Car News

The launch of the Genesis brand in Australia has experienced another setback, losing its general manager Peter Evans just months before introducing Hyundai’s luxury division locally. The departure of the industry veteran – a former high ranking executive at Toyota, Lexus and Ford – comes after Genesis confirmed its launch had been pushed back yet again.

Hyundai will fill another niche in the booming SUV market with a high-riding hatchback designed to challenge the likes of the Mazda CX-3, one of the top sellers in the class. The Hyundai Venue, unveiled at the New York auto show overnight, is tipped to start from less than $20,000 when it arrives in local showrooms in the second half of 2019.

The Jaguar I-Pace electric vehicle has been deemed “the best car on the planet” after being named the 2019 World Car of the Year at the New York motor show overnight – taking out a trifecta of awards for the first time in the event’s history. The 86 judges from 24 countries including Australia voted the Jaguar I-Pace the best vehicle outright in the 15th annual running of the awards. The Jaguar i-Pace also won best green car and best design.

Hyundai’s luxury brand Genesis may be in its infancy but it has an eye on the future with the Mint concept unveiled on the eve of the New York motor show overnight. The two-seater show car is a pointer to an electric hatchback that promises more than 300km of driving range and 350kW fast-charging. “Mint belongs in the city, and we are proud to introduce our evolution of the ideal city car in New York,” said Manfred Fitzgerald, the global boss of Genesis.

Mercedes-AMG has facelifted its V8-powered GLC63 midsize performance SUV and SUV coupe, ahead of its debut at the New York motor show. Powering the updated crossovers is the same 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine as the outgoing car, which produces an unchanged 350kW of power and 650Nm of torque in GLC63 guise, or 375kW and 700Nm in the top-spec GLC63 S model.