaris’ , meaning star, and ‘excellent.’ Almost half a million were produced during its 14-year career, the longest run of any Korean car. Some of them also went to the US, where Hyundai found a foothold in 1986. Although remarkably compact for the American market, the Excel largely contributed to Hyundai’s success in the USA. Launched in 1985, this five-door hatchback was the first Hyundai with front-wheel drive. It was crowned ‘One of the top 10 best products for 1986’ by Fortune magazine. In many overseas countries the Excel also carried the name Pony, in order to help customers recognize the reputation of the original Pony. More than 1.3 million units were sold, 1.1 million of which overseas.

‘IT narrates the amazing tale of how a small car company from a country that was deprived of any motoring culture whatsoever, became a world leader setting the benchmark for the future.’ Hyundai launched the Grandeur the same year. Although graced with very American styling, the big luxury sedan was front-wheel driven and powered by either four- or six-cylindre engines. Its sophisticated nature is reflected in its name, Grandeur meaning ‘elegance and honorableness.’ Despite its American looks, the car has only been on sale in the domestic market.

Hyundai developed its portfolio quickly and already added a sporty coupe in 1985, although the underpinnings were largely based on the Excel. The turbo version from 1991 was Hyundai’s first with an engine that was developed inhouse. Being a neologism for Sports and Coupe, the appelation Scoupe also refers to the fact that this car was the first in its genre for Hyundai. Almost 250.000 Scoupes were built. More than half of them were exported. The Sonata from 1988 is one of the most important models in the Hyundai history. This luxury front-wheel drive mid-size sedan was the first to implement Hyundai’s advanced proprietary engineering and design abilities. More than half a million were produced, most of them being sold in the domestic market. Six years later, the Accent is Hyundai’s first ever vehicle to be completely developed inhouse. This successor to the Excel reached a total production of around 1.5 million units. More than 1.1 million were exported. It also had a short career in the World Rally Championship. After having developed a Sonata concept car with an electric motor in the early nineties, Hyundai opened a new R&D centre in Namyang, about 40 kilometres north of Seoul in 1996. Afterwards, this facility evolved into a gigantic complex of 3.470.000 m2 – about 500 football fields – where 8.000 engineers work on the Hyundais of the future. Although Kia is considerably older than the Hyundai Motor Company, this struggling Korean brand was taken over by Hyundai in 1998, after it hadn’t survived the severe economical crisis back then. While most car manufacturers with a few brands under their custody opt for profound synergies in all areas, Hyundai immediately decided to keep both brands completely separate. Only the development of engines, chassis and drive trains has been joined to cut development time and costs. At the same time, Hyundai kept on expanding. It opened its first overseas factory in Turkey in 1997, and erected a new production facility in India a year later. Hyundai launched its first passenger car equipped with a diesel engine in 2000, and ventured a new design and technical centre in Irvine, California. A year later, a similar venue was inaugurated in Rüsselsheim, Germany. Although it elicited many compassionate smiles, Hyundai confidently set ambitious goals for the future by stating that it wanted to be one of the top five automakers before 2012. In 2005, a year after achieving a cumulative export of 10 million units, Hyundai opened a new proving ground in California and a new plant in the US. Three years later, three new production facilities sprang up in India, China and the Czech Republic. In 2009, only 23 years after its first tentative steps there, the Hyundai Genesis was crowned North American Car of the Year. While being responsible for a market share of over 50% in Korea, Hyundai scored a global market share of 5% for the first time in 2010. Hyundai and Kia together had grown to become the world’s fourth biggest carmaker, when the company decided to shift its goal and to focus completely on quality in favour of pure growth.

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BEAUTY The ix20 Shows Off In Turin

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Turin may not be the first destination to come to mind when dreaming about la dolce vita in Italy. But this industrial city is amazingly charming and has thousands of smart surprises up its sleeves. No wonder the Hyundai ix20 feels as at home here like a movie star in Los Angeles.

