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Hyundai Sonata 2006-2007
Any news about the new 2005 hyundai sonata? I just heard it'd get an all new 3.8 liter V6 engine probably good for 220-230 hp. Hyundai would think about introducing it in August.
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-Andrew L
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So anyway, can someone tell without being wrong when this car will hit the showrooms?
lexi4life, I think a_l_hubcaps is correct, a few articles have stated that March is when the Sonata will begin production in Alabama. Also one said that V6 versions will initially come from Korea where as the 4-cyl versions will come from Alabama. The Sonata is suppose to be revealed this month in Korea, but if not it will definetly be at the Paris show in September. When production will begin in Korea I'm not sure.
Trial production at Alabama has already begun.
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/specialreports/hyundai/storyV- 5HPLANTMAIN01W.htm
And here is an article with some interesting tidbits.
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/NEWSV5/storyV5HINNOVATION01W.- htm
"Vehicle engines will be built on site and will meet the vehicle in general assembly, where workers on the production line will add parts, such as tires or electrical components, to each vehicle."
Somehow I thought the 4-cyl engines will come from Michigan where Chrysler will get their's from but I guess not.
"As part of the painting process, an electrically charged coating will be applied to each car to prevent corrosion. To eliminate air pockets and ensure 100 percent coverage, the shop will use a state-of-the-art process in which each car will be turned 360 degrees as the coating is applied."
And here is an old article.
http://www.detnews.com/2004/specialreport/0402/22/a15-70494.htm
"Parts suppliers will build whole sections of the vehicles off site, reducing in-house workloads and labor costs."
The major stuff will be done on-site but some stuff as stated will be done by parts suppliers off-site.
~alpha
http://sonata.hyundai-motor.com/
interior/exterior
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sources: www.joins.com (automobile section)
2.0 Liter Engine with VVT (aluminum head/block)Korea only
2.4 Liter Engine with VVT (aluminum head/block)
Korea/Worldwide
3.3 Liter Engine with VVT (aluminum head/block)
Korea/Worldwide
People in Korea tend to drive cars with small engines because of high gasoline price.
About 4.50 per gallon. 70% gasoline tax is included...
I saw some Sonata advertisements on yahoo korea and found out that the new sonata has 165 hp. (2.4L)The NF Sonata will be released on Sept. 1, 2004 in Korea. (Affordable A6)=(All-New Sonata)
5 speed automatic transmission with shiftronic
2.0 AT = 1450 kg or 3196 pounds
2.4 AT = 1496 kg or 3298 pounds
And we aren't even talking about the 3.3 V6 version yet. Hopefully that 2.4 version has a sunroof and a ton of standard equipment.
This is basically on par with a TSX though so I have to think the 2.4 has power seats, a sunroof, stability control, 17" wheels, etc. to make it weigh so much.
Anybody know the standard equipment on the 2.4 version? Also anyone know what the turning circle is?
http://www.autonews.ru/news/html/newsline/index.shtml?/2004/08/30- /53462
They just started selling the new model in korea.
However,New Sonata will hit showroom on May 2005 in U.S.A.
It will be built in alabama.
"Prices in Korea range from 16.25-23.3 million won (USD14,100-20,200), expected to be about 10 percent more than the anticipated sticker in the US."
Could someone familiar with current Korean Sonata prices figure this out for us? I don't know what the equipment is for the 2.4 auto version (which I guess is USD 20,200) but I would guess it has a sunroof, stability control, leather, 17" alloys, etc. The US version will probably have 16" steel wheels, cloth, no sunroof, no stability control, etc. so that would trim the prices, maybe down to $18,000 USD? (I have no idea) Then it says to expect prices in US to be 10% lower so that would put the price about where the current one is.
Current base model with automatic runs $16,800 ($15,300 invoice). Also I read somewhere that all trims in Korea have ABS and side curtains standard (can someone confirm this?). Since the current one here doesn't have ABS standard (and hopefully it will be standard on the new one) then that would account for any minor price increase.
