Vehicles 136

• Hyundai has released more information on the 2021 Santa Fe hybrid.
• It costs between $34,835 and $41,135 and offers up to 34 mpg.
• Blue, SEL Premium, and Limited trim levels are offered for the hybrid model.

The new hybrid version of the 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe costs more than the nonhybrid version but offers a considerable improvement in fuel efficiency. Rated at up to 34 mpg combined by the EPA, the hybrid model comes standard with all-wheel drive and costs $34,835 to start.

Although all Santa Fe hybrids are powered by the same turbocharged 1.6-liter gas engine and electric motor, the base model, called Blue, is the most efficient version. The better-equipped SEL Premium ($38,785) and Limited ($41,135) versions are rated at a slightly lower 32 mpg combined. By comparison, nonhybrid AWD Santa Fe models are rated at 24 mpg combined regardless if you choose the 191-hp naturally aspirated 2.5-liter inline-four or the more powerful 277-hp turbocharged 2.5-liter engine. The hybrid model’s total power output of 225 horsepower slots in neatly between the two gasoline engines.

A plug-in-hybrid version of the Santa Fe is also on its way. It will feature a larger battery pack that will provide an estimated electric driving range of 30 miles. Hyundai hasn’t yet announced a price for the plug-in model but says it will start around $35,000.

The conventional hybrid will arrive first, hitting dealerships this spring, while the plug-in-hybrid will arrive later for the 2022 model year.

The Toyota GR Yaris is a tantalizing piece of forbidden fruit that’s not coming to the United States, but there’s still hope of a high-performance Corolla being available in America. A new rumor from Car Sensor in Japan suggests the model could have 296 horsepower (220.6 kilowatts or 300 metric horsepower).

The engine is reportedly a tuned version of the 1.6-liter turbocharged three-cylinder from the GR Yaris. Pushing the engine to 296 hp from the current 257 hp (192 kW) shouldn’t be too hard because Litchfield already has kits that push the output 305 hp (227 kW)

The power runs through a six-speed manual gearbox. There’s all-wheel drive with three modes that alter the front-rear torque split.

According to Car Sensor, Toyota uses the five-door hatchback version of the Corolla as the basis for the GR version. The exterior tweaks include revised bumpers, wider front and rear fenders with ducts in them, and a vent in the hood for dissipating the heat from the engine.

An even more tantalizing detail from this bounty of rumors is about the GR Corolla’s price. According to this report, the hot hatch would have a price in Japan between 3.5 million yen ($32,395 at current exchange rates) and 4.0 million yen ($37,021). For comparison, the all-wheel-drive GR Yaris RZ has a starting price of 3.96 million yen ($36,650). If these numbers for the GR Corolla’s price turn out to be true, then the hot hatch could be quite a bargain.

In Japan, there might also be a GR version of the Corolla Touring wagon that would use a hybrid-assisted 2.0-liter engine. Since this model isn’t available in the US, the chances of it coming to America seem low.

The rumors suggest the GR Corolla would debut in 2021 but might not be on sale in the US until the 2023 model year. This still means the hot hatch could be in American showrooms by the second half of 2022. In 2019, Toshio Kanei, deputy chief designer at Toyota, confirmed that the vehicle was under development.

• Ford unveiled a mid-size car called the Evos at the Shanghai auto show today.
• Although details are scarce, from the photos the Evos has an appearance with elements of a wagon, a sedan, and a crossover.
• This China-only model could signify what Ford’s long rumored Subaru Outback–inspired wagon for the U.S., the Fusion Active, might look like.

Ford’s new mid-size car for China is the Evos, a name it used 10 years ago on a concept car that now signifies a possible replacement for our market’s Fusion sedan, perhaps in the form of the Fusion Active wagon that has been expected for a few years now.

Ford won’t say much about the Evos other than that it’s “aligned with Chinese aesthetics” and was specifically developed for that market. From the three photos Ford made available, one of which depicts it on the stand at the Shanghai auto show, the open-mesh grille and the rev counter on the instrument panel indicate the Evos is not a battery-electric car like the Mustang Mach-E. But the body proportions, from the car’s shoulder height and fastback profile to the interior’s door panels and center console, are reminiscent of that car.

