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Hyundai wants to be more American than Ford, GM, and Chrysler by Building 80% of its U.S.-sold cars in the States

Hyundai, in another bold move to continue attracting American consumers and impressing the public, will soon be building up to 80% American-sold cars in the US (as long as the Elantra makes as big a splash as the Sonata). That would make the little Korean-that-could as "American" as Ford, GM, and apple pie. While this sounds impressive, the numbers are a bit skewed.

For example, the 80% (or "closer to 70%" if listening to J.D. Power analyst Jeff Schuster) is significant when strictly discussing percentages. If discussing volume, the major US automakers still hold the cards. CNN Money reports that if GM were building 66% of American-sold cars here, the number would triple Hyundai's current volume.

Some presumably drunk people out California way decided to have a little bit too much fun in their recently-rented Corvette and ended up parked in salt water halfway up the car's doors. Thankfully in this day and age everyone has some sort of video recording device within arm's reach, so we have some post-parking-surfing videos below.

Next up on our motor show calendar is the biggest tuning event of 2010, the SEMA gathering in Las Vegas, and like every year, GM will be there with a huge display of vehicles. This time, the General is video-teasing some of the Chevrolet models that will descend on the Las Vegas convention center next month including several Corvettes, Silverados and you guessed it, a boat-load of Camaro builds. Scroll down to watch the clip.

For the Australian car buff, Tom Walkinshaw needs no introduction. Here is the man who founded HSV and was responsible for the epic VL Commodore based HSV SS Group A in late '80s. Though no longer working for Holden, 'Walky' continues to turn out some of the most powerful and ballsiest vehicles Australia has ever seen through the performance company named after him.

At the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney, Walkinshaw Performance took the wraps off its latest model: the WP Series II Supercar. The Holden Commodore Series II SS derived super saloon is fitted with an Edelbrock WP 230 supercharger, boosting power to 617-horsepower (460 kw) and torque to 780 Nm (575 lb ft).

Five years old and still able to turn heads, Holden's EFIJY concept will take pride of place at the first international Motorclassica Concours d'Elegance and Classic Motorshow in Melbourne, Australia later this month.

The stunning [driveable] concept car, which was first shown at the 2005 Sydney Motor Show and features a 489 kw (656 hp) supercharged 6.0-liter V8, Chevrolet Corvette underbody, a 'Soprano Purple' paint job and fan-cooled LED headlamps.

I'm pretty sure most of you outside Australia are wondering a) what the heck a Statesman HQ is and b) why should you care that there's a die-cast model. Well, let me try to provide answers for these two questions:

A) The Statesman HQ was a luxury long-wheelbase model for the masses produced by GM's Holden from 1971 through 1974, and B) Apparently, most readers need not care but for the other four viewers I was referring to in the title, as far as I know, this is the first time that a scale model of the specific car has been built. For more history on the Statesman and details on the scale model, hit the jump.

It appears as if GM has some explaining to do when it comes to the oh-so-important Chevrolet Volt. In layman's terms, various sources are showing up to call out the General about how, specifically, the Volt is motivated.

GM says the gasoline engine doesn't officially move the wheels, and the critics say at some point it does, which if true, means the Volt is a plug-in hybrid (albeit, an advanced one at that) and GM has been lying to us all along.

General Motors today released a new teaser photo of its upcoming 2012 Buick Verano compact sedan together with the news that the vehicle will be built alongside Chevrolet's new small car [we assume GM means the Aveo] at the Orion Assembly Center in Michigan. The Detroit automaker said it plans to invest $145 million to upgrade the factory for this reason.

General Motors said on Thursday it is issuing a voluntary safety recall of 3,996 Cadillac SRX crossovers from the 2010 model year due to a possible damage to the power steering line. According to the company, if the line is damaged, power steering fluid could leak and make its way onto hot engine parts resulting in a fire. GM said it is aware of one such fire in an unattended SRX related to this condition.

Last month, we told you that General Motors' European Opel / Vauxhall division announced the development of a new small car below the Corsa. Now, Autonews is reporting the car, which is codenamed "Junior", will be a funky upscale proposal designed to compete with Fiat's 500 mini in one of the smallest - literally - segments of them all.

General Motor's South Korean Daewoo unit announced today that it will handle initial production of the new Chevrolet Aveo at its local Bupyeong plant in Incheon. The new Aveo will make its debut under the Daewoo brandname in the South Korean market in the first half of 2011 before a global rollout as a Chevrolet.