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Who doesn’t like la dolce vita in Italy? Think good weather, inviting terraces, refreshing gelati, delicious fresh food, inspiring wines, or breathtaking architecture, and Rome, Milan or Florence immediately spring to mind. But Turin? Isn’t that a city too ugly to be noticed, too industrialised to be appealing, too mean to be inviting? Isn’t that a city that needs mass events like the Winter Olympics or artificial labels like ‘World Design Capital’ to attract tourists? No, it doesn’t. Try to see beyond the prejudices and you’ll discover its subtly concealed beauty waiting to be enjoyed by everybody. It will not take a lot of effort. You only need to allow yourself some time to get to know this beacon of trust right in the middle between snowy mountains like the majestic Mont Blanc and the refreshing Mediterranean Sea. Turin might be an industrial world hub, and Italy’s fourth largest city, but it’s also very warm-hearted and has never neglected its main purpose: to be the fond home for all its inhabitants and offer a warm welcome to every visitor who drops by. Flanked by the rivers Dora and Po, this city always follows the compelling rhythm of the flowing water. No matter how hard the pressure of a modern society pounds, the sedate pace of the calm rivers always reduces the hectic workload to a more human dimension. While Italy licks its wounds in the aftermath of the severe economical crisis, Turin flourishes as never before, thanks to a recipe that is dead simple. Constant innovation is a must in order to survive in this day and age, especially for cities like Turin that are so deeply rooted in the past. Yet by doing so it also managed to keep a clear goal in mind: to stay intimate and appealing. Turin is so special because it offers a refined combination of Italian culture and the peculiar Piedmont lifestyle. Here, everybody always strives for perfection and no one ever goes for second best. Everyone constantly explores the boundaries of what is humanly and physically possible, and keeps thinking outside the box. But more importantly, people act normal, show respect for everything and just try to be nice. And yes, the parallel with how Hyundai smartly tackled the recent world wide recession is never far away. Turin isn’t an obvious destination, not like Rome or Paris. As with a tasty clove of fresh garlic, it takes some time and effort to peel off the outer layers and penetrate the tangy heart. The first whiff might need some getting used to, certainly if your reference frame has become too accustomed to classical flavours over the years. But, after a little endeavour, you will forever remember the very moment you fell madly in love with this elegant city down by the river. And after half a day, you’ll not be able to imagine that there was a time in your life that you didn’t cherish it as if it were your own little discovery, one you’d only want to share with your best friends.

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Turin is the kind of city that bestows an obvious mental freedom. The climate is always mild, the atmosphere blossoming with creative vibes, the artistic liberty endless and beauty ever present. Unlike most European towns with medieval roots, Turin didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t grow organically. From the Savoy era onwards, it was designed with a clear purpose in mind and a vision for the future. In a time when urban planning was only a distant vision for the future and total architectural freedom was rampant, Turin already assigned master building planners to shape the city centre to human dimensions, yet with a majestic aura. This new way of thinking helped create so many new possibilities, and makes contemporary Turin very accessible and comforting. Because splendour and elegance were always on top of the mind, Turin doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even come close to the ragingly efficient, yet also chilly-feeling American cities. Although Turin took an enjoyable bath in the artistic waves of the 18th century, it always kept an eye on practicality. Like a loving mother with her frolicking offspring, it even protects its inhabitants with an abundance of galleria. On one of the rare rainy days you can stroll for 12 kilometres through the ancient city centre without once getting wet. Although a capital of Italian baroque, contemporary design rules in Turin. It still is the capital of Italian industrialism, yet in its growth it applies strict boundaries towards timeless elegance and usability. Beauty is taken for granted, but practicality is mandatory. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why Turin and the Hyundai ix20 are two of a kind.

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the

ix20

In modern Hyundai-speak an x in its name will tell you immediately that you’re dealing with something special. It could be an SUV or any other body form that opens new dimensions. In the case of the ix20, it’s a people carrier, but not as we know it. A crossover, if you like, that combines the advantages of many other car types without their intrinsic disadvantages. The ix20 is flexible, but doesn’t try to blind you with cheap tricks. It’s roomy, yet cosy as well. It focuses on wellbeing, but combines sportiness with comfort. It shows mature looks, yet loves to play around. Although the ix20 primarily aims at city use, it lives on a surprisingly long wheelbase and big, 16-inch shiny alloy wheels. This combination does not only embrace the passengers with palazzo-like roominess, it also gives the car an impressive stance that helps it to stand out next to its competitors. The ix20 has a teasing fascia with its twinkling eyes, but leaves a mature with its hexagon grille. Its fluidic sculptural design demonstrates sensual forms, but doesn’t show off. Except maybe with the asymmetric, honeybee-like grille that immediately tells even the inattentive passerby that this version is packed to the brim with luxury. It has coffee and cream coloured leather that feels like a second skin, an integrated satellite navigation system with a touchscreen that guides you through the mazes of this majestic city, and a glittering panoramic roof. Other aspects of this Hyundai, things like the impressive constructional quality, the thoughtful ergonomics, or the appealing materials plus the five year Triple Care come as standard. The ix20 presents high value for little money, yet it also offers so much more because it wraps this rational proposition in a fashionable jacket.

