The Hyundai Sonata is likely to make a big splash with its good looks when it hits dealers in a few weeks. One thing that was missing from the original release of the Sonata was an up-level engine option. To review, the Sonata can be optioned with a 191 horsepower 2.5-liter 4-cylinder or a 180 horsepower 1.6-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder with a wide peak torque band and 195 lb.-ft.   Gone is the 245 horsepower 2.0-liter turbo.
Back in April, Hyundai confirmed that it would produce an N-Line version of the car with 275 horsepower.  That car is likely to be debuting at the LA Auto Show later this month. The kicker is the N-line is not the full performance edition like a Sonata N would be. 
Now, rumors out of Korea via Korean Car Blog say that the full N will be coming late next year. Powering the Sonata N would be a 2.5-liter turbocharge direct injected engine producing at least 300 horsepower and 311 lb.-ft of torque. Power would be fed through an 8-speed wet dual-clutch transmission. This powertrain has already been shown at a 2019 Hyundai Kia Motors Powertrain Conference, so we know they'll be building this engine for something.
Of course, Hyundai has not commented on any of these rumors, so take a Sonata N with a grain of salt.  Still, a performance tuned Sonata could make an exciting addition to the otherwise stale and fading mid-size car market.
 

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The Hyundai Sonata is likely to make a big splash with its good looks when it hits dealers in a few weeks. One thing that was missing from the original release of the Sonata was an up-level engine option. To review, the Sonata can be optioned with a 191 horsepower 2.5-liter 4-cylinder or a 180 horsepower 1.6-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder with a wide peak torque band and 195 lb.-ft.   Gone is the 245 horsepower 2.0-liter turbo.
Back in April, Hyundai confirmed that it would produce an N-Line version of the car with 275 horsepower.  That car is likely to be debuting at the LA Auto Show later this month. The kicker is the N-line is not the full performance edition like a Sonata N would be. 
Now, rumors out of Korea via Korean Car Blog say that the full N will be coming late next year. Powering the Sonata N would be a 2.5-liter turbocharge direct injected engine producing at least 300 horsepower and 311 lb.-ft of torque. Power would be fed through an 8-speed wet dual-clutch transmission. This powertrain has already been shown at a 2019 Hyundai Kia Motors Powertrain Conference, so we know they'll be building this engine for something.
Of course, Hyundai has not commented on any of these rumors, so take a Sonata N with a grain of salt.  Still, a performance tuned Sonata could make an exciting addition to the otherwise stale and fading mid-size car market.
 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Nissan Group announced total U.S. sales for October 2019 of 103,563 units, a decrease of 5.8 percent compared to the prior year.
Nissan highlights:
Kicks SUV sales set an October record with 3,362 units, up 3 percent. NV200 sales rose to 1,532 units, up 7 percent to achieve an October record. Several models have shown gains in 2019: Kicks (+272 percent), NV commercial van (+25 percent) and NV200 (+1 percent).   *INFINITI sales total included for reference. For more information on INFINITI’s October sales performance, please visit infinitinews.com.
NOTE: To ensure consistency in global sales reporting, Nissan North America calculates monthly variances on a straight-percentage basis, unadjusted for the number of selling days. October 2019 had 27 days, while October 2018 had 26 selling days.
NISSAN DIVISION
OCTOBER
OCTOBER
Monthly
CYTD
CYTD
CYTD
 
