Thank goodness for Elantra and Santa Fe. Wayne Gerdes – CleanMPG – Mar. 1, 2017 2018 Hyundai Accent from 07:30 to the end – Pricing and EPA TBA. Last month at the Toronto Auto Show, Hyundai globally revealed its upcoming all-new 5th generation 2018 Hyundai Accent. 2018 Hyundai Accent Exterior The new Accent receives the brands Fluidic Sculpture 2.0 front end with the wide open mouthed vertical grille, wraparound headlamps with sharp looking under lamp LED DRLs, large fog lamp openings, and wide contrasting color lower lip spoiler. A sleek 4-door sedan and upright 5-door hatch will be offered. The character line runs from the front to rear shoulders above the door handles, optional side mirror LED indicators and 17-inch alloys, plus an Elantra like rear lip spoiler add some panache. The new Accent is 1.2” wider, 0.6” longer, its wheelbase has been stretched to 101.5” – longer by .4”, height is the same, and its ground clearance has been reduced by .25”. The chassis and body are comprised of 54.5 percent Advanced High Strength Steel with 322’ of structural adhesives that increasing torsional rigidity by 32 percent providing a platform that should improve driving feel. Adding to the rigid platform, the rear suspension has been completely reworked from damping to geometry while steering has been improved with a differently tuned EPA system. 2018 Hyundai Accent Interior Inside the all-new Accent is a soft-touch upper dash and door insert materials, either a five- or seven-inch color LCD instrument display is standard depending on trim. An optional 7” central display audio system with rear view camera, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and dual USB and aux input jacks. Convenience features include standard 60/40 split folding rear seats in both the sedan and 5-door plus optional proximity key with push button start and heated front seats in higher trim levels. Although the global reveal volume specs cannot be directly correlated to the US EPA volume specs, it appears the 2018 Accent sedan will arrive with passenger volume up 1.3 cu. ft. to 91.0 cu. ft. and cargo volume up by 0.6 cu ft. to 14.3 cu. ft. That is small compact sizing vs the sub-compact segment it is judged within. As an example. The compact rated 2017 Ford Focus is rated at 90 and 13 cu. ft. of passenger/cargo volume. Sorry about poor media shot. It was the only one I could pull from the 360 degree virtual tour that Hyundai Canada uploaded. 2018 Hyundai Accent Drivetrain The new 132 hp and 119 lb-ft of torque 1.6L GDI I4 is mated to either a 6-speed MT or 6-speed AT, while fuel efficiency was said to be improved by 7% overall at the global reveal. While the Canadian global reveal fuel economy release is not comparable to our own EPA, the 27/37/31 and 26/36/30 mpg city/highway/combined rated 2017 Accent with the 6-speed MT and 6-speed AT here in the U.S respectively. This may indicate that the 2018 Accent could arrive with a 29/40/33 mpg and 28/39/32 mpg city/highway/combined rating with the 6-speed MT and 6-speed AT respectively. These small increases do not indicate that the 40 percent thermodynamically efficient drivetrain from the 1.6L GDI in the Ioniq and/or possibly the 1.4L GDI-T in the Elantra Eco was included unfortunately. Hyundai stated that the 7 percent increase in efficiency came about through a number of reengineered systems including low-friction rings, a variable fuel pressure module, upgraded engine control software, relaxed braking, and a more efficient and lighter 6-speed AT. If only the Ioniq’s 1.6L advances was included… 2018 Hyundai Accent Safety The 2018 Accent includes front, side and side curtain airbags, ABS, Electronic Stability Control, Vehicle Stability Management, Traction Control, AND possibly Autonomous Emergency Braking standard. The Accent sedan will begin to arrive in markets globally beginning in the third quarter of this