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Inside as well the ix20 has everything needed to spice up your life, including a functional air-conditioning to tackle hot Italian summers, and a big, easy manageable boot to deal with the needs of the biggest shopaholics. Travelling with five people, it can still take 440 litres of the finest goods, but if you fold the rear seat down it even hosts 1.486 litres of luggage. No first class air traveller program offers such comfort and flexibility. Especially because you can choose the inclination of the rear bench to make sure you always have the perfect compromise between wellbeing of your passengers and the necessary space in the trunk. It’s easy to find an ideal position behind the multifunctional, height-adjustable wheel. Thanks to the multi-adjustable seat and the abundant glass sections, you always have a perfect view of the dense traffic and on the most splendid places of Turin. At night, the automatic cornering lights even help to peep around the block. Although a true city car, the ix20 is perfect to clock up the miles because it’s as relaxing as a lounge club and as soothing as your easy chair. Moreover, thanks to the Blue Drive eco concept, the ix20 uses less fuel than you’ll need espressos to keep going. The 1.4 CRDi diesel engine only uses 4,3 litres for 100 kilometres and barely emits 114 grams of CO2 per kilometre, while transmitting 77 bhp to the front-drive wheels. That makes it as quick as a cat in the whopping Turin traffic, while the low CO2 score turns it into a fiscally attractive proposition in certain countries. The ix20 does not only entice with its European design, but also with its elaborated suspension that has been tuned by European engineers to please European customers, making the car comfortable and firm at once. Of course, electronic stabilisation and traction control system both come as standard. But if things really go wrong, six airbags are there to protect you and your cherished ones. The hill-start assist system, preventing the car from rolling back, comes in handy when discovering the nicest angles of the Moncalieri area at the mountainous side of the river Po.

Tested model : ix20 colour Cashmere Brown type 5-door monovolume

Length/height/width 4100/1600/1765 Engine 1.4 CRDi Blue Drive Maximum power

77 bhp

Transmission six-speed manual Top speed

160 kph

Special features Equipped with Blue Drive package, glass sun roof, leather upholstery, cornering lights, ...

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IN TURIN

the ix20

Being the northernmost city of Italy, Turin offers the best of two cultures in the same way this ix20 offers Asian quality with European flair. Turin is never the victim of Latinesque chaos, it knows perfectly how and when to loosen the rules to improve quality of life. Things are organised in a rational, Germanesque way, yet always with a passionate Latin twist, which results in a unique split that keeps on intriguing. What’s also typical of the Latin way of living is that people in Turin never make a clear distinction between children and adults, as so often happens in France or America. Restaurants don’t serve a kids menu and entertainment isn’t strictly divided in a juvenile version and a more serious one for adults. The fact that everything is meant to be enjoyed by everybody obviously makes it more complicated, but also so much more rewarding and stimulating. Just like the ix20, that inspires the driver, comforts the passenger, and pleases the children in the rear all in one effort. And like Turin, which warmly embraces a magnificent lifestyle yet isn’t blinded by the easy gloss of gold foil, the ix20 focuses on accessible luxury as well. Elegance is an essential part of existence, and beauty isn’t only skin deep. The quality of life is high, but the price for it isn’t. That’s why the ix20 fits to these streets like creamy toppings to a tartufo.

