New 2011 Hyundai Commercials

Odometer: 26,300 +
MPG: 24.5

If you are sick of the Kia commercials with the aliens and the Aztecs (gosh they must've spent a ton of money), Hyundai launching their Accent with a couple of commercials. Nothing super attractive about the commercials themselves, though a extra long (and extra cute) "Save The Asterisks" commercial (shown at the New York Car Show) which emphasizes that their 40MPG figures has no special "qualifications" and "buts" attach to them. They will have 4 models getting 40MPG highway this year. For the Veloster, Accent and Elantra you get 40MPG no matter what trim you buy...not some special Eco or Hybrid model. It is a little over the top I think, but if you are better than the competition for realz you better say it loud in this market.

Hyundai Asks You to Snap Out It

Hyundai 'Snap Out Of It' LA Auto Show from Dylan Osborn on Vimeo.


The Super Bowl is coming up this weekend and I was looking for any previews of their ads on the internet. They are playing it close to the vest this year, but I am excited to discover that at least one of their ads is for the new Elantra. The campaign theme is "Snap Out Of It" asking for the car buyers to rethink what they've come to expect of compact cars (mainly bad things, bad, bad things). There will also be tie-in online content.

The above video is not the commercial, but a kinetic video played during the L.A Auto Show that with an early interpretation of "Snap Out Of It".

I have to say I noticed the point about unimpressive gas mileage gains brought up in the video above. In the past couple of years, gas mileage of mid-size cars were almost catching up with compacts. The highway MPG on the Sonata was practically the same as on the Elantra, even if the engine was bigger and the car heavier. How does this happen. It's been over almost 2 decades since the sub-compact Geo Metro acheived 50mpg. Even with all cars getting loaded with more options that older cars didn't have and just getting bigger, why hasn't there been any sub-compacts with similar MPG's in the last 2 decades? So with this Elantra, they are going for 40mpg-----extremely impressive for a car that has more room than an Acura TL. Now what can they do with the upcoming Accent, can they hit 45mpg? That would be something.

Update: I spoke too soon. A couple of videos did appear in the AFC Championship Game which I did not catch. Here they are. Wish they show the car a little more. It's a beaut. I found one that does show more of the car, but it isn't part of the Super Bowl campaign.

It's "Hyundai" Like "Sunday"

It's "Hyundai" --- like "Sunday", bub. That's how the new 2009 Super Bowl Sunday ad (the one with the car maker CEOs yelling) for the Hyundai Genesis presents the brand. More than a touch of smart-mouth bravado there delivered by Jeff Bridges. I like it. It takes what Americans may see as a foreign hard to pronounce name and saying it ain't really hard to pronounce at all. It should roll off your tongue like the most easy-going day of the week. (View it here...it's the second video down)

The rest of the ad reminds me of the old "Sylvania Beat Sony Again" TV spots, but on steroids.

I didn't know that the Genesis won the "North American Car of the Year" Award until seeing this commercial. I didn't know what the hell was a "North American Car of the Year" Award until visiting this site. Its not one of those given out by magazines. It only takes into consideration new models and those models with substantial changes in 2009. The commercial pokes fun at BMW and Lexus, but Lexus didn't even have a model that qualified for the award this year and BMW only had the 1 series in the running. Still it beat the new Audi A4 and Cadillac CTS

Is this impressive? Of course. This is the first time a Korean car has won this award. Maybe it's not as ground breaking as a black man becoming our president, but it still ground breaking.

Elantra at 6 Months/5000 miles

Odometer: 5025 miles
Avg. MPG: 24.6
Price for gas last paid: $3.76/gallon

Not much new to say performance wise. It is still a enjoyable car to drive. If Hyundai did their job right, I really don't expect much change in the next 15,000 miles.

I have one issue I have noticed regarding the Elantra's suspension.
I already noted that it is slightly floaty on undulating asphalt and body roll is minimum in the corners. This is in keeping for a compact family sedan where comfort is more desirable.

New observations:
1. Potholes not taken under 30 are more pronounced than those taken at speed. That I guess is to be expected. Suspension should be optimized to respond to bigger "hits" encountered at higher speeds.
2. I drive on a side road along the train tracks that is pretty bumpy and broken. I have to go over a set of railroad tracks where the asphalt is very lumpy. I have to go over them at angle. It makes the car's suspension rock back and forth fairly annoyingly...maybe even slightly worse than the old Geo Prizm. I guess it is a weakness of this type of suspension.

I am still thoroughly amazed at how much more car I have gotten over the 1993 Geo Prizm LSI, which would have costed pretty close to $17,000 even back then. Cars in general are so much better equipped these days, yet prices don't seem to have gone up in relation to the upgrades.

Check out this list:
1. Five more air bags
2. Vanity light
3. Alarm
4. More powerful and sophisticated stereo
5. Fold-in heated side view mirrors
6. 28 more horsepower, bigger engine, CVVT
7. Bigger tires, bigger car
8. Disc brakes vs. drum brake
9. Alloy wheels vs. steel wheels
10. Leather steering wheel


Now for your entertainment pleasure, a new Elantra commercial not shown in the U.S. It quite cooler than the warm fuzzy one with the circus music, but over the top in some places.

Holiday Car Commercials

Ugh! Probably the commercial that makes me cringe the most is the KiaFest Year-End spot with the "Maniac" song from "Flashdance." Here is a company who brand already gets the least respect out of 13 brands in the USA and they come out with this cheesy pizza. It is supposed to be funny(which it is to some people), but why make fun of yourself and your dealers? Does the commercial make you want to get a Kia or think better of Kia? I don't think so. The $500/ 0% APR is sort of thrown in at the very end like a footnote. Hope it works for you Kia!

Another unavoidable spot is the Chevy Malibu ad..."the car you can't ignore" because we are blanketing all channels with our "totally fake computer generated car, because an actual video won't look good enough". The Malibu has some decent lines. It is way better looking than the last iteration. However I thought the classy interior creates a more gut response than the exterior. Too bad none of the commercials show any of that. Instead we get misleading quotes like "Camry beware..." This Car and Driver quote was from a car show preview, not from after a test drive.

I am feeling the Saturn ads with the montage including Lance Armstrong. This brand has a lot in common with Hyundai in wanting people to reconsider its cars after disappointing many customers. And their approach to marketing (Rethink vs. think About It) is very similar as well.

Most impressive are those Toyota Tundra commercials with the truck doing super truck feats. Don't know if that is CG or real, but they are really slick. Will they loosen the grip Chevy and Ford have on the good ol boys? Jury is still out.

I also didn't think much of the Hyundai Holi-DUH ad. It wants us to think Hyundai for the holidays, but offers no compelling reasons to do so. I mean the cars featured (or I should say "present" in the commercial, because no car was really featured) are all silver and look so darn anonymous. You gotta make the cars look desirable, dudes! At least the Mazda "Most Wanted" sales features close-ups of its cars and in colors to distinguish themselves from one anothers.