Here’s a whole load of new shots of the new Hyundai Sonata from the LA Auto Show, the first time the new Sonata has been exhibited to the American public. It’s very very different from the Sonatas of the past as Hyundai has decided to give the new Sonata a Passat CC-like look. Just look at that curving roofline!
Hyundai is also boldly offering it as an inline-4 only product in North America, a land where even your average Camry and Accord is purchased with large V6 engines with displacements in excess of 3.0 litres. The Sonata which this new one replaces came with a 3.3 litre V6 engine.
The sole 4-pot engine at launch time is the new 2.4 litre direct injection engine producing 198 horsepower in the new Sonata. Two more engines will be added later but they will also be inline-4 engines – a 2.0 litre turbo and a 2.4 litre hybrid.
Look after the jump for a full photo gallery for the US market.
[zenphotopress number=999 album=662]
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Cool…..
Snazzy looking car
honda city copy paste? where is my spec..
Very nice!
look like Merc CLS
'Hyundai has decided to give the new Sonata a Passat CC-like look.'
No wonder. Hyundai has two Research & Development centers:
-Namyang (South Korea)
-Rüsselsheim (Germany), the country where the Passat CC comes from… ;)
The Rüsselsheim R&D center is quite big, over 400 engineers and designers are working there.
BTW: There's nothing bad in having a R&D center in a foreign country. All big manufacturers have R&D centers scattered over the whole globe,,,
Only the front grill look alike. No biggy.
A bit dull with the headlight. I love the rear part of this car.
The front grill look like Honda City, the back light look like from BMW. China copy 100%, Korea copy from here and there, both are big copycats.
everyone copy from everyone else ma
Kudos to Hyundai!
They manage to imprint some Merc+Honda+BMW DNA in its design. This is purely innovative.
Absolutely cool car! Sonata now can challenge Continental Car Lines…
hm…..i think this car looks quite ugly
Wow, looks macho and luxury ! Korean cars is damn nice nowadays !!!
well… at least the korean are good in copying… n they r dare to do it..
what happens to our local boy at proton? sleeping & goyang kaki?
Looks like BMW + Mercedes… :p
Paul, an article about Kimi Raikkonen joining Citroen for rallying?
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Sport/St…
it said,
December 4, 2009 @ 6:45 pm
well… at least the korean are good in copying… n they r dare to do it..
what happens to our local boy at proton? sleeping & goyang kaki?
_____________________________________________________________________
but if proton copy u'll say…what la proton only knows how to copy n paste..bluerghh…
i tot it was ….merz 350…..
Interior ==> copy from Lexus GS
Worked out quite nice actually!!
Nice but I think there's too much curve.
Are those who saying the headlights copying Honda City blinded? The headlights doesn't look like Honda City's not even 1%.
About the car, overall it looks quite good, only the front of it looks kinda weird abit.
It is City Cls Bmw…..nice effort nonetheless.
P1 & P2 can follow and just be a little bit more adventurous in their designs.
Won't the rear headroom be compromised with a CLS-liked roofline? So this will be a driver's car then?
hmm..don't think it looks good..the curve on the side don't match with front end..and the front end looks not nice..sorry.
kizashi much better..
If this come to Malaysia and sell below 150K, I think Accord and Camby who been long monopoly the D-segment car will be taupau…
People will move to Hyundai Sonata…
looks weird ?.. after put number plate.. should be ok di..
The smaller engines offered and in 4-cylinders only is a smart strategic move. If the Americans want more than 4-cylinders, they can opt for something larger in the Hyundai range. Lots of delicious choices there.
The Americans are actually downsizing their cars in all respects; physical size, engine size and even, number of cylinders.
Honda's noseeee….Nice car!!!!!!
Yucks – overdone, overly contrived! Zero personality, with bits and pieces all over the place – Sonata? Nah, chimera better.
Where to put number plate at front?? Maybe can use sticker type just like motorcycle =)
09 Honda accord….
syoh! Do you know what is innovative? This one is creative, copying others ideas.
This car beats camry accord mazda6 FLAT
This car beats camry accord mazda6 FLAT
How come nobody mention about Proton Saga copy Toyota? Proton Exora copy Mitsubishi Grandis, typical Malaysian!
Malaysian lifestyle.
wat a joke!
looks sexy, a cheaper version of passat cc.
