Can 'Blue Drive' Be Hyundai's Next Big Marketing Win?
November 27, 2009
The "value" message always has been a given.
But now after seemingly completing its second major brand-co 
nfirming objective - convincing the public and third-party metrics-makers it builds quality products - Hyundai Motor America is off on its next mission: to become the industry's fuel-economy leader.
So says HMA powertrain director John Juriga after announcing last week Hyundai's newest engine family, a direct-injection variant of the company's global Theta 4-cylinder engine range, as well as a new 6-speed automatic transmission.
The new Theta-II 2.4-liter engine, said Juriga, will generate a class-leading 200 horsepower when it is launched with the all-new 2011 Sonata sedan, which goes on sale early next year.
The new Theta-II engine and 6-speed automatic are the early cornerstone's of Hyundai's "Blue Drive" initiative to achieve world-class fuel-efficiency and reduce carbon-dioxide emissions.
Downsized Engines, Efficient Transmissions The New Hot Buttons
But more to Hyundai's fuel-efficiency leadership mandate, Juriga promises the new Theta-II 4-cylinder will make the 2011 Sonata "the most fuel-efficient (midsize) sedan on the market."
Like many other automakers, Hyundai has identified efficiency improvements and corresponding reduction in environmental impact as the next vista to connect with increasingly environmentally minded consumers.
Although Hyundai has yet to release fuel-economy figures for the coming new Sonata, direct injection typically yields improvement in the 6-percent to 10-percent range. The current Sonata, using the conventionally injected Theta 2.4-liter engine and a 5-speed automatic transmission, is rated at 21 miles per gallon in the city and 32 mpg on the highway.
But the new Sonata will feature a new, Hyundai-designed and built 6-speed automatic which also should help to boost the car's fuel-economy ratings.
The new Theta-II engine isn't only a fuel-miser. The engine's 200-horsepower rating for the 2011 Sonata - a formidable 25-hp bump over the port-injected 2010 version of the engine - outguns any normally aspirated 4-cylinder currently in the segment and delivers a healthy torque increase of 22 lb.-ft. to boot.
Juriga said the Theta-II's new direct injection fueling enables a boost in engine compression ratio (from today's 10.5:1 to 11.3:1) and higher compression ratio typically equates to improved efficiency.
Battles Won
Hyundai's stated goal to be the industry's fuel-economy leader should be taken seriously, given how effectively the company has changed the brand's long-lingering reputation for poor quality - in the car business, a perception never easy to transform.
Hyundai believes its emergence as the highest-quality non-premium brand in J.D. Power and Associates' most recent Initial Quality Survey puts to rest the company's most serious brand issue.
And the improvement of its quality reputation seems verified by Hyundai's sales performance. It's well-reported Hyundai is making big sales gains during one the worst industry sales years in decades; through October, Hyundai sales are up 4 percent in an overall market that has declined well into double digits. And Hyundai said it leads all makers in market-share gain this year, generating a 1.2-percent hike to 4.3 percent of the market through October.
"Market-share increases are nothing new for us," said Scott Margason, Hyundai's director of product planning. The company has increased its market share every year for the past eleven years, he added.
And throughout this tough recession, Hyundai seems to have developed a meaningful rapport with customers by keeping its marketing honed on the pulse of the nation.
The company's Hyundai Assurance program, rolled out in January, assured jittery buyers Hyundai would take back a newly purchased vehicle anytime during the first year of ownership in the event of a job loss, bankruptcy or other financially debilitating situation.
Hyundai Assurance and its few-strings-attached guarantee resonated for worried consumers in a shell-shocked economy.
The company extended its run with an prescient early marketing push when the summer's Cash-for-Clunkers rebate program was confirmed. Hyundai ended up as one of the major beneficiaries of the $3-billion Clunkers program. - Bill Visnic, senior contributing editor
Photos by Hyundai
1. Hyundai says the 2011 Sonata will be the most fuel-efficient car in the segment.
2. New Theta-II 2.4-liter 4-cylinder enhanced with fuel-saving direct injection.
Posted by Bill Visnic at 11:20 PM under Companies , Featured , Technology | Comments (2) | digg this | Seed Newsvine
ThetaII, Ecotec, Ecoboost.
All great efforts to wring out very high specific output from smaller and smaller engines. However, if demand for higher fuel economy is to be achieved, the industry must engineer lighter vehicles. 200 net hp from a 2.4L engine, that's great. But a 2010 Hyundai Sonata GLS w/AT has a curb weight of 3327 lb (1509kg); the 2011 turbo ThetaII edition will likely weigh more.
Perhaps more R&D funds should be directed toward developing carbon fiber and other composites to produce lighter, stronger vehicles.
Posted by: fulcrumb | November 30, 2009 at 11:01 AM
You're right--lighter weight is the key to fuel economy--not to mention acceleration and handling. Hyundai has announced that the 2011 GLS model (non-turbo version) will weigh in at 3199 lbs--a 4% reduction compared to the 2010 model. Now wouldn't you like to see what that engine would do in a 2900 lb Elantra?
Posted by: stephen987 | December 03, 2009 at 7:46 PM