Can Yanny Pyo Add a Sense of Adventure to Hyundai?

Hyundai
Yanny’s son, Colin, testing out the 2016 Hyundai Tucson. Photo by Yanny Pyo.

What drives her: Yanny Pyo, bringing out the 2017 Hyundai Elantra.

Yanny Pyo, a product planning senior associate at Hyundai, has the perfect test customer for the new Elantra. Her four year old son, Colin, loves to play with an iPad when he’s in the car and the quiet engine helps him hear his games better.

At Hyundai, Yanny is responsible for managing product development and planning, market launches and life-cycle management for small cars including Accent, Elantra and Veloster.

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Adventure on the river. Photo courtesy of Yanny Pyo.

Aren’t small sedans for the sedate?

A sedan is considered the ‘safe’ car – neither a sports nor an SUV, it’s the mild-mannered vehicle of choice. But that is not Yanny’s style. An adrenaline junkie outside the car, Yanny goes zip lining, white water rafting, downhill skiing and even sky diving. She also gave a sky diving trip to her husband for his 30th birthday but so far her son hasn’t attempted any daredevil feats.

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Family adventures in the Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. Photo courtesy of Yanny Pyo.

Family adventures in the Elantra

Yanny will be taking the Elantra on the road this summer with a child in tow for a family trip to Las Vegas where she raves about the awesome Mandalay Bay hotel’s child-friendly swimming pool. Another trip with friends and children will be at Marriott’s Newport Coast Villas. The hotel has many family-friendly amenities, such as four outdoor pools and three whirlpools. And there are children’s program that include games and crafts.

Keeping safety in check on the road

We Took The 2917 Hyundai Elantra On A Mountainous Adventure In Southern California. Credit: Judy Antell For Agirlsguidetocars
We took the 2017 Hyundai Elantra on a mountainous adventure in southern California. Credit: Judy Antell for AGirlsGuidetoCars

Yanny is deeply appreciative of the safety innovations in the 2017 Hyundai Elantra, including blind spot monitoring, lane departure warning and rear cross traffic alert. And the car has one of the most important features for the parent of a young child; the Elantra stops automatically if it senses that you are going to hit something.

The improved ride comfort of the car is also important to Yanny; her mother lives with her (and provides child care) so when the family goes on local adventures, one adult has to sit in the back seat. This could be why extra care has gone into making that rear seat in the sedan so comfortable – it even has a heated option available.

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Yanny testing out the Hyundai Elantra. Photo courtesy of Yanny Pyo.

Quiet ride is good for all

The 2016 Hyundai Elantra has thicker windows and more sound absorption panels to keep the ride quiet. And reduced holes in the hood and more insulation throughout give further reduce noise.

Hands free trunk and proximity key

Whether you are shopping with your preschooler or bringing your white water rafting gear with you, fumbling for keys is eliminated with the Elantra.  The hands free trunk allows you to approach the car with the proximity key and have the trunk magically open; no foot or arm waving required.

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Yanny in control. Photo courtesy of Yanny Pyo.

How being a woman at Hyundai has informed her role

Yanny started at Hyundai Motor America in 2004 as an administrative assistant while she was in college and worked her way up to product planner.

She’s the only female on her team and she inputs female buyer perspective ideas through new feature recommendations and color naming.

And her work is gaining kudos.  Under her management, the Elantra won North American Car of the Year in 2012.

Favorite feature in the new Elantra

Yanny said, “my favorite feature in the new Elantra is Apple CarPlay because I can text, play music, call someone or answer someone through Siri.”

If you have driven the 2017 Elantra, tell us your favorite new feature.

 

Judy Antell
Judy Antell

Judy Antell, who is TravelingMom.com's Free in 50 States editor, lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn, with her husband and three daughters. Between road trips to visit colleges, travel sports and seeing East Coast sights, she spends a lot of time on the road for a city girl.

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