Paul, any idea when it will be launch here? thx
Less negative comments,later got people ask you guys to drive kereta lembu again…
OMG…the koreans are coming… the koreans are coming…. the koreans are coming…. the koreans are coming…. the koreans are coming…..
With a car that looks like this …well…u can just change the badge to a lexus… a regular malaysian cant spot the difference…
This car is inspired by Lexus ES series aaaaAAAlll the wayy…
especially the steering wheel…
PROTON SHOULD SPEND MONEY IN HIRING CAR PEOPLE like how the koreans are doing now…!
LOTUS MAKES STRIPPED OUT LOW VOLUME CARS, how the hell is that going to benefit us any further than the handling….
in a decade we'll reach wawasan 2020, maybe thats y gov change it to 1Malaysia , i think…cuz no wayy proton could ever built a car like dat…, maybe in 5 years time they might rebadge it and call it 'Perdana'
Agree with linear_system. They are copy from other car model.. But still can produce better car unlike local car maker. 25 years in the field. Just give u a car which will broke down in less than a year.. A product from goyang kaki members… Rilek dulu.
the interior is from a lexus, proportion is mondeo-ish, roofline is like a CLS, front, nose is like toyota avalon , side skirts looks like a 3-series…, but its got a nice rear ( usually the most tough areas to design… remember the previous honda accord before facelift? )
But this car just works, 2 gen ago, sonata looked like a old dying jaguar with unbalanced wheelbase, long front overhang…it was trying to hard, previous 1 , ..looks wayy too bland… this is awesome
and the front also shockingly similar to a 2-door left-hand-drive-only camry, called the toyota SOARER if im not mistaken…
its nice, but the front is a bit too organic/dynamic. i'll probably look to switch the bumper with something more normal looking.
it'll come here, and might sell better than the current sonata. koreans really catching up right now.
2.0L Turbo in Bolehland please, with moonroof.
Disaster is the rear seats are too short, to creat an illusion of large leg room??? Just like Forte and Optima, the back seats are just too short for my leg and I am only 1.72cm!!!! Beat Camry/Accord flat?? You must be in US or Korea, not Malaysia. If Genesisis is handled by UMW and is priced at RM140K in Malaysia then maybe lah. A lot of people here just talk nonsense. I have 2 Korean cars now at the same time, but I will not say they will progress much in Malaysia unlike US, for a couple of reasons.
Hey Paul , any news when this car will be in Bolehland?
Wow! Very nice!
Check out the interior of this car.Looks very neat and tidy!
Well done Hyundai!
come to bolehland will look uglier
shawal said,
December 4, 2009 @ 10:42 pm
and the front also shockingly similar to a 2-door left-hand-drive-only camry, called the toyota SOARER if im not mistaken…
________________________________________________________________________
yea agree with u…its looks just like the camry coupe which is called toyota camry Solara haha not Soarer…toyota soarer is lexus sc430..=)
Wow!!!! Korean cars are really spicy thing up this time are….. now should I buy cruze or this one???
plenty of nasty ass flow lines and curves on that baby…
those hu say koreans are still rubbish now.think or try before u speak
yeah..
whatever car korea made is copy cat~
this is typical malaysian mind…
and all korea car was bad FC, bad quality and bad this bad that…
copy of honda city? biggest joke in the world.
and 20v_ke35@
cruze won't be here so soon…
it suppose to be here this year…
koreans really serious into revamping their cars, wow
Gajen Said
yea agree with u…its looks just like the camry coupe which is called toyota camry Solara haha not Soarer…toyota soarer is lexus sc430..=)
thanx for the remindaer =)
Still cant believe its ur 'average' sonata , so grown up ady…. so cun wehh
Wow! what a hot looking car. Who knew Hyundai had it in them?
Those who commented on every new cars shown in the website as being a copy of others .. I would say, they're just plain STUPID .. (with the exception of those cars coming out of China that it). The Koreans have spent their money having design & research centres at countries where the auto industry have matured for a reason .. not copying .. but to excel.. they're hiring the designers to design their latest cars. And comparing Sonata with City and the likes .. gosh.. you guys are cheap..
buchiah,
Yes, tot it was CLs too! Hope when it comes to M'sia, it will be affordable like previous Sonatas…btw for those who never sit in previous Sonata, the rear is longer and wider than T.Camry or H.Accord. Def. more spacious than E class. So if dunno dun simply comment cos yr mindset is set to T, H&N only. The other Korean, Kia also has a car in the D segment called K7 (like AMD)which is also same size and previous Optima was also wider in the rear compared to Camry…pity it was ugly… the ugly duckling has now grown into a swan!