Bottomline, how much more is the new Sonata in Korea running compared to the old one? Factoring in any new standard equipment compared to the old one, is there any price increase?
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
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Just change the 6, 12, and 13 in the above URLs and you can view a bunch more.
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As to the "gamble" Hyundai is taking at Huntsville..it's really not. Hyundai aims to be a top 5 automaker worldwide by 2010. To do that you've got to please American consumers. To please American consumers you've got to deliver a product to them that they want at a good price. Building in America gives them the American "connection" if you will. Americans get jobs out of the deal and Hyundai gets a huge plant right in America with a great pipeline of parts shipping availability and location. With the Long-Haul Warranty, which, unless you're as stupid as a...a...ummm...rock, was a brilliant move by Hyundai, consumers are not taking a gamble by buying a new Hyundai at all. Absolutely brilliant. Oh, and in case you're wondering, my Long-Haul Warranty works with my Kia. Actually I'm on my 2nd Kia now(my first one was not covered by the Long-Haul though)and I have always had whatever problem or concern I had taken care of professionally and courteously by my dealer.
BTW-have you seen the 2005 Hyundai Sonata pictures yet? Whoa..this car is beautiful. A home run for Hyundai right off the proverbial bat, dudes and dudettes. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some new Drive-By Truckers to listen to. Speaking of the Alabama connection!
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
~alpha
I never posted anything until I read your naivete logic about how Hyundai should delay 1 year to release their car because Honda does it. If company A does something, company B should do the same? Hyundai does not rely on Honda to make its decisions. Maybe, you do.
Obviously, Hyundai is ready to release their car and they are confident about their quality management.
RayHo, a bathhouse somewhere in San Francisco is calling for you to comeback; they miss your daily visits.
palpeur idiot de Honda.
Moving on... the new Sonata...
~alpha
On second thought... the headlights and taillights go well together; similar shape. And it's not a shape that instantly brings another car to mind; the color of the taillights looks Accordy, but the shape looks good. And the rear end (top of the rear fenders next to the trunk) along with the front bumper pads connect the Sonata to the current Elantra sedan. That's good.
I imagine it'll be a "value" car in its class, as Hyundai hasn't quite caught up on its powertrains yet and will probably be skimping on some materials to get that value. (Like the weak sheet metal, paint, and window glass on the Elantra.) But overall it looks like a serious car. I wish it luck.
The new XG is suppose to be shown in January, and I would guess released before the end of that year. The Sonata is so close in size to the current XG that the XG is pretty much outdated and almost pointless once the Sonata hits the lots. You also have the new Accent around the corner, and supposedly a new minivan, Santa Fe, and Elantra. There's even suppose to be a Sonata coupe at some point, but that remains to be seen.
Didn't Nissan just recently send 200 engineers to their Mississippi plant that hasn't been opened very long? They were sent because of quality issues. When you have pretty much an all-new car like the Sonata combined with a new factory IMO it's a gamble, no matter if it's a Toyota or Hyundai. That's why I don't buy first year cars, but add in the fact it's a new factory makes it more of a gamble.
Hyundai is rocking along nicely as far as quality goes. If I wanted a car in this class I would take a hard look at this 2006 Hyundai Sonata and the current Kia Amanti.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
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I'm not a big fan of the design of the interior, but it's better than some others. One thing I don't like is I believe every car either comes with the metal-look or the fake wood, there's no plain versions I think. The fake wood strip that runs across is fine, and maybe around the shifter, but the added fake wood in the center gets out of hand. I would prefer plain.
I think this car will do fine, and is a step up for Hyundai, but I don't think it's going to sell like hotcakes. I think plenty of people will still go with the Accord or Camry. Hyundai has to be careful with the pricing. They need to build quality cars and find a way to get people to buy them. Then over time people won't feel the need to pay more for an Accord or Camry. Pricing is key for this car.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
~alpha
So why do people keep complaining about the styling of the taillights? The fact that people are buying the Accord in droves with the mediocre at best taillight design shows potential Sonata buyers won't care one bit what the taillights look like. If they're not trying to be different or cool, then looking like an Accord won't bother them.
