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From why more women should be racing, why Asian automakers are dominating electric cars, and why the U.S. is failing to reduce emissions: today’s issue is all about finding and embracing positive change.

“Disclaimer: Do not drive in sync with the beat, your speed gauge may escalate without you knowing.”

Here’s why Hyundai’s marketing team is brilliant.

Hyundai employees read the room and did something clever. They took raw footage of the Hyundai N team’s racing exploits at the 24h Nürburgring (that nobody was going to watch anyway), and they dropped a meme-perfect Eurobeat soundtrack on top.

Eurobeat is not techno, dance, or electronic music. Eurobeat acts were originally Italian artists that only released music for the Japanese market. These tracks, sometimes licensed (or not) became fodder for Japanese car video productions, as well as the official music style for the beloved Initial D anime series. Whenever the action gets intense on that show, the Eurobeat intensifies.

Hyundai’s marketing is effective not only because they earned a combined view count of more than 1 million views across two videos with little additional effort, but because the playlist has since earned tremendous respect from the exact demographics who are in the market for a Hyundai.

The comments on both videos are immensely positive and I urge you to visit the video, mute the audio, and read what people have to say.

Hyundai N | N Playlist — Nürburgring Eurobeat Dash #2 • Hyundai N Worldwide

see also :: Hyundai N | N Playlist — Nürburgring Eurobeat Dash • Hyundai N Worldwide (2021) :: Eurobeat remixes @ knowyourmeme.com :: Eurobeat Prime – History :: Initial D (Wikipedia)

A well-deserved congratulations to Valérie Limoges for becoming the first female champion of a one-make series in Canadian road racing history.

That’s the great.

The not-so-great is—and this is a problem throughout motorsport, in 99.8% of all racing series—that half the grid isn’t women. I don’t normally cover racing results, but I think it’s important to highlight this series and win because women belong in motorsport. The Nissan Sentra Cup. NASCAR. Dakar. WRC. Formula 1, all of it. Not simply relegated to a women-only series, or as a once per decade unicorn.

Not just ONE woman on the grid, so that her every result is scrutinized with the fire of a million trolls.

“Michael, that’s nice but there aren’t enough qualified women dri—” and I’ll stop you there. How are they supposed to get experience? How can you say any woman driver couldn’t perform at least as well as the men racing?

Go and learn more about the full history of women in motorsport. The only reason more women aren’t racing is because men in positions of power—sponsors, promoters, race teams and manufacturers—don’t support them.

In other words: it shouldn’t have taken us 122 years to see this happen. Congratulations to Valérie—now is the time to step up and ensure her future career is as bright as a man’s would be.

Valérie Limoges makes history in Canadian motorsport! • Nissan Canada

see also :: sentracup.com

In this world, when there’s active wars, poverty, famine, lack of racial & gender equality, people being abused, ecological destruction, political shenanigans, workers being screwed over, a lack of decent healthcare for many, corporate greed, authoritarian rulers, dictators, rising food prices, higher interest rates, expensive fuel, decaying social structures, the depletion of public assets, volatile job markets, and a thousand other terrible things…

…at least school buses racing in a figure 8 isn’t one of them.

Rockford Speedway - 09/17/2022 - Figure 8 School Bus Racing - Night of Thrills (NEW Track Lights!) • Misfit Productions

I could write a book on how many times incumbent manufacturers steadily marched into “more profitable” segments to follow “business decisions” when really, a car company must first decide how to make great cars—and build a business doing just that.

Standing out in a market is impossible when you’re competing crossover for crossover, SUV for SUV. I can’t confirm this is what Hyundai is doing, but my guess goes something like this.

Employee 1: “Hey which market segments are existing automakers neglecting, not satisfying customers, or underperforming in?”

Employee 2: “Sedans…small cars…small trucks…enthusiast cars…luxury vehicles…decent electric vehicles…”

Hyundai (and, in some degree, Kia) hasn’t been perfect in all areas, but its recent rise confirms that a new vehicle well-executed for a declining segment sticks out like a rugby player visiting Hobbiton. Starting a luxury brand, Genesis. The Santa Cruz small truck. The N performance line of cars. And, here, with its IONIQ electric range with the latest IONIQ 6.

Better still for consumers, Hyundai’s best work is often when they combine two things—like a sedan x electric propulsion. Or an affordable hatchback x Nürburgring capable performance. If you were a competing auto executive, how do you then step back into a segment you’ve abandoned (electric sedans) and top this?

Try this: tell someone nearby there’s a new electric family sedan from Porsche coming out next year, then hold up your phone and show the above photo.

Unless they’re into cars and know this Hyundai, I bet they’ll go, “wow, that’s really cool—how much?”

Watch out Tesla ~ Hyundai IONIQ 6 First Drive! • Asian Petrolhead

I’ll spare you a diatribe about how badly oil companies, automakers, and governments have been failing humanity and instead link to one shining example of it.

Expertly researched by Prof. John DeCicco—he’s a legitimate research professor at the University of Michigan—the findings aren’t good.

DeCicco clearly states what we should be paying attention to: fleet wide emissions. Alternative energy vehicle sales are one thing, but if the average vehicle has a lifespan of 20 years, it’ll still take time to replace gasoline and diesels.

Remember: we’re replacing the vehicles to burn fewer fossil fuels. Here’s the rub: due to a complex mix of incentives, consumer spending habits, gov’t regulations, and economic factors…we’re failing miserably, if not making the problem even worse:

“In spite of rapidly growing sales, however, EVs have not yet measurably cut carbon. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data indicates that the rate of carbon dioxide reduction from new vehicles has all but stalled, while vehicle mass and power have reached all-time highs.

“Why? The surging popularity of low-fuel-economy pickups and SUVs. My analysis of the EPA data shows that through 2021, the higher emissions from market shifts to larger, more powerful vehicles swamp the potential carbon dioxide reductions from EVs by more than a factor of three.”

Surging sales of large gasoline pickups and SUVs are undermining carbon reductions from electric cars • theconversation.com

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