Hyundai Motor Co. has released images of its seventh-generation 2015 Sonata, the most recent model of the vehicle since 2009.
The sedan is set to compete against popular vehicles such as Honda Motor Co.'s Accord, Toyota Motor Corp.'s Camry and Ford Motor Co. (F)'s Fusion, according to Bloomberg. Hyundai is planning for a more complete unveiling of the car this month in Korea, and is set to display it at the New York auto show in April.
Since Hyundai introduced the sixth generation Sonata in 2009, the Sonata has become one of the South Korean company's best-selling cars, Carscoops reported. The vehicle made over 200,000 deliveries in its first year on the market in North America, sold 230,605 units in 2012 and sold 203,648 units in 2013.
Hwang Chung-yul, Hyundai's vice president for product management, spoke on Tuesday about the company looking to gain customers who are searching for an affordable midsize premium car, according to the Wall Street Journal.
"Some customers often use the word 'shoddy' about our midsize sedans when compared to European rivals," Chung-yul said. "So we adopted a smooth and natural approach to the new Sonata's exterior design to shed that image."
The company said the new Sonata has a better fuel economy and uses a higher grade of steel than the previous model, the Wall Street Journal reported.
While there were no new images of the Sonata's interior, Hyundai provided a description of it, Carscoops reported.
"Its interior design aligns with the premium exterior, adopting consistent design details that fully reflect careful consideration of ergonomics and intuitive operation," the company said. "The horizontally designed cabin gives off a stable feeling, and tailored design specifications for all materials and master craftsmanship-level finish strengthen the Sonata's premium image."
Hyundai made changes to the Sonata's safety features as well, increasing the use of Advanced-High Strength Steel and the use of structure adhesive, according to Carscoops. These updates increased the new Sonata's torsional and bending stiffness.
Jeff Schuster of LMC Automotive said the new Sonata should be able to succeed in the U.S. midsize-car market, the Wall Street Journal reported. Schuster added "But there are more worthy competitors fighting for share." Competition poses a challenge for the new Sonata in making a huge impression.
