Crain Team blog

When it comes to fleet vehicles, the Chevrolet Impala definitely plays an important role for General Motors, and it looks like GM is hard at work developing the next-gen Impala for bulk-buying businesses. The Motoring Journal recently spotted a handful of Impalas testing in Colorado with minor camouflage, but upon closer inspection, these appear to be test mules for a new compressed natural gas (CNG) model – a powertrain combination far more likely to find favor with fleet buyers than everyday consumers.

Hyundai announced last week that all its new vehicles equipped with the automaker’s Blue Link communication system will come with three years of free protective services.

The Assurance Connected Care service package, announced in March at the 2013 New York International Auto Show, is similar to GM’s OnStar safety system. Hyundai’s offers a full lineup of safety and car-care features, including automatic collision notification, emergency and roadside assistance, monthly vehicle diagnostics reports and maintenance alerts.

The service is fully transferable to subsequent owners within three years of the vehicle’s first date of use, Hyundai said. Owners with the Assurance Connected Care package will have the option to upgrade at a reduced price, adding features such as remote start, stolen vehicle recovery and turn-by-turn navigation. The automaker said it would release pricing info later.

Hyundai said the package offers a high level of service for a non-premium brand. “This new suite of Assurance features allows drivers to feel safe and secure and enjoy a worry-free car ownership experience,” the automaker said in a statement. “With a simple press of a button in the vehicle, Blue Link agents are available 24/7/365 to help in emergencies or to schedule car care.”

Via cars.com

Hyundai is now continuing its commitment and support of innovative music initiatives by working with Universal Music Enterprises and the Bob Marley family on the Legend: Remixed project. This is not the brand’s first collaboration in support of innovative music projects. Past music-focused programs include the RE:GENERATION Music Project featuring Skrillex and members of The Doors, partnering with the Flaming Lips for the Super Bowl and the GRAMMY’s Center Stage project.

“‘Three Little Birds,’ a true Bob Marley classic, is the perfect anthem for Hyundai’s Assurance Connected Care – you don’t have to worry about a thing,” said Steve Shannon , vice president, Marketing, Hyundai Motor America. “Assurance Connected Care was inspired by actual customer experiences – we listened to customer needs and developed tools and applications that would simplify car ownership. With Assurance Connected Care’s maintenance and safety features, your car takes care of itself and it takes care of you.”

Legend: Remixed is an inspired new spin on the Bob Marley classic Legend album with electronic dance music’s biggest names and producers re-imagining classic Marley tracks. The fourth track on the album, “Three Little Birds,” was remixed by Stephen Marley and DJ/producer Jason Bentley . This iconic Marley track will serve as the worry-free anthem for Hyundai’s new Assurance Connected Care program*. The ad spot’s creative was developed by Hyundai’s agency of record, INNOCEAN USA, and directed by Philippe Andre .The execution takes viewers past typical road signs, but instead of the usual warnings, the signs feature worry-free sayings and helpful reminders like “Got your back,” “Care free lane ahead,” or “It’s all good.”

“Bob Marley remains one of the world’s most important and influential artists and with Legend: Remixed, his music will continue to live on and inspire new generations of music fans,” said Bruce Resnikoff , President/CEO, Universal Music Enterprises. “Our relationship with Hyundai is truly special as their Assurance Connected Care message ‘don’t worry about a thing’ is perfectly echoed in the new Marley remix of the iconic ‘Three Little Birds’ track. This innovative campaign serves as a new way the Marley family can share his music with a broad national audience.”

Click here to view the commercial spot

*Assurance Connected Care is a suite of safety and maintenance features that now comes standard for three years on all Blue Link equipped vehicles. The new program will provide free proactive safety and car care telematics services including automatic collision notification, SOS emergency assistance, enhanced roadside assistance, monthly vehicle diagnostics reports and maintenance alerts. Assurance Connected Care makes Hyundai the first manufacturer to include built-in safety and vehicle maintenance services standard for three years.

Ever since gasoline prices first soared past $4 per gallon, international auto shows have been increasingly dominated by so-called green themes and green vehicles – hybrids, plug-in hybrids, electrics, extended range electrics, and hydrogen-based fuel cell machines.

While fuel prices still straddle the $4 threshold, nudging over $5 in certain regions, and the Environmental Protection Agency has mandated stiff new fuel economy standards, four major shows of 2013 — Detroit, Chicago, New York and Geneva, Switzerland — displayed a surprising revival of high performance vehicles.

Geneva, in particular, stood out for spring heat. To be sure, the Swiss show saw a number of eco-oriented fuel-sippers. But the greens were totally upstaged by the red-hots.

Kelly Blue Book has put together a selection of “hotties” from the spring shows. Among the 11 vehicles selected were the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and the Stingray Convertible. While there were many more from the concept and tuner car categories, KBB confined themselves to production models.

Chevrolet Corvette Stingray

Unveiled January 13 for a cheering crowd of current owners and journalists, the seventh-generation Corvette went on the next day to steal the 2013 Detroit auto show. The dramatic new shape, which inspired revival of the Stingray name, speaks for itself. But the story goes well beyond the visible. An all-new chassis. Extensive use of carbon fiber. Upgraded interior appointments, including long-awaited and much-needed new seats. And the latest update on Chevy’s small block V8, with direct fuel injection. The yield: an estimated 450 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque, making this the Corvette’s most powerful standard engine ever. Yes, the Camaroesque taillights are square. Get over it. On sale in October. Base price: $55,000.

Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Convertible

Though upstaged by some of the high-dollar exotics, the Stingray convertible made its expected debut at Geneva, a follow-up to the Stingray coupe. It shares the coupe’s billing as the most powerful standard Corvette. It also shares the coupe’s 50-50 weight distribution and extensive use of carbon fiber. More remarkably, it duplicates the coupe’s rigidity specs — 57 percent stiffer, with an aluminum chassis that’s 100 pounds lighter, according to Chevy engineers. Ragtops usually weigh more than their coupe counterparts — unless the design begins with the convertible, as this one did. The Stingray’s power top can be operated at speeds up to 30 mph, and can also be operated remotely, via the key fob, sure to astonish folks passing by. October on sale, from $57,500.

It’s hard to categorize the 2014 Kia Cadenza. Is it just another value-minded large sedan or more of a luxury car?

“The all-new Cadenza is a world-class Kia for the emerging space between mainstream and luxury and will appeal to discerning shoppers in the market for an upscale sedan,” said Tom Loveless, executive vice president of sales, KMA.

The 2014 Kia Cadenza takes the automaker’s value-for-the-price strategy into the premium sedan market and flat out encourages shoppers to compare. The Cadenza comes standard with a lengthy list of features- such as a rearview camera, navigation system, and 18-inch wheels- that are not offered on 2013 Toyota Avalon or 2013 Buick LaCrosse base models.

The Cadenza also comes standard with UVO eServices. This is a huge selling point for buyers looking for a fuel-efficient family sedan that isn’t easily lost in a crowded parking lot. Among other things, this telematics system can save a parked Cadenza’s location and help guide the driver back to its vehicle via free smartphone app.   For those who are exceptionally challenged when trying to recall where they parked, there is the option of snapping photos of surrounding areas for reference and even setting an alarm if the car is parked at a meter.

“We’re confident that Cadenza’s sophisticated styling, luxuriously appointed cabin and long list of available technology will make it a strong contender in the marketplace,” said Loveless.

You also get UVO eServices which shares the nav system’s 8-inch touch screen. UVO is an in-car tech interface similar to Chevrolet‘s MyLink or Toyota’s Entune. The system displays audio information like album art or satellite radio station info as well as hands-free calling information. Kia debuted Microsoft-powered UVO, short for Your Voice, in 2010. The voice-activated media controller system operates the ride’s infotainment options.

The Cadenza’s 293-horsepower V-6 engine also offers more power than the Avalon and LaCrosse. The federal government fuel economy ratings are 19 miles per gallon in city driving and 28 mpg on the highway. The test car averaged better than that- 24.1 mpg- for a noteworthy range of 445 miles on a single, 18.5 gallon tank.

The people over at Kia were very pleasantly surprised when they heard about an Indonesian Kia Picanto enthusiast named Arwan. Arwan started his own customer community, which serves to bring together Picanto drivers from across Indonesia.

“The Indonesian car market is flooded with Japanese brands, so we didn’t have much to compare them against and assumed they were good quality,” said Arwan. “When the Kia Picanto first debuted here in 2004, people started to notice its advantages over other brands, but it was too early to tell since there was a lack of objective information such as customer reviews in Indonesia causing many to have their doubts.”

He decided to post an online discussion asking other Picanto owners why they purchased it. As it turned out, most of them were basing their decision on the positive European reviews that they had read.  This is when Arwan decided to form the “PiCA” community. His hope was to bring other Indonesian customers together to help one another organize and objectively share information about the Picanto.

What is truly impressive about PiCA is that it’s not managed by Kia whatsoever and is 100% customer driven. There are currently around 1,500 members that gather to participate in and enjoy a variety of on- and off-line social community events.

Most recently, PiCA invited participants on a 1,000 km journey from Jakarta to Semarang. There were approximately 50 Kia Picantos and over 120 people involved in the event.

Hopefully this display of vehicle loyalty will inspire others to join or create a community of their own and continue to spread the Kia love!

When you think about green, fuel-efficient vehicles, let’s face it, RVs that typically get 8 to 10 miles per gallon aren’t the first thing that come to mind.

Increased consumer demand for green features is driving eco-friendly change in the RV industry. RVs powered by biodiesel fuel like country singer Willie Nelson’s tour bus, Honeysuckle Rose, have been plying the highways for a few years.

In 2005, Nelson formed The Willie Nelson Biodiesel Company and BioWillie fuel. BioWillie is produced from feedstocks that come from American farms. The fuel is composed of vegetable oil, animal fats or seed oil crops and will works in any diesel-powered vehicle without the need for fuel system modification.

“There is really no need going around starting wars over oil. We have it here at home. We have the necessary product, the farmers can grow it,” stated Nelson.

The use of biodiesel in a conventional diesel engine reduces net CO2 emissions by 78 percent compared to diesel fuel. It’s better for the environment because it’s made from renewable resources, which also helps farmers and decreases dependence on foreign oil.

BioWillie prides itself in creating jobs and opportunities in local communities. Their website explains that “every time you make the decision to choose BioWillie, you put dollars back into American communities instead of sending those dollars over seas. It’s simple. BioWillie is made in local communities and sold in local communities. BioWillie is biodiesel made in America, that stayed in America.”

No longer regarded as a fad or novelty, the biodiesel movement is gaining momentum with consumers that can identify with the plight of small farmers. They see the purchase of a product like BioWillie as a way to show their support. Meanwhile, Willie Nelson isn’t shy about saying he’s high on biodiesel. He recognizes that people want to feel good about their fuel consumption.

“They care about American farmers, and they care about the environment,” said Nelson. “Fueling with biodiesel is a way they can do something about it.”