The re-design of the 2005 Sonata to mimic a higher end more sophisticated euro-sedan is no accident. This will appeal to the vast majority of buyers in this segment who are looking for quality and value without having to pay a premium. It is also interesting to note that this vehicle will be chalked full of techno-state-of-the-art toys. If successful, the new Sonata should signal the beginning of Hyundai's ascension into the ranks of the majors, visa-vie Honda and Toyota. Achieving this milestone (assuming they are successful) will mean that Hyundais will eventually lose their reputation as 'cheap' transportation dependent on their warranty and low prices alone.
I believe that if Hyundai positions the Sonata as the "ultimate" alternative to Honda and Toyota and can deliver on it's promise of consistent high quality, combined with it's reputation for great value the Sonata will be a major league hit with consumers in North America.
My point was that people are not going to turn to Hyundai for something different. Its fine not to be different, and I think the new Sonata will be an excellent, first-rate vehicle. BUT the taillight issue is a bit flagrant. Not being different from the normal, bland-ish family sedan styling is fine. But having taillamps that barely differ from the Accord's make me think "pretender".
~alpha
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The first time I saw the new accord, the front reminded me of the last mercury cougar. When toyota introduce the new camary the front grill reminded me of the ford tauraus.
Your point about Hyundai not being "something different" with the exception of their "flagrant" taillight is very spurious. Is Toyota "different"? or Honda for that matter? If you look closely it would seem both of these manufacturers borrow design ideas from existing euro-domestic models.
The main stream ubiquitous designs are what the consumer demands hence the high sales volume that are attributed to both Camry and Accord. All Hyundai has to do is prove to the consumer that their quality is consistent and their value unparalleled when compared to the two leading Japanese imports.
What a terrifically simple plan - I wish I'd thought of that! (and, "all" we need for universal world peace is for everyone to quit fighting...) So far, American manufacturers have been unable to crack Japanese quality standards, nor have German manufacturers been able to sustain their quality tradition momentum in the recent past. (Check out Mercedes, Audi, VW, and BMW owner forums here on Edmunds for some eye-opening posts.) French and Italian? Phfff! There's a reason none of the former and very few of the latter are sold in the U.S. any longer. If Hyundai indeed has aspirations to equal or surpass Accord and Camry overall quality excellence* and re-invent their marketing mission accordingly (pun intended), they have their work cut out for them. I don't foresee the Japanese giving up their deserved, hard-earned status without a fight. Are Accords and Camrys perfect? No. But they're more often than not darned good.
*The J.D. Powers "initial qualtiy" award the Sonata picked up recently is nice, but quality has to go beyond this superficial "how nicely the car was washed, gassed, prepped, exposed screws snugged down, and various systems explained to new owners at drive-off" award. When Hyundai gets awards for long term reliability, then the company will have something meaningful to brag about. As far as ownership is concerned, the "award" that really counts is resale/trade-in value unless the owner intends from the start to drive it out of his new car. That was my plan in deciding on purchasing my 2003 Sonata - drive it for a decade and either junk it or sell it depending on whether it's still drivable. But, most people never intend to keep a new car that long and many Hyundai lessees have been unpleasantly surprised at the end of their leases with residual value penalties assessed - even though the particular car might still be in tip-top condition with low miles.
1999 Hyundai Sonata GLS 6-cyl (retail: $17,000)
1999 Honda Accord LX 4-cyl (retail: $18,400)
Trade-In Value to a Dealer
Sonata- $5,455
Accord- $7,250
So really, what's the big deal with the Accord. If someone trades a car in within 3 years then getting a Hyundai just makes no sense. But keep the car a reasonable amount of time then you're not losing much. Not to mention you save huge amounts of money up front on a Sonata. Fitzmall has no-haggle pricing on a base Sonata with automatic for $14,000 (destination charge included). What you lose on resale value you gain upfront when you buy the car. People who buy new cars and trade in 3 years are taking huge hits anyway so they shouldn't exactly feel better that their car has great resale value.