Now with Kia Forte scaring the Japs since last week, the 2 Koreans will deffinately blow the competitors..only if they improve after sales service! Give them time, Rome wasn't built in a day! Honda in the 70s also had it tough compared to Ford, Morris, Volvo in M'sia and now look where they are…however now they are getting big headed like so many car dealers. Well the Koreans are coming…an decade later probably China makes as well.
photoshop honda city..hehhehee
The Evil looking sonata face is really aggresive. much better than boring design such as camry/accord.
shawal said,
December 4, 2009 @ 10:19 pm
OMG…the koreans are coming… the koreans are coming…. the koreans are coming…. the koreans are coming…. the koreans are coming…..
——————-
Don't worry.
I 100% bet proton will crushed by Chinese. Not Korean, They positioned at 10000000x times more ahead from proton. There is absoultely no korean think proton is their rivial. Please don't reveal inforior complex. it makes malaysian as downright silly.
looks like a confused Caldina
This is very Unique, Distinguished design.
I can't find any copying from this car.
I know your logic.
'I want made new sonata is a copycat. I just want depict Hyundai as copycat.
Even if I have no proven evidence, I scream loud enough and post everywhere on the internet that Hyundai is copycat, then that's all I need to do. No need to have to go through the trouble of having to provide this stupid thing called "evidence"! Whatever, I say is automatically true!'
I know, i know… I fully understand your logic.
@Gajen
Plz, see this toyota camry solara
http://www.toyota.com/img/vehicles/2008/camrysola…
It is nothing like a sonata. and toyota is very boring.
another cut and paste WTF. grill from city. headlight merc. tail light bmw 3. haha what a joke
Ancient Perdana at RM100K now clearly a cheat rite. Lucky if you get RM1K for scrap metal Perdana (timbang value, not resale value as it none alreaady) to pay for this new Sonata(errm, deposit only).
when this car coming to our land????? for sure camry and accord will have hard time…….but again the brand will make people to think twice….esp resale value and quality……….but i think our people mind set are changing now adays……….
if really looks like this when come here, no down-spec, no added on ridiculous "high-spec" local built stuff, then i want one. but of course, would subject to price lah.
the front grill is like from honda city..can't u guys see it?
lol..blind ppl..
even copy form other design it also hard work to translate into production
but if they have ppl with passion and smart not matter what still can do.
very nice car..veri good looking
And the Price in the US is…?
hmm exterior is ugly. Absolutely no identity. but interior is way nice.
How care if it original or copy cat, as long as it got current and future looks and most important things, cheap price!!!
Dont talk about, FC and Quality la. Like all of the new range car for Honda, Toyota and others is good nowday.
Hello bro, in the 80's betul la. Now it already 2009!!!! Everything are crap!!!!
So, when this car come here?
but still i would but this over a camry
to me, the design too organic. yet is nice.
who cares if they actually did copy from other ppl. they're at overdrive and proton is still stuck @ 1st gear after all these years. notice how much hyundai has changed over time comparing to our proton? i can see china coming out with their own cars and china will be on par with the koreans in a matter of years since they're on a buying streak buying all the other manufacturers. proton can only hope to survive in malaysia and not overseas in due time
Looks like there are quite a number of Korean car salepersons here. Not like me who genuinely own TWO Korean cars, 1 Hyundai and 1 Kia (not Naza). My wife has a Toyota now. To me, Toyota is overpriced and my next car will most likely be a Sonata or Genesis(if available in Malaysia). I have sat in Forte, the new Optima, Naza Rondo and Spectra 5; and I saw the photo of the rear seats above(looks like short as well). For the real cars mentioned above, the back seats are ALL very SHORT for my thighs; even my wife, who is not enthusiastic in cars, commented on that. This is a constructive comment. Unfortunately someone don't see it this way. Like I commented Nissan before, no telescopic steering in their cars with prices > RM 100K. I am glad to hear that Hyundai got great sales growth in US recently, compared to Toyota.
"Looks like there are quite a number of Korean car salepersons here."
