Autonews: Koreans take spotlight in Chicago
Hyundai and Kia dominate the American mid-west; Nissan sent us an Invitation for Geneva; Civic fix comes early; and Mercedes is looking to go 911 hunting—it's all in my weekly Autonews column at Toronto Star Wheels. Full column after the jump.
By John LeBlanc
Reflecting the flat topography of its American mid-west setting, most of the American and Japanese automaker unveilings at this week’s Chicago auto show were relatively flat, leaving it up to the Koreans to create some much needed buzz.
Fiat’s U.S. Chrysler Group had little to offer except a raft of special editions, General Motors showed off its face-lifted 2013 GMC Acadia crossover, Ford rolled out a convertible version of its 650 hp Shelby GT500 pony car, Honda debuted production versions of its Acura ILX compact sedan and RDX compact crossover (seen as “concepts” last month in Detroit), and Volkswagen unveiled a diesel version of its 2013 Beetle.
Ho-hum. . .
Meanwhile, in an attempt to gain more incremental sales from Honda’s Civic, Hyundai debuted two more body styles of its popular Elantra compact sedan.
The 2013 Elantra coupe is just that — a two-door version of the existing four-door, while the 2013 Elantra GT four-door hatchback is more interesting.
It replaces the outgoing Touring wagon, and is essentially a North American version of the European i30 that debuted at the Frankfurt auto show last September.
Perhaps the “hit” of the Chicago show was the Kia Track’ster concept, a high-performance, two-door take on the best-selling Soul small wagon.
Penned by the automaker’s California design team, with 250 hp, all-wheel-drive, and a Brembo brake system, the Track’ster hints that Kia is ready to start offering serious performance models sooner than later.
New Nissan small hatch coming to Swiss show
Nissan released images this week of its Invitation concept, a subcompact, four-door hatchback that’s heading for a debut at next month’s Geneva auto show, and eventually may end up here in Canada as a replacement for the aging Nissan Versa hatchback.
The hatchback version of the Versa has been on sale here since 2006. In fact, it predates the four-door sedan, with was replaced by an all-new model for 2012.
In a release, Nissan said the subcompact four-door Invitation is designed to score high fuel economy along with dynamic performance, as well as provide plenty of interior room.
While a production iteration will launch in Europe in 2013, Nissan hasn’t confirmed if there will be a North American version of the Invitation.
Fix for Civic coming sooner than later
In an unprecedented move, Honda will launch a significant mid-cycle upgrade to its Civic compact this fall, only 18 months after the all-new model was launched.
According to a report in Automotive News, the decision to implement the changes is a rush to improve the Civic in time for the 2013 model year.
Honda U.S.A. officials had previously said a mid-cycle freshening for the compact sedan and coupe would happen sometime in 2013.
The Civics’ cheapened interior and other reductions in content were not well-received by the likes of The Wall Street Journal, and Consumer Reports removed the model from its “recommended” list.
Mercedes-Benz signs off on Porsche 911-fighter
As nice as Mercedes’ family of SLK and larger SL roadsters are to drive, they simply don’t offer the sophisticated handling of class-leading Porsches, like the Boxster/Cayman and 911 Carrera.
But if a report from the U.K.’s Autocar is to be believed, that issue may be rectified soon.
Apparently, a 911-fighter is being developed by the German automaker’s high-performance AMG division, the same group that designed and builds the SLS AMG super car.
A 500 hp twin-turbo V8, in a front-mid-chassis position sending power to the rear wheels, is being speculated to power the “entry-level” AMG sports car, estimated to cost in the $125,000 range — right where a well-equipped 911 Carrera rings in at.