GENESIS COUPE EARNS POPULAR MECHANICS 2010 AUTOMOTIVE EXCELLENCE AWARD

Popular Mechanics honored the all-new Hyundai Genesis Coupe with a 2010 Automotive Excellence Award in the Fun to Drive category. Genesis Coupe outperforms the competition with its dynamic rear-wheel-drive handling aimed at true sports enthusiasts. This is the second time Hyundai has earned a Popular Mechanics Automotive Excellence Award; the 2006 Sonata received the honor for its excellence in safety.

Hyundai has transformed its image and its cars in an amazingly short time, said Ben Stewart, Popular Mechanics automotive editor. The Genesis Coupe is more than just a sleek, fun-to-drive sports coupe. Its proof that Hyundai has developed world-class design, engineering and car-building expertise.

The annual Automotive Excellence Awards recognize the top 10 cars, trucks and technologies that are most significant each year. In 2009, Popular Mechanics editors saw a trend in the return and refresh of American icons in addition to a fuel efficiency focus with a mix of new hybrids and compact cars.

Genesis Coupe is Hyundais most dynamic performance car ever and uses the same flexible rear-wheel drive architecture as the 2009 North American Car of the Year Genesis sedan to appeal to true driving enthusiasts. The Genesis Coupe offers a 2.0-liter intercooled four-cylinder turbocharged engine producing 210 horsepower, and a 3.8-liter V6 Track model with 306 horsepower and massive Brembo brakes. In fact, when tested side-by-side against an Infiniti G37, the Hyundai Genesis Coupe nearly matched the Infiniti in every performance measure, and did so for $15,000 less, according to Stewart.

Its an honor for Hyundai to once again receive this prestigious award, and we are even more thrilled that the Genesis Coupe took the crown in the fun-to-drive category, said Derek Joyce, Genesis Coupe product manager, Hyundai Motor America. With an aggressive, wedge-like design, rear-wheel-drive architecture and 5-link independent rear suspension, the Genesis Coupe was truly built with the driving enthusiast in mind.

Each year, to determine the winners of the Popular Mechanics Automotive Excellence Awards, editors drive more than 100 of the newest cars, trucks and sport-utility vehicles, amassing well over 100,000 miles in the process. Through their experiences on extended test drives around the world, instrumented comparison tests and longer-term evaluations, the auto team nominates a list of vehicles in each category. Those selections are put to a vote and the top recipients in each category win an Automotive Excellence Award. The auto team is led by Automotive Editor Ben Stewart, working with Senior Automotive Editor Mike Allen, Detroit Editor Larry Webster and Editor-in-Chief James Meigs.

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