Excuse me. If I praise Hyundai, then i am a automatically become a saleperson of Hyundai?
Sonata is Only mid size car which classified as "Large" car by US EPA.(eg. camry/altima/fusion… classified as "mid size" car by US EPA) This mean It have plenty of interior volume in its class.
agreed with vkcheong. If priced at rm150k with what is seen on these pictures i.e. Nice center console with screen, meter cluster has all those indicators, steering with all the buttons, etc… I'm putting my money in regardless of whatever ppl say!
Passat CC, I like but the for the price I would go for 3 series instead though it's an unequal comparison.
It's about time Americans drive cars with smaller engines.
civic+camry+accord+city huh
lol ugly. the front looks it has been deformed
Looks ugly…
A lot of copy and paste….
tak best.
I can't find any single "copy" .
Except for Merceds CLS, btw, Much better looking than boring Camry/accord/altima.
MyDear said,
December 4, 2009 @ 5:56 pm
honda city copy paste? where is my spec..
—————————————————————–
Typical Arrogant Bastard~!
If this exact specs is coming into Malaysia, and the high specs is around RM100k, I'll take it without second thought..
Cut, paste, copying or whatever….Hyundai/Kia have proof their worthiness with leaps and bound….stop looking down at Korean. Their are currently at top 5 in the world now…where are we? I'm proud of my country but it's time to cut the old act…berlagak sombong!!!
Why can't the rest of us open our eyes? Talking like we and Proton as we are best of the best? Why? Coz we owned Lotus and that gave us the bragging rights?!! As I see it…the best recipe for success is being HUMBLE and see others success as a CHALLENGE not as a MOCKING tools.
Good job Hyundai!
oh my gawd… hideous to the max…only because everything on this car looks like it came from everywhere else!
linear_system said,
December 4, 2009 @ 7:23 pm
it said,
December 4, 2009 @ 6:45 pm
well… at least the korean are good in copying… n they r dare to do it..
what happens to our local boy at proton? sleeping & goyang kaki?
_____________________________________________________________________
but if proton copy u’ll say…what la proton only knows how to copy n paste..bluerghh…
_____________________________________________________________________
haha good one, there's just no pleasing malaysians no matter what their local carmakers do is there? haha i feel your stress
it is not copy.
except for mercedes CLS line, i can't find any single "copy".
It is very radical changed car. no auto maker making this type of looking.
Go to Korea … see the real thing … you will be impressed.
nice design and well built.atleast they put every piece together so well, from front till back looks great and the interiors design are up to date with futuristic look.i believe that hyundai designers and engineers are doing their job.
i been thinking that, how good if our proton can follow our korean friend foot step and able to produce this kind of quality cars for our malaysian. as we all know that hyundai and proton has some similarity as both this car manufacture are jv with mitsubishi in the 80's to produce car. i believe now our proton are very far behind n before proton can reach the current level of achievement as hyundai now i guess they aready close shop or it will make our malaysian driver nightmaren and miserable
i wonder why some of our friend here keep criticising this senate is copying other car manufacture n even worst are those guy saying that it copying the honda city. i would say if the latest honda city has more then 50% similarity of this sonata it would had kill the vios long time ago but the sales figure is still far back compare to vios.
from my point of view that the korean are just following the trend and they are not copying. if you really compare to other car manufacture in this recent years,their design are very close with all the body curve and the size.this means everyone is copying. the last word…atleast the korean hyundai had built a nice n luxurious sonata for korean
sparrow said,
December 5, 2009 @ 1:16 am
yeah..
whatever car korea made is copy cat~
this is typical malaysian mind…
and all korea car was bad FC, bad quality and bad this bad that…
copy of honda city? biggest joke in the world.
———————————————————
then we should be fair to proton also rite….
tot of getting a merz cls 350 but after looking at…this babe …this is good enuff probably for half the price…
wiraone said,
December 5, 2009 @ 7:01 am
Those who commented on every new cars shown in the website as being a copy of others .. I would say, they’re just plain STUPID .. (with the exception of those cars coming out of China that it). The Koreans have spent their money having design & research centres at countries where the auto industry have matured for a reason .. not copying .. but to excel.. they’re hiring the designers to design their latest cars. And comparing Sonata with City and the likes .. gosh.. you guys are cheap..
