Autos
*Hyundai has unveiled the Genesis sedan, its first foray into high-end cars to compete with BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus. The sleek, tightly contoured four-door with a ground-hugging look made its debut at the automaker’s Namyang R&D Center in Hwaseong, South Korea. Genesis, set to begin full-scale production this month, will hit domestic showrooms in early January before launches in China and the U.S. in the first-half of 2008, Hyundai says.
Cycle
*Wisconsin is giving Harley-Davidson $1.25 million to clean up the site of its new museum in the Menomonee Valley. The museum, set to open next summer, is expected to bring 350,000 visitors to the area a year, who will spend an estimated $78 million.
FYI
*Commuters between St. Louis and some of its Illinois suburbs have can again use the 97-year-old McKinley Bridge. The bridge, which serves some 10,000 vehicles a day, was closed for a six-year, $52 million rehab.
*The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles has a plan to shorten the lines at license branches, but it won’t take effect until 2009. The agency will increase the number of due dates for motor vehicle registrations to 45, from 19 now, to keep license branches from filling with car and truck owners who wait until the day before their tags expire to renew. Vehicle owners will learn their new due dates when they receive their 2008 renewal reminders.
*Chrysler plans to idle two additional plants for two weeks in January to control inventory. It will temporarily shut its Jefferson North plant in Detroit, which makes the Jeep Commander and Grand Cherokee, and Windsor, Ontario, minivan plant starting Jan. 14, says a person familiar with the plans.
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Quick Trips are compiled from the notebook of Rick Popely and from Tribune news services.