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Hyundai and Turin share a history too, since the Korean volume manufacturer used to be a good client here. In the early days, when the company mainly focused on quality and was still looking for a strict family look, renowned houses like Pininfarina and Italdesign delivered style on demand. But those days are gone. Hyundai’s styling division doesn’t need lessons from anybody anymore once refined design became an essential part of its DNA. The ix20 proves this more than anything else. In the 21st century every Hyundai is still eager to come to Turin, but now it’s only to enjoy the inherent qualities of the city. Nonetheless, in terms of design they still are two of a kind. Just like Turin knows how to smartly hide that it’s up-beat and edgy, the ix20 brilliantly clothes the a priori boxy forms of a family-oriented people carrier with its elegant appearance. With its cashmere brown coat the ix20 looks like a stylish gentleman. It may be a newcomer in town, but it’s already clearly at ease as it moves confidently through the narrow streets. The Blue Drive system doesn’t only make the ix20 fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly, but also turns it into a warmly welcomed guest in the ancient city centre. The automatic start-stop function cutting the engine at idle not only saves fuel, reduces CO2 emmissions and noise, but also makes the multiple traffic lights much more tolerable. That’s a cherished good in Turin, where the traffic can be very, well, Turinesque. It’s never too overwhelming, but traffic laws and regulations seem to be open to individual interpretation and only exist to serve to your own advantage, but never to limit your personal freedom. Fortunately, the ix20 is there to comfort you, and its hidden electronics of ABS, traction control and ESP keep the quirky Hyundai exactly on the right track, while guiding the car through the city centre. Thanks to the abundant glass surfaces, the overview of the busy traffic situation is almost total and the perfect seating position helps to feel in control of things while passengers enjoy the panoramic glass roof. Apart from giving the car an airy feel, it also presents you with a perfect view of the baroque facades of the numerous pallazzi lining the Turin streets. At night, when Turin is – if possible – even more charming, it’s also nice that the additional head lamps immediately shine their light in the direction you want to move. That the roads in Turin are not always billiard smooth doesn’t perturb the ix20. The sporty yet comfy suspension flattens each and every pothole out as if it weren’t even there. Turin and Hyundai go a long way back and share a mutual history. But today, they act on the same level, are as inspiring, and are both pinnacles of timeless beauty.

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WORLD Hyundai Around The Globe: Facts And Figures

Hyundai ranks in the top 100 of the world’s most valuable brands.

Around 5.300 dealerships and sales companies sell Hyundais in 193 countries.

Hyundai Motor Company runs twelve ultra modern manufacturing plants. Three of them are located in South Korea. The Ulsan plant is the largest in the world with an annual production of almost 1.4 million units. 34.000 employees produce 5.400 cars per day there. Furthermore, Hyundai runs two factories in China – a third is under construction – and two in India. Other factories are located in the US, Russia, Brazil, Turkey, and the Czech Republic.

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Hyundai predicts to sell 405.000 cars in 2011 in Europe, 5.000 more than forecasted. Despite the economical crisis, this accounts for an impressive growth of 12.4% compared to the previous year.

Hyundai employs almost 80.000 people globally. 56.000 of them work in South Korea. Another 4.430 earn their living in Europe.

Worldwide, the Hyundai Motor Company runs six design and twelve R&D centres. The biggest in Namyang employs around 8.000 people.

Hyundai Motor Company sells more than 3 million cars annually. Hyundai and sister brand Kia combined, this number increases to 6.5 million for 2011. Hyundai now ranks in the top five of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest car makers. In 2012, joint sales of 7 million are expected.

2011 is an extremely successful year for Hyundai. Sales rose in every market, from China to Russia, from South Korea to the US and Europe.

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DRIVING PLEASURE Hi

The Genesis Coupe Dives Into The English Cotswolds

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The Cotswolds is a charming triangle in the very heart of England. Its inspiring roads seem to be traced out exclusively for the Hyundai Genesis Coupe.