The numbers are in for the month of September, and for the most part, they're looking good as industry wide deliveries were up 28% over a year ago according to a report from Autonews. Chrysler Group exec should be feeling extra happy as sales soared 61 percent over the same month a year ago, rising from 62,197 to 100,077 units.

The promise of being the owner of the first available production version of the yet-to-be-released 2011 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible was more than enough to make an unnamed collector drop $205,000 for the car at last weekend's Barrett-Jackson Auction. But at least the sale was for a good cause as 100 per cent of proceeds from the winning bid will go to the YMCA of Southern Nevada.

We've yet to see the final production version of the 2011 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible, but one lucky collector will have the chance to be become the first owner of the car on Friday, several months before it arrives (in both V6 and V8 flavors) in showrooms in the first quarter of 2011.

Speaking at a press conference in Eisenach on Thursday, Opel/Vauxhall CEO Nick Reilly revealed plans to build an all-new small car below the Corsa, with production set to start in 2013 at the firm's Eisenach plant in the east German state of Thuringia. "This new product will be an important element in our growth strategy" said Reilly.

General Motors' Opel division is looking beyond Europe to increase sales and return to profitability. Following news of the company's interest to enter the Australian market and a previous announcement that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Shlomo Group to export vehicles in Israel, Opel today revealed it will begin selling cars in Chile next year, making it the first country in Latin America to receive the German brand.

Industry insiders are reporting that China's SAIC has expressed interest in buying a stake of General Motors come its public offering in November, though it has yet to make a solid commitment. GM has declined to comment on the matter.

The U.S. government is eager to unload its 61% stake in GM after taxpayers bailed out / loaned the iconic automaker to the tune of US$50 billion. This comes despite the political ramifications of selling part of the brand to foreign investors or sovereign-wealth funds.

General Motors said on Monday it has issued a recall on 20,224 Cadillac CTS and CTS-V cars from the 2009-2010 model year to replace the glove box compartment. NHTSA's tests showed in the event of a frontal crash, if the front passenger is not wearing a seat belt, the risk of leg injury is higher than permitted under Federal law. It goes without saying that despite the NHTSA's findings, passengers should wear their seatbelts at all times.

South Korea is really getting serious about electric vehicles. Following the news last week of a Kia CUV EV to join Hyundai's BlueOn i10, GM has announced it will build a demonstration fleet of battery-powered Chevrolet Cruze sedans from the end of October.

With both the Ford Focus ST and Opel GTC set to debut in Paris, the hot hatch world is astir. If you're in a "global" market and interested in going fast on the cheap, these are looking to be two serious contenders.

The big difference here is shaping to be extra output in a traditionally showy hot-hatch package, or a sleek and sophisticated ride with potentially less power. But first, a joke: what would a diesel Ford Focus ST be called? Think about it.

Auto Blitz

Hyundai wants to be more American than Ford, GM, and Chrysler by Building 80% of its U.S.-sold cars in the States

We're Goin' Surfin': Rental Corvette Abandoned in Pacific Ocean [With Videos]

Chevrolet Video Teases 2010 SEMA Show Tunes

Walkinshaw Performance Series II Commodore eats Ferraris for Breakfast

Holden EFIJY Concept to Headline First Motorclassica Concours d’Elegance in Melbourne, Australia

Holden Statesman HQ Fans [All five of us] Rejoice; First Ever Scale Model Released by Trax

Did the General Lie to us about its Chevrolet Volt?

GM Teases 2012 Buick Verano [aka the Opel Astra Sedan], Will be Built in Michigan

Cadillac Recalling 2010MY SRX Crossover to Fix Power Steering Line

General Motors's Opel to take on Fiat and its 500 with New Mini Car

GM's South Korean Plant First to Produce New Chevy Aveo

September Sales USA: Chrysler up 61%, Hyundai +44%, Ford +40% and GM +11%

First Publicly Available 2011 Camaro Convertible Fetches $205,000

GM to Auction Production 2011 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible on Friday, Debut Announced for this Fall (LA?)

Opel / Vauxhall Announce New Small Car below the Corsa, Confirm Sporty Coupe and Small SUV

Opel to Enter South American Market Starting with Chile Next Year

China's SAIC Considering Buying Stake in General Motors

GM Recalls Over 20,000 Cadillac CTS Models to Address Safety Issue with Glove Box

GM Preparing Demo Fleet of 202HP Cruze EVs for South Korea

Hot Hatch Smackdown Poll: Ford Focus ST vs Opel GTC

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