"(The Sonata) its attractive overall, and if materials quality is as high as it seems to be and the engines are truly class competitve in power, refinement, and efficiency... this WILL be the vehicle that COMPLETELY changes the game for Hyundai."
And the Accord looks like the Cougar? Um... what?
Camry grille looks like a Taurus? The Taurus has an oval grille with a center mount logo, the Camry neither. You see interesting things.
Regardless of anyones feelings, the Sonata looks like an Accord from the rear, for better or worse. That said, it looks to be an excellent car. I only wonder if the resemblence to the Accord is going to be a boone for, or inhibit the vehicle's success.
~alpha
I'd like you to explain to me how the tC is let off the hook but the Sonata is a "pretender". Do you think the tC designers were living under a rock and had no clue what the Tiburon taillights looked like? Do you somehow find it coincidence that they look so similar? They compete against each other just like the Sonata/Accord, but Toyota is let off the hook while Hyundai is once again copying designs?
I think you even mentioned you were interested in buying a tC at some point. Why do you think "pretender" when looking at the Sonata taillights but don't think "pretender" on the tC?
My Sportage's seats are an example. From dog slobber to spilled soda, my Sportage's seats take a beating. Yet they clean up so well with just some gentle scrubbing. I take everything into consideration when I look at cars. My Sportage has yet to even burn out a single lightbulb yet. And I'm at 82,200 miles on the thing. Yikes. If I had bought a Honda CRV don't you think I would've replaced at least four light bulbs by now? I have not needed a single lick of brake work yet on my Sportage, nor have I needed a single tire replaced! The original Hankook (yes, they're manufactured in South Korea) tires for my Sportage look like they'll make it through another Missouri winter. Now that is truly a good value in a SUV boys and girls.
The new Sonata design will be popular here in America. It should sell way better than it eventually will, though. Too many paranoid people will buy the homely Camry and Accord and drive down Sonata sales a bit. What I'm hoping though is that some more American people will wake up to these South Korean cars and SUV's. They really are the future in automotive needs.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
Your comments show just how far Hyundai has come as a car company. The fact that we are now having a discussion about whether Hyundai's quality is on par with the top two Japanese rivals and whether the re-sale value of future cars that they build will be competitive with the likes of Camry and Accord says a whole lot about how quickly they have attained 'contender' status in this segment.
You of all people ought to remember the humble beginings of both Toyota and Honda. If your memory is a little cloudy let me help it along;I recall their first offerings in the late '70s & early 80's- corona, tercel, civic, accord. In the beginning no one thought of these cheap, cramped, uncomfortable cars as anything other than basic transportation-The same can be said for early gen Hyundais introduced to the North American market.
Did Hyundai miss the mark on quality? You sure bet they did. Have they learned an important lesson from their Japanese rivals as a result of this? Their latest sales figures for the last several years show them rebounding over 100%.
By all accounts it seems that the new Sonata will be the benchmark of future Hyundais to come. Its success, and hence re-sale value will ultimately be determined by the market place who will be the final judge and jury.
I agree the new Sonata and the 2003 and 2004 Accord's have a similar rear style. But it doesn't seem too much like the 2002 and earlier. I assume the rear style of the 2003 was revealed around mid 2002 . . . that would be a year and a half into the new Sonata's design process . . . almost halfway. I am not familiar with the auto industry, but I was a process engineer in the semiconductor industry and the test and validation of a chip design takes a good deal of time and then it's takes another good chunk of time to set up a manufaturing line to produce the chip. I assume the testing cycle and factory line setup each take a considerable amount of time for making cars so it seems to me that, if Hyundai did blatantly copy the Honda styling cues, they might not have had much time to implement the copy.
