HYUNDAI IS BUSY tooling up its US engine plant in Montgomery to switch production from the current four-cylinder motors to more powerful and more efficient direct-injected petrol engines.

The new direct-injected mills will likely feature in upcoming versions of the US-market Santa Fe and Sonata, and output is expected to be around the 149kW mark - 18kW more than the present port-injected engine.

Based on the current four-pot produced at the Montgomery plant, the new DI inline four is currently the only  direct-injected petrol motor known to be in the pipeline for the Korean manufacturer. However, with Hyundai clearly familiarised with the technology, it shouldn’t be long before we see direct injected powerplants appear in other Hyundai products.

The 2010 Santa Fe is expected to be the first to benefit from the new engine, while a facelifted Sonata will follow suit in 2011.

Hyundai Australia declined to comment on when we may see such engine technology on Aussie-bound models. (Read into that what you will.)