———————————————————–
I also wanted to say the same thing…Just because they saw 1 small bit of similarity from their USUAL H & T, its a copy….and yes, by comparing a 'cheap' City with this car is…..-speechless- By the way to all who say this copying thing, shall I say City rims copied from Mazda 6, 3? Sigh……
lmst said,
December 5, 2009 @ 7:24 am
photoshop honda city..hehhehee
—————————–
Gosh….when on earth are we Malaysians going to grow up and be more matured?? If they ever wanted to copy, there are FAR FAR better car to copy than a Thailand City……..Korean are now shifting to a much higher gear now and they are trying to achieve a Continental standard and not even want to be compared with the Japanese.
I think Hyundai is trying to slowly move the Sonata away from the Accord/Camry segment and concentrate on upscale luxury cars like the Mercedes CLS, Lexus ES.
Bull shit Korea… eat dogs. Pump attendance at petrol station will not serve you if driving foreign car in Korea.. Stupid Malaysian people.
walao….looks like combination 3 types of cars : BMW 3 series + Mercedes Benz CLS + Honday City …………
The looks is awful….Camry and Accord anytime….
Again the question begs….What has Sonata got to offer.?
Honda & Toyota bring Quality, Reliability, Durability and resale value to the table.
Conti bring handling to the table…
Korean …hmmm….maybe lower price…..
Recent Hyundai bring Quality, Reliability, Durability and resale value is improving
the line at the doors are too aggressive. design cue copied from other makers while it design language is screaming "my front is melting!!" or "my boobs is sagging!!" or "my botox is not working!!" or perhaps the msg they trying to convey is "pls drive me if you're not happy, i'll make sure everyone knows it"
fugly.
Most people who drive Hyundai/Kia C-segment/above cars, earn their money through proper channel, and even they run bisnes, they don't cheat. They know their money are hard-earned and they want value-for-money cars. A lot of cars out there are just seriously overpriced, you can just compare them with Kia Forte 2.0. I hardly see any black-tinted aggressively modified C- or D-segment Hyundai/Kia cars. You see a lot of these Ah-Beng cars are Local or Japs. Tien Hong with their easily earned money I guessed.
Wow factor is really there!!
ignas <- sound like a typical loser who always have inferior complex to great product/people
Jimmy said,
December 4, 2009 @ 11:35 pm
Disaster is the rear seats are too short, to creat an illusion of large leg room??? Just like Forte and Optima, the back seats are just too short for my leg and I am only 1.72cm!!!!
—————-
You are typical liar.
I am a 1.92cm, I have 2007 Hyundai sonata, The backseat space is enough. and Sonata is only midsize car category in "Large" car by US EPA. because it spacious.
and i see this sonata in LA auto show, its backseat is spacious enough. i though its roof is not tall at initial, but, it is not. it is enough spacious, and my head does not reach roof.
@Jimmy
Just like Forte and Optima, the back seats are just too short for my leg and I am only 1.72cm!!!! Beat Camry/Accord flat??
—————
Check it out,
Old Hyundai Sonata vs. Toyota Camry
Hyundai Sonata vs. Toyota Camry
R1 Headroom 40.1 38.8
R1 Shoulder Room 57.4 57.8
R1 Hip Room 55.5 54.6
R1 Legroom 43.7 41.7
R2 Headroom 38.2 37.8
R2 Shoulder Room 56.9 56.9
R2 Hip Room 55.3 53.9
R2 Legroom 37.4 38.3
Cargo Volume 16.3 15.0
http://www.truedelta.com/comparisons101/Sonata-vs…
Except for 'R1 Shoulder Room', Hyundai Sonata (Current Model, Not newer) beat Toyota Camry in every spacious category.
http://www.truedelta.com/comparisons101/Optima-vs…
Specifications Comparison
Kia Optima vs. Toyota Camry
R1 Headroom 39.8 38.8
R1 Shoulder Room 57.1 57.8
R1 Hip Room 54.5 54.6
R1 Legroom 43.7 41.7
R2 Headroom 38.0 37.8
R2 Shoulder Room 56.3 56.9
R2 Hip Room 54.7 53.9
R2 Legroom 37.8 38.3
Cargo Volume 15.0 15.
Kia optima beat Toyota Camry in spacious category.
ffddf <– fyi, i only commented on its design which is very subjective to individual. i dont see anything about being a loser or winner has to do with it. but if you like, go ahead to feel great about this car yourself.