Hyundai looks to score again with Accent

How? Following sales home runs with revamps of its Sonata midsize and Elantra compact sedans, Hyundai used its now-familiar formula to remake its entry-level subcompact Accent by:

•Making it a bit bigger to be roomier inside.

•Adding features more commonly seen in larger and more expensive cars.

•Using high-tech powertrain upgrades to increase gas mileage, making the new Accent capable of 40 miles a gallon on the highway.

•Amping up its looks in the distinctive new swoopy Hyundai style.

It's the recipe the South Korean automaker used to turn its formerly bland, forgettable Sonata and Elantra into hits.

Now Accent, just arriving at dealers, could shake up the subcompact segment populated by rivals such as the popular Honda Fit and new Ford Fiesta , as well as the Toyota Yaris . Coming soon are a redone Nissan Versa and all-new Chevrolet Sonic .

"It raises the bar," says George Peterson , president of consulting firm AutoPacific, of the Accent.

It also raises the price. The cheapest, bare-bones sedan version, which comes with a manual transmission, starts at $12,445. That's about $2,000 more than the "three-door" base hatchback coupe model that previously was the bottom of the lineup and has not been replaced.

The automatic-transmission model starts at $15,195, and shipping costs add $760 to the price of each. Accent also will offer a five-door hatchback version starting at $14,595 plus shipping.

The new Accent represents a sort of coming of age for Hyundai, which has gravitated away from the low end of the market — and selling mostly on cheaper price — as its image has improved.

The cheapest version of the Accent never sold in huge numbers because buyers demand more features, even at the bottom end of the market, says Mike O'Brien , Hyundai America's vice president for product planning, at a press showing of the car in this Southern California enclave.

Accent will test Hyundai’s momentum

Accent will test Hyundai's recent remarkable strength in the car market. The latest version of the Sonata midsize became a hit after its introduction a year ago, and by last month, it was the 13th-best-selling vehicle in the nation, according to Autodata.

CARPE DIEM: #1, #2 American-Made Cars: Toyota and Honda

" CarCars.com's American-Made Index (AMI) recognizes cars and trucks that are built here, have a high amount of domestic parts and are bought in large numbers by American consumers (see top ten above). Despite stagnant sales, the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord remain atop this year's American-Made Index. Falling domestic parts content axed Ford's popular Escape and Focus, but the Dearborn MI automaker's redesigned, Chicago-built Explorer hit the ground running and entered the list at fourth place. Detroit's full-size pickups, once a dominant force on the AMI, remain off the chart. The F-150 held a commanding No. 1 spot in the first three years that Cars.com compiled the index, with domestic parts content as high as 90 percent. Alas, today's Michigan- and Missouri-built F-150 bears only 60 percent domestic content rating. Similarly, the Chevrolet Silverado, which held second place for much of the F-150's reign, has just 61 percent domestic content. Chrysler's Ram 1500 pickup's 70 percent domestic content fares better, but it still falls short of the AMI's 75-percent cutoff." Update : Isn't it a bit ironic that many of the "most American made" cars would get towed from the two UAW parking lots in Flint, MI pictured below? And what about the 17 vehicles on the UAW’s 2011 Vehicles Guide built in Canada by unionized members of the "Canadian Auto Workers" - including the Chevy Camaro, Chrysler Town and Country, Dodge Challenger, Lincoln Town Car - wouldn't they be considered "foreign cars" subject to getting towed by UAW Local 659? And the following vehicles on the list that are built by UAW workers in the U.S. for Japanese automakers Mazda and Mitsubishi would apparently be approved at either lot:

Doesn't Professor Perry tell us that ipods are American products adding to the country's GDP because Apple's headquarters are in the US of A even though assembled in China and other overseas places? Yet now he tells us that Toyota and Honda are "American-made" even though the companies are headquartered in Japan? Sounds like that great line in "North Dallas Forty" when one players yells at a coach "everytime we say it's a game you say it's a business i have read taylor's piece. you know what it lacks? facts. there's no math, no data, it's just opinion predicated on opinion. it proves nothing but taylor's assumptions. it is based purely on supposition. miyao bases his conclusions on hard data. that's how ill conceived armchair thinkers have been debunked since the creation of the scientific method. Actually, it's less than a single order of magnitude. In their most recently available year-end statements, Apple's revenues alone were $65b compared to GM revenues of $135b. In revenue terms, the auto sector is smaller than the electronics sector because not everyone buys a car and certainly not every year, whereas gadget turnover is far higher.

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