Also, Hyundai Loses Accent, & More
This week in the news, GMC teases a pair of Hummers, Acura shows off the new TLX’s V6 at Pikes Peak, Polestar opens its first Canadian Spaces, the Accent is dead, Kia goes Orange, and Audi prices the RS 6 Avant superwagon.
We’ll start with GMC, which is the General Motors brand that will be home to the return of Hummer. The GMC Hummer EV is set to be revealed this fall with production set to start a year later. Some of the teaser specs we’ve seen before, like 0-100 km/h in 3.3 seconds and 1,000 hp, but there was some new stuff too.
Silhouettes of two models were shown at the end of the recut tease video. One, the traditional box-back SUV shape we know and loved. The second, what looks like a pickup truck coupé. Showing an angled rear glass extending into a pickup box, or Add at least a trunk. Is this the return of the GM mid-gate? GMC’s calling it the “world’s first supertruck.”
Acura is showing off the latest TLX, bringing the 2021 model of the sports sedan to the 98th running of Pikes Peak Race to the Clouds at the end of this month. While Acura’s two race cars will be powered by Acura’s 2.0L turbo-four and there will be an NSX in the race, the new TLX Type S prototype will be the pace car. The new V6 looks to be a hot one, a 3.0L V6 turbo that Acura estimates at 355 hp and 354 lb-ft of torque. The TLX arrives this fall with the Type S in the spring. We’ve seen the car already, but this is the first time for Acura to show off the power level of the new, Type S-specific V6. The four makes 272 hp and 280 lb-ft.
Polestar Cars, the brand that started as Volvo’s racing team and then became an electrified vehicle manufacturer is opening its first retail spaces in Canada. Called Polestar Spaces, the new dealership model will arrive in Canada with three showrooms. Montreal will get one downtown on boulevard René Levesque, Toronto’s will be on Avenue Road in the chic Yorkville neighbourhood, and Vancouver will see a space on Seymour street downtown. Service Centres will open in Victoria and Waterloo, all set for the second half of this year and the vehicles can be sold and delivered to all provinces.
They’ll pick it up and deliver for free within 240 km of a Polestar Space or Service Centre, and will make arrangements with those further away. The line of vehicles starts with the 619 hp PHEV Polestar 1 and the all-EV five-door Polestar 2, starting from $69,900.
Hyundai announced that the subcompact Accent would be disappearing from Canadian showrooms at the end of this model year. While Hyundai sold nearly half a million Accents in Canada since 1994, it’s another sign that buyers want crossovers not cars. The Venue that replaces it sold more than double the volume in June. The Accent sedan had already left the market, so this is the hatch only that’s disappearing for 2021.
Kia has launched a special edition Neon Orange Stinger GT Limited for Canada, and it comes with some bright orange paint and a new all-wheel drive system tweak for some more sideways performance. It’s like the U.S.-only GTS from last year, but comes on the higher trim level Stinger GT Limited. That means it’s got the 3.3L 365 hp V6 as well as Nappa leather sports seats, Harmon-Kardon audio, and head-up display. But what’s not mentioned is that this is the D-AWD system of the GTS that can send 100 per cent of power to the rear, not just the 80 per cent of the standard car. So if they don’t see the paint, they might see one of the 75 of these 2021 models to be made getting very sideways instead.
Finally, the 591 hp RS6 Avant wagon is now on Audi’s website to build and price. Just one trim is available, with nearly everything you can think of included, starting from $120,400. The handful of options include a Dynamic pack, carbon appearance bits, and, surprisingly adaptive cruise.
Keyword: News Roundup: Hummer EVs, TLX V6, Polestar Arrives soon