2019
2018
% chg
2019
2018
% chg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nissan Division Total
94,417
98,082
-3.7
1,050,873
1,117,515
-6.0
Versa
3,373
5,869
-42.5
60,506
63,952
-5.4
Sentra
13,889
17,611
-21.1
162,039
182,758
-11.3
Altima
13,531
13,406
0.9
173,500
180,005
-3.6
Maxima
3,217
2,505
28.4
29,416
34,207
-14.0
LEAF
887
1,234
-28.1
9,998
11,920
-16.1
Juke
1
7
-85.7
11
722
-98.5
370Z
214
290
-26.2
2,067
2,995
-31.0
GT-R
25
20
25.0
298
490
-39.2
Total Car
35,137
40,942
-14.2
437,835
477,049
-8.2
Kicks
3,362
3,264
3.0
50,436
13,576
271.5
Frontier
8,031
6,302
27.4
62,717
65,876
-4.8
Titan
2,134
4,114
-48.1
27,546
41,953
-34.3
Pathfinder
5,636
5,195
8.5
54,978
55,347
-0.7
Armada
2,714
2,072
31.0
27,323
27,732
-1.5
Rogue
27,082
27,748
-2.4
299,382
337,727
-11.4
Murano
7,477
5,737
30.3
57,825
68,962
-16.1
Quest
0
0
n/a
0
3
-100.0
NV
1,312
1,269
3.4
16,988
13,568
25.2
NV200
1,532
1,439
6.5
15,843
15,722
0.8
Total Truck
59,280
57,140
3.7
613,038
640,466
-4.3
 
INFINITI
OCTOBER
OCTOBER
Monthly
CYTD
CYTD
CYTD
 
2019
2018
% chg
2019
2018
% chg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Infiniti Total
9,146
11,880
-23.0
97,080
117,129
-17.1
Infiniti Q50
2,100
2,074
1.3
21,855
28,254
-22.6
Infiniti Q60
595
809
-26.5
4,113
7,765
-47.0
Infiniti Q70
154
302
-49.0
2,350
3,778
-37.8
Infiniti QX30
102
399
-74.4
3,127
7,038
-55.6
Infiniti QX50
1,468
3,160
-53.5
15,078
19,051
-20.9
Infiniti QX60
3,604
3,392
6.3
35,225
35,187
0.1
Infiniti QX70
0
7
-100.0
6
942
-99.4
Infiniti QX80
1,123
1,737
-35.3
15,326
15,114
1.4
Total Car
2,849
3,185
-10.5
28,318
39,797
-28.8
Total Truck
6,297
8,695
-27.6
68,762
77,332
-11.1
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NISSAN GROUP
OCTOBER
OCTOBER
Monthly
CYTD
CYTD
CYTD
  2019
2018
% chg
2019
2018
% chg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
TOTAL VEHICLE
103,563
109,962
-5.8
1,147,953
1,234,644
-7.0
Total Car
37,986
44,127
-13.9
466,153
516,846
-9.8
Total Truck
65,577
65,835
-0.4
681,800
717,798
-5.0
Selling days
27
26
 
256
256
 
# # #

When it comes to electric vehicles, Telsa takes nearly all of the headlines, but Nissan has been quietly selling the Leaf since 2010, two years before the Tesla Model S came to market.  Now, Nissan wants some of its thunder back and is working on a dual motor prototype of the Leaf e+.  The motors are set up at each axle and provide a combined output of 304 hp and 501 lb.-ft of torque.  The regular Leaf e+ has 214 horsepower and 251 lb.-ft of torque and gets to 62 mph from a stop in 6.9 seconds, so with 90 more horsepower and about double the torque, the dual motor version should scoot along quite nicely. 
Nissan has tuned the power delivery to be smooth but very responsive.  The all-wheel drive system has been tuned to work with the regenerative braking to help control stability even more than a normal all-wheel drive system would. 
While it is not going into production, this test bed shows that Nissan is working on more EV systems for the future for a greater variety of vehicles. 

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When it comes to electric vehicles, Telsa takes nearly all of the headlines, but Nissan has been quietly selling the Leaf since 2010, two years before the Tesla Model S came to market.  Now, Nissan wants some of its thunder back and is working on a dual motor prototype of the Leaf e+.  The motors are set up at each axle and provide a combined output of 304 hp and 501 lb.-ft of torque.  The regular Leaf e+ has 214 horsepower and 251 lb.-ft of torque and gets to 62 mph from a stop in 6.9 seconds, so with 90 more horsepower and about double the torque, the dual motor version should scoot along quite nicely. 
Nissan has tuned the power delivery to be smooth but very responsive.  The all-wheel drive system has been tuned to work with the regenerative braking to help control stability even more than a normal all-wheel drive system would. 
While it is not going into production, this test bed shows that Nissan is working on more EV systems for the future for a greater variety of vehicles.