As to whether you’d call it a sedan or a crossover, that’s difficult to say for certain, but it’s a good-looking vehicle. It’s not surprising that there’s quite a lot of resemblance to the concept Evos, which in 2011 previewed many styling elements of the 2013 Fusion. On the production Evos, the muscled stance and super-thin headlights from the concept look very natural on this higher-riding vehicle.

The Evos will feature Ford’s newly announced Level 2 self-driving feature called BlueCruise. Ford says it will activate on “prequalified sections of divided highways,” which is exactly how Cadillac’s Super Cruise is designed to function (by using laser-scanned 3D maps). Ford didn’t say how many miles of road in China are set up for hands-free driving. The same technology will be available in the U.S. on the Mach-E and the F-150 pickup later this year.

The Evos also gets a new Ford Virtual Personal Assistant, which uses a human-machine interface to customize interior conditions. In contrast to the Mach-E’s 15.5-inch vertical display and teensy instrument panel, the Evos spans 43 inches of screens in one horizontal sweep. The VPA has a “co-driver” mode in which one side of the screen can be set up to show navigation, traffic signs, and road conditions while the passenger can look at entertainment on the other side. It also has a “relax” mode in which lighting, seat positions, and audio can be adjusted to taste. The software is modified by the Chinese tech giant Baidu and therefore unlikely to show up in other markets.

Ford also hasn’t given any details about the powertrain, chassis, or anything as it relates to a potential U.S. or European version.

• The Audi A6 e-tron, revealed today at the Shanghai auto show, is a concept for an upcoming production electric sedan that will be offered alongside the internal-combustion-engine version of the A6, not as a replacement.
• Audi says the stylized sportback concept is “95 percent” what the production car will look like.
• The A6 is built on the new PPE platform, a modular and scalable design that will allow Audi to design electric vehicles from sports cars to SUVs, and is the basis for an aggressive electric-vehicle release schedule.

If anything is going to repopularize sedans, it might be electrifying them. Audi’s concept for its new A6 e-tron debuted at the 2021 Shanghai auto show, and its curvy lines, twinkly lights, and long wheelbase might just win buyers back from SUVs. If it doesn’t, Audi will be offering additional electric models to its stable—which already includes the e-tron, the e-tron GT, the newly released Q4 e-tron, and Sportback versions of the e-tron and Q4.

This concept is based on the scalable Premium Platform Electric (PPE) platform, a chassis design that can be lengthened, lifted, and widened as needed to support a range of EV models. The A6 e-tron concept—which will come alongside the gas-engine A6, not as a replacement—looks slick with its silver floating grille and shaved doors. We won’t see quite so radical a car in the dealerships, but Audi says the concept is “95 percent” what we’ll get in production.

Currently, Audi’s EVs use a variety of platforms: the e-tron GT is on the J1 platform, while the Q4 e-tron is on the MEB, which is the same one that underpins the Volkswagen ID.4. Going forward after 2022, however, newly developed Audi EVs will begin to use the same PPE platform as this concept. Its modular design not only allows for different-size bodies, but also single or multiple engine configurations.

Not having to work around large front-mounted engines and bulky transmission tunnels gives the designers more creative space and passengers more cabin space. The A6 e-tron has almost the same exterior dimensions as the current A6/A7 but should have an even more spacious interior. We can’t say for sure, because Audi has yet to release any interior images, but it looks big from the outside.

Performance, charging, and range are crucial selling points for any electric car, and the A6 e-tron concept uses two electric motors with a total output of 469 horsepower and is, as one would expect from Audi, all-wheel drive. All the PPE-platform vehicles will use 800-volt charging tech, which makes for fast fill-ups. At a compatible station, the battery can get 186 miles of range in 10 minutes or go from 5 to 80 percent in less than half an hour. Audi expects a full charge to offer a range of more than 400 miles.