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COTSWOLDS It’s only an hour’s drive from Kensington, Mayfair or other posh regions of London, but the atmosphere enveloping the Cotswolds like a warm blanket, is light-years away from all this. It seems as if time stood still in this home of all creatures great and small. Here, life is about simple things, honest cooking and real people. Loveliness and charm are crucial aspects of the existence, and there’s postcard material lurking around every corner. As the green lung of the United Kingdom, it also captures the core of this great old country in every imaginable aspect. Caught in between intellectual Oxford and industrialised areas like Coventry, Swindon and the Black Country north of Birmingham, this is the navel of ‘Britishness’ in its purest, most undiluted form. Moreover, it used to be holy ground for every dedicated car aficionado. The famous Cotswolds atmosphere is so cosy and welcoming – even comforting and reassuring – that it makes every visitor instantly happy and relaxed. But this classical ambience comes with a price, as new, inspiring vibes are immediately cuddled to death by the traditional, almost antique way of life that leaves no alternative paths open. In the twenties and thirties, when Hyundai was only a blink in the eye of founding father Chung Ju-Yung, the Cotswolds were one of the few areas where motoring really took off and quickly grew into a successful business. In an era when the Korean economy was still very agricultural, England went into second gear right away and almost every cottage hosted a sports car brand that wrote another page of the big book of automotive history. Even in the seventies, when Hyundai was setting its first cagey steps on four wheels, this was still the boiling heart of the car and motorbike world. Today the cards lie very differently, however. While the Hyundai group grew with impressive pace to rank with the top five of the world’s biggest car makers, the British dominance in the automotive culture almost entirely dried up, because the Brits depended too much on their own heritage and completely neglected a clear focus on the future. The Cotswolds alone already hosts at least three car museums showing the magic of times gone by, but keeping completely mute about the future. Inherently, they also illustrate what went wrong, how difficult car manufacturing has become and how only the strongest survived. How? Because they always had an ear for the client’s wishes, cherished a constant craving for quality and basically performed a faultless run. No other brand demonstrates this more clearly than Hyundai, which truly cherishes the philosophy of ‘New Thinking. New Possibilities.’

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Although the Cotswolds isn’t the sparkling fountain of the British car industry anymore, the entire area still is heaven on earth for everyone and everything with a hunger for good old-fashioned driving pleasure. The coal-black asphalt unfurls as invitingly over the curling hills as the bra ribbons across the back of a woman sunbathing, while the multiple rivers babble slowly through the landscape. The small brooks are so intrinsic to the Cotswolds that they’ve become a crucial aspect of the streetscape and regularly create a ford that simply overflows the asphalt. These sudden little waterways don’t just pop up by accident, and not only after heavy rainfall. It’s just how things go on around here, and cars have no other choice than to drive straight through them. Why not a bridge? Because it’s always been this way and it always worked. It’s so typical for the region and even for how this population looks at things. This civilisation doesn’t try to mould everything in a never-ceasing cycle of better, bigger, easier. No, here evolution stops as soon as traditions would need to be violated. It even goes so far that every new building has to be constructed and designed in the identical 600-year old style of the golden Cotswolds age. Everywhere you go, you can enjoy the same typical landscape with the small yellowish houses. They are so amiable and cute you expect Hansel and Gretel to be on a neighbourly footing with Little Thumbling. Here, the lawns are so green you immediately want to start playing golf or croquet. The cuddly sheep are so numerous, there’s enough wool to knit a giant pullover that warms the entire country. The trees, with their undulating arms reaching for the sky, look so threatening that they are the perfect setting for a Harry Potter installment. The hedges are so ubiquitous, you completely lose your orientation. And the roads are so challenging, they paint a permanent smile on your face. All this makes the Cotswolds an inviting area for a short holiday. But even more the ultimate habitat for the exceptional Hyundai Genesis Coupe.