year while the 5-door will arrive early in 2018. Hyundai February 2017 Sales Overview Hyundai reported it sold 53,020 vehicles in February, just 11 more vehicles than the 53,009 sold in February of 2016. This was also a best February in history for the flying H brand. YTD sales of 99,527 vehicles is up 1.5 percent over the 98,020 sold through the same period in 2016. Hyundai February 2017 Sales Highlights My favorite compact due to its best-in-class value, efficiency, and convenience features achieved a nice uptick in February. Sales reached 15,954, up 33.2 percent over the 11,973 sold in February of 2016. YTD sales of 29,139 are up a similar 33.3 percent over the 21,858 sold through the first two months of 2016. U.S. February 2017 Sales vs. February 2016 Sales Ranks and Results for the top 18 Automobile Manufacturers GM February 2017 Sales Up 4.2% with 237,388 Vehicles sold Ford February 2017 Sales Down 4.0% with 208,440 Vehicles sold Toyota February 2017 Sales Down 7.2% with 174,339 Vehicles sold FCA February 2017 Sales Down 10.1% with 168,326 Vehicles sold Nissan February 2017 Sales Up 1.2 % with 122,003 Vehicles sold Honda February 2017 Sales Up 2.3% with 121,686 Vehicles sold Hyundai February 2017 Sales were flat with 53,020 Vehicles sold Subaru February 2017 Sales Up 8.3% with 45,500 Vehicles sold Kia February 2017 Sales Down 14.2% with 42,673 Vehicles Sold Mercedes-Benz February 2017 Sales Up 6.8% with 27,383 Vehicles Sold VW February 2017 Sales Up 12.7% with 25,145 Vehicles sold BMW February 2017 Sales Down 2.5% with 24,712 Vehicles sold Mazda February 2017 Sales Up 5.9% with 22,824 Vehicles sold Audi February 2017 Sales Up 17.3% with 13,741 Vehicles sold Mitsubishi February 2017 Sales Up 38.8% with 10,924 Vehicles sold Jaguar/Land Rover February 2017 Sales Up 16.4% with 9,231 Vehicles sold Volvo February 2017 Sales Down 11.6% with 4,651 Vehicles sold Porsche February 2017 Sales Up 2.1% with 3,637 Vehicles sold In February, BMW moved ahead of Mazda, Mitsubishi moved ahead of Jaguar/Land Rover, and Volvo moved ahead of Porsche. In terms of Market Share, GM was a clear winner in February with a 0.9 percent gain over February of 2016. Nissan was up 0.5 percent while both Kia and Toyota took a 0.5 and 0.8 percent hit respectively. Regarding segment sales totals, Silverado and Sierra outsold the F-Series. Consider the Niro’s first full month sales totals. From nothing to the 4th best-selling Hybrid in the country! The Prius moved back ahead of the surprisingly strong Fusion Hybrid. Remember the Fusion Hybrid outsold the Prius last month for the first time in history. YTD, sales of the Prius (9,971) are ahead of the Fusion Hybrid (9,795) by just 176 vehicles. With the Ioniq entering the C-segment hatch hybrid space, the Prius may lose more sales than the midsize sedan based Fusion Hybrid. It will be a very interesting year based on the monthly and yearly sales results. February sales exceeded 17 million vehicles for the eighth straight month although February sales were off 0.01 million vs. February of 2016. The seasonally adjusted annual selling rate (SAAR) for light vehicles was approximately 17.5 million vehicles.
I was thinking the same thing. I'm really surprised and I'm not sure that its a good thing since I'm considering it. The 180% improvement in Ford Fusion sales for Feb--can that be right?
Only seeing a couple of Niro's in this area, and no Ioniq's on cars.com. Nothing like being late to the party since it's almost time for summer blend gas and the corresponding 50 cent per gallon price hike. That would help drive sales, but not if dealers have nothing to sell.
My guess : Kia is slowly ramping up production , while keeping a close watch for any initial quality issues. Also , people don't really know about this car yet, unless they accidentally stumble into a dealership. Can you tell that I don't watch commercial TV ?