Along with fast charging, the A6 e-tron’s use of digital lighting technology in the form of matrix LEDs and OLEDs allows for very slim lights that still meet all headlight and taillight safety requirements, and go beyond, to offer customizable designs, projected turn signals for added pedestrian warning, and even playable video games. The headlights act as a projector if you park the car facing a wall. What a concept! Electric cars aren’t just starting to look cool and be viable as alternatives to gas engines; they’re fun, too.

• Automotive News is reporting that a new voluntary program will encourage Ford dealers to create stand-alone Bronco stores that have room for at least three vehicles inside, a display wall for accessories, and a fire pit.
• The reason, of course, is more money. By building out Bronco stores, dealers can not only get more vehicles to sell from Ford, but it’s the accessories that drive up profits. As one stand-alone Jeep dealer said last year, the amount of money people spend on personalization is “insane.”
• With Bronco sales about to start, we can look to the 23,356 Bronco Sport SUVs sold in the first quarter—and the fact that Ford said 60 percent of these were conquests from non-Ford brands—to see that this is likely a way to print money.

We don’t need to tell you that Ford’s new Jeep fighter, the revived Bronco, has garnered a fair bit of attention. There’s the official, company-sponsored “fan” website, Bronco Nation, as well as many actual fan-run pages. The First Edition model with a VIN ending in 001 sold for over a million dollars at the Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale auction last month. And now Ford dealers are gearing up to launch stand-alone Bronco stores to encourage buyers to check out the new SUVs as well as get more vehicles to sell from Ford.

Automotive News is reporting that around 100 U.S. Ford dealers will be building separate Bronco stores, basically creating a third brand for the automaker, alongside Ford and Lincoln. While the publication said this idea came from the dealers themselves, who worked with Ford to come up with ideas for what these stores might look like, Ford has been pushing its dealers to spend money promoting the Bronco brand.

In January, Ford Authority reported that dealers who invested cold, hard cash into their Bronco showrooms would be allocated more Broncos to sell. The website said that an investment of at least $12,500 would get a dealer one more Bronco to sell and there was a sliding scale up to six more vehicles for investments over $75,000. Automotive News says that Ford now expects around 100 dealers across the country will build one of these Bronco-specific stores.

Aside from more vehicles allotted, a separate Bronco store would also allow the dealers to display and sell more Bronco accessories, which are a prime way to increase profits. The automaker’s renderings that it shared with dealers last fall show a modern showroom with room for three vehicles, a display wall for the accessories, and an outdoor fire pit.

“It looks so cool, and that type of owner is an enthusiast,” Jim Moshier, general manager at Ricart Ford in Groveport, Ohio, told Automotive News. “Jeep people are in love with their Jeeps. Ford thinks they’ll breed that same enthusiasm with the Bronco. And if you have that facility, they think people will want to go there to see all the accessories.”

• Porsche has announced a recall and stop sale for 190 of its 2021 Cayman (pictured above), Boxster, and 718 Spyder models due to the risk of the connecting rod cracking.
• The affected models, which include the 2021 Cayman GT4, the 718 Spyder, the Cayman GTS 4.0, and the Boxster GTS 4.0, may need their engines replaced to remedy the recall.
• Porsche said that 20 of these vehicles have been delivered, all of which will receive new engines.

Porsche is recalling 190 of its 2021 Cayman, Boxster, and 718 Spyder models with flat-six engines over a connecting rod that can crack and lead to engine damage, stalling, and potentially a fire. The German automaker has also issued a “stop sale” order on the coupes, a spokesperson for Porsche told Car and Driver.

Of the 190 affected vehicles, which include the 2021 Cayman GT4, the 718 Spyder, the Cayman GTS 4.0, and the Boxster GTS 4.0, 20 were delivered to buyers. The spokesperson said that all 20 of those vehicles will have their engines replaced, while the other vehicles—including those already purchased but not yet delivered due to the stop sale—will be evaluated to determine whether an engine replacement is necessary.