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Exactly because Hyundai consistently aims for the future, but even more so because it performed so well over the years, it now saw the opportunity to colour the line-up with the Genesis Coupe. It’s a Hyundai, but not as we know it. It’s an ‘old school’ sports car that has ‘pure driving pleasure’ firmly embedded in every chromosome of its DNA and is to hot hatches like a sumptuous English breakfast is to fast food. The Genesis Coupe is exactly what it pretends to be: a stylish coupe that focuses mainly on fun. It truly is a modern, utterly 21st century car, but its classical lay-out naughtily winks to the past. The Genesis Coupe follows a much loved and admired recipe using only traditional but honest ingredients, yet with the most modern technology. The menu tells it all. It has a bighearted turbo-powered engine in the front, good old rear-wheel drive and a manual six-speed gearbox to sharpen the appetite. Yet, it does not carry around other garish gear that only blurs the judgement, not adding anything to the quintessence. After decades of success, this variety has become rare on modern roads. But just because Hyundai has such a strong, almost indestructible fundament, it is one of the very few brands that have the means and the knowledge to park such a positive and ardent car in the showroom. The Genesis enlivens passion at every level. It’s an enthusiastic and an enthusiast’s car. It simply makes everybody happy. Not only the customers, but also the Hyundai dealers and the most precious treasure of Hyundai: its human resources. The Genesis Coupe is a wolf, but not in sheep’s clothes. It’s an athlete. Not a body-builder. It’s fast, but not in a scary way. It’s sporty, but not bloodcurdling. The steering is direct, but never tiring, the suspension is crisp, but not backbreaking hard. The traction is efficient, but not brutal. The gear lever feels sporty, but doesn’t require the driver to pass his spare time in the gym. At Hyundai, passion never comes at a price. Not financially and not practically. The Genesis Coupe may be a total head-turner wherever it shows its vigorous face, it’s also a practical four-seater with a big and easily accessible boot, and even a retractable rear seat to carry around big stuff. It has enough headroom front and back, the ergonomic dashboard is inspiring, yet easy to read, its functionalities satisfying, and the equipment is royal. It has comforting bucketlike seats – all fully fitted in soft leather – and everything to make life easier and more exciting. It has keyless-entry, standard air-conditioning to keep it cool when the roads are hot, a high-fidelity Infinity audio system with six speakers and USB and iPod connection, a satellite navigation system and even cruise control for the rare occasions you want the electronics to control your cruise.

The Genesis Coupe is a sporty car with an elegant line, but doesn’t seduce with easy tricks or a straightforward aggressive mug. It stands with a masculine stance on its four 19-inch alloy wheels, yet isn’t macho. It merely entices with perfect proportions, refined surfaces and a neat little spoiler to push the rear end toward the road when the going gets tough. The straight-four in the front has a lung capacity of only two litres, yet with the help of a turbo produces 212 bhp in the high revs and 299 Nm of torque already at 2000 rpm. This unique combination makes the Genesis Coupe racecar fast on challenging B roads, with the engine hanging on the throttle like a Siberian tiger on a leash. Yet, if you want to drive calmly to enjoy the charm of the villages on your route, you only have to select one of the perfectly spread higher gears to benefit from the large amounts of torque available in the lower revs. No matter how beautiful this car, you don’t need much more than the throttle to awaken the beast. It only needs 7,9 seconds to explode from a standstill to 100 kph and only loses its battle with the wind at 223 kph. Conditio sine que non for such a fast car, the four ventilated disk brakes perform well enough to upset your stomach. Nevertheless, the Genesis Coupe does not aim for the Nordschleife or other racetracks, where the merciless clock clearly dominates every other aspect of the good life. The Genesis is quick in a decent kind of way. It’s a true sports car, but not an uncompromising bullet that has no other purpose than to be faster around the track then anyone else. Fine-tuned at the R & D centre in Germany to match the European taste and to cope with the demanding European roads, the multilink suspension guides the Genesis Coupe as if on rails through quick corners, yet is never so hard that it almost bounces off pockmarked roads. The perfect weight distribution and the rear-wheel drive system with a Torsen differential liven up the chassis and make it feel as if it’s an integral part of your body. The same goes for the communicative steering, that feels as if your hands are directly connected to the front wheels. As in a racecar, you’re behind a compact, thick three-spoke leather steering wheel, while your right hand alights perfectly on the short and elevated gear leaver. The Genesis Coupe is the kind of friend that spices up your life, but is responsible as well. It only needs 9,2 litres for 100 challenging kilometres and merely emits 220 grams of CO2 for every exciting kilometre of it. Despite its perfectly tuned and comforting chassis, it also has electronic brake force distribution, traction control and an electronic stability program to help you keep the car on the tarmac in case you run out of driving talent. Six airbags are part of the standard equipment. No matter how fast, this Genesis Coupe is not about arriving as quickly as possible at exactly the same point where it started earlier, as would be the case on a racetrack. No, it’s a car meant to travel and to be enjoyed. It’s a car to advance and to evolve, conceived to progress from a nice place to an even more superior one. It’s the perfect partner in crime for epicureans and other bon vivants.