So if anybody does have direct knowledge of typical design cycles, does two years seem like enough time, or is it cutting it close? I have no idea, I'm just curious.
delta 4, actually Toyota's "humble beginnings" preceeded the 1970s by a bit over a decade. In 1959, Toyota came to these shores with a little underpowered, 4-cyl OHV, 4-dr. crapbox called the "Toyopet". I was 15 at the time and my dad had a friend who bought one - a bit homely, but nevertheless well proportioned in a 1955 Chevy sort of way. I remember the ride - a WW-II Jeep rode better. Things've changed. Honda's "humble beginnings" predated the 1970s, too. I was still in community college, so it must've been ~1963-1965 that a very small ~900cc 2-dr. Honda car was introduced. It had a catchy name. It was called "The Honda Car"... It could nominally carry four passengers if two of 'em were no taller than 4th graders. Both the "Toyopet" and "The Honda Car" were quietly withdrawn from the U.S. market for lack of interest after the initial year or two fanfare died down. When the respective companies' car offerings next re-appeared in American showrooms in the mid-to-late 1960s for Toyota and the early 1970s for Honda, it was obvious the Japanese designers and engineers had done their homework. I was in optometry college by that time. A couple of my classmates bought or received the new Coronas in 1969 and 1970 - our graduation year. I'm not certain, but I believe the Honda Civics came over a year or two later. Small, but sufficiently developed to keep up with city traffic and run the legal speed limit on freeways. Reasonably well put together, and reliable, they were the right package to be ready for the first of several oil crises that would disrupt American driving and living habits for some time to come. Though not perfect, no one laughed at Japanese engineering again - especially Detroit.
Hope I didn't bore any of you to a migraine with this jaunt down memory lane. But, if I did, tough...
You definitely write with a flair towards the dramatic but alas I digress. Indeed as you pointed out so eloquently Hondas and Toyotas got their start way, way back when no one thought (or would they rather forget?) very much of what a Toyota or Honda would become today. My point here is Hyundai, like Toyota and Honda has indeed 'learned'.
Of course there is a process at work for Hyundai due to the very case-in-point lessons and examples to which you refer. For a car company like Hyundai driven (pardon the pun!) by a relentless desire to rebuild its brand image takes sheer determination and a commitment to change the perception of that brand in the mind of the consumer. This of course takes time (next 2 yrs) and obviously must be backed up with and substantiated by a product that can deliver on its promise of high quality and value.
Big picture: Hyundai is already on the way to making those inroads. They seem capable and dedicated to delivering the kind of cars the consumer is demanding. Their quality star is beginning to shine. Not unlike the story of the student surpassing the teacher, they may some day rise to displace the current market leaders and gain a foothold within the hallowed ranks of highly valued and desirable-to-own cars!
I mean what are we talking about here. A brand new car used for 6 years and only loses $5500 in value? I won't hold my breath thinking I could get the same for an Accord.
I'm being serious, if you can show me that people are paying this amount for a 6 year old Accord then I will with no hesitation buy an Accord. I'm being flat out serious. Talk about a diamond in the rough. Only losing $5500 on a brand new car in 6 years? Sign me up!
Pzev, you think Im anti-Hyundai but you seem to forget that when I purchased my Sentra 2.5LE, the only other car that I truly looked at was the Elantra. I chose the Sentra over it for a few basic reasons: the Sentra is significantly quicker, (coming out of a torque-free 94 Civic DX auto, I wanted some...), the 2.5LE came with standard ABS and discs, and the IIHS test on the Sentra was better than the Elantra's poor (though 'Acceptable' is hardly stellar, its obviously the better of the two). If I could have found an Elantra 4 door with ABS, it would have been a tougher decision. Big credits in the Elantra column was the long warranty, good fit and finish, and better (much smoother) ride. (BTW, it came down to the Sentra and Elantra because I was really interested in getting side airbags with head and chest protections, and at the time, those were the only two that offered this at a reasonable price).
~alpha