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Tested model : Genesis Coupe colour Super Red type 2-door coupe

Length/height/width 4630/1385/1865 Engine 2.0 Turbo Maximum power

212 bhp

Transmission six-speed manual Top speed

223 kph

Special features rear wheel drive, bucket sports-seats, leather, limited slip differential, satellite navigation, â&#x20AC;Ś

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GENESIS COUPE in the cotswolds

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Today, the Hyundai Genesis Coupe is one of the few representatives of the magnificent coupe tradition that had its roots here so many years ago, but it certainly isn’t a rare survivor of times gone by. On the contrary. As a pioneer of new motoring, the Genesis Coupe owes its standing solely to the fact that Hyundai has an impressive portfolio with something for every taste and every wallet. Just like in former times, when every well-regarded family had at least one vicar amongst their multiple heirs or today, now that every swinging household has at least one artistic descendant under the roof. That’s what the Genesis Coupe really is. Although beauty is everywhere in the Cotswolds, the cherry red Genesis Coupe is an enrichment in the same way a tache de beauté makes a top model even more interesting. If possible, this courageous sports car is even sexier after having enthusiastically passed one of the numerous fords, shaking the water off its muscular body like Olympic swim champion Michael Phelps after another world record. These little drops sparkle on the metal like freckles on Julianne Moore’s skin. The Genesis is sturdy and tough, but it has a smart, disarming touch as well. No matter how sporty, the Genesis is a sociable car that is welcomed everywhere, and never shocks the locals with its presence. It’s like a stand-up comedian. Frolicking just at the edge of naughty, yet in the end it turns out to be everybody’s friend. That’s why it feels so much at home here on the charming Romantic Route, a long and winding road that bastes the many villages into one stylish collar around the neck of England. The Genesis Coupe digests these roads with such eagerness, it moulds the touristic course into a wild curling racetrack. It just never stops: every crest hides another landscape, which is, if possible, even nicer and even more picturesque. It’s as if the car is a brush and the driver is the artist. The turbo-powered Genesis Coupe even needs to be held back from time to time, in order to utterly enjoy the magnificence of this stunning region. It’s almost a pity that these roads are pretty much all billiard-table smooth, because the Genesis Coupe can’t show off with its brilliant suspension that is at the time dynamic and comfortable, challenging and forgiving. Both the Cotswolds and the Genesis are inviting and easy to live with. But, if you dive too deep into the Cotswolds and its rural, well-behaved atmosphere, it can feel as if your joie de vivre and lust to live are gently extinguished. Fortunately, the coupe compensates this bluntness with its spontaneous character and brisk behaviour. This beauty queen fits to these roads like Little Red Riding Hood to fairy tale woods.

One of the cradles of English motorsports is the hill climb at Prescott Hill, which is tackled by the Genesis Coupe with the appetite of a hungry pit bull for the butcher. The trees seem to be loyal supporters for the true driver, as their branches crawl into each other, like arms of old friends leaning on each other to seek support, thus creating a sheltering roof above the motorist’s head. It’s as if the Genesis Coupe powers through a never-ending green tunnel like a red ball in the ultimate pinball machine. These roads are a circuit on their own. They are ideal to clear your head, completely ban the daily hassle from your system and just focus on the driving. This is driving how it’s always been meant to be. Your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel. After several days of pure driving pleasure, only one question comes to mind: is the Hyundai Genesis Coupe especially made for these roads? Or are these curly asphalt ribbons exclusively created to serve as the right platform for the Genesis Coupe, a true Gran Tourer in every vessel of its body?

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Special thanks to

C.K. Han, Allan Rushforth, Mark Hall, Andreas Brozat, Stefan Henrich, Katharina Vermillon, Lee Byung Seob, Thomas Bürkle, Brian Sir, Frank Ahrens, Angela Hwang, Ian Lim, John Krafcik, Chris Hosford, Lori Scholz, Elizabeth Chun, Santiago De La Rocha, Özgu Koyluç.

Hi Hyundai First edition, December 2011 Initiated and edited by Hyundai Belux (Korean Motor Company) Idea and project management by William Meerschaut Written by Bart Lenaerts Pictures by Lies De Mol Design & layout by Magnifik.be Proofreading by Alexandra Felts Printed in Belgium by PurePrint ISBN 9789081482035 EAN 9789081482035

All text and pictures in this book are the copyrighted work of Hyundai Belux. Reproduction in whole or in part, wether on paper, on the internet or any other medium is prohibited.