2010 Hyundai Sonata Gls Sedan 4-door 2.4l on 2040-cars

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Hyundai Sonata successor to seek evolution, not revolution

Hyundai hit a home run with its current-generation Sonata midsize sedan, so don't expect the Korean automaker to make revolutionary changes when its replacement comes out for the 2015 model year. The four-door sitting in showrooms today was launched in 2010 with radical new lines that marked a big departure from its rather bland predecessor. Even with stiff competition from the Honda Accord, Ford Fusion and Toyota Camry - all newer designs than the Sonata - sales have been strong. Consumers embraced its new design language, taking home a record 230,605 units last year.
"I think we found a design language that works, the 'Fluidic Sculpture' stuff, so I would say (the new styling) is not pulling back in any way. It's more continuing to refine on that same trajectory that we're on," John Krafcik, Hyundai U.S. CEO, told WardsAuto in a recent interview. Consumers don't seem to be fazed by the its age either. "A lot of consumers are just entering (the) midsize (segment) for the first time. They don't see (the Sonata) as a three-year-old car. They see it as, 'Whoa, that's a pretty good-looking midsize car,' so it's doing quite well," added Krafcik.
Sonota sales have been down over the last few months, but Krafcik says that is a reflection of the automaker's decision to increase production of its Elantra compact at the Montgomery, Alabama, plant - where both are built - and a limited supply of its mid-grade GLS Sonata model.

Hyundai ix25 Concept foreshadows B-segment CUV

Hyundai introduced an all-new crossover concept to the crowds at the 2014 Beijing Motor Show, showing the ix25, a near-production concept that heralds the arrival of a new compact CUV for the People's Republic.
Boasting Hyundai's "Fluidic Sculpture 2.0," the ix25 is a handsome little soft-roader that we could see slotting in nicely below the vehicle we call Tucson (the rest of the globe knows it as the ix35), and would serve as the entry point for Hyundai's Chinese CUV range. Under hood sits a familiar 2.0-liter, "Nu" four-cylinder, which we've sampled in assorted Hyundais and Kias over the years.
At 168 inches long it's ten inches shorter than a Ford Escape and five inches longer than the Soul, from sister company Kia. Despite these differences, the ix25 Concept's wheelbase is less than an inch longer (eight-tenths to be exact) than the Soul's 101.2-inches. More notably, the ix25 is roughly the size of the new Chevrolet Trax.

Hyundai shocks Korea with mid-engined Veloster concept

There are many things we love here at Autoblog, but one of the quirkiest is the mid-engined hot hatch, whether it's the Renaultsport Clio V6 or the Volkswagen GTI W12-650 concept. Unfortunately, we can never seem to get our hands on one - the former never having made the transatlantic journey and the latter remained strictly a concept. And now we've got one more to salivate over.
It's called, simply enough, the Veloster Midship concept, and Hyundai is unveiling it this week at the Busan Motor Show in South Korea. As you might have guessed, it's essentially a Veloster with the engine - a 2.0-liter Theta turbo four producing 296 horsepower - mounted behind the two seats. It's also got a lightweight aluminum suspension, a reinforced chassis and extreme aero to help that mid-mounted turbo engine do its thing.
The project was undertaken by the same team that developed the initial i20 WRC rally car, but unfortunately as Hyundai itself says in the press release below (released with the solitary image above), "The Midship is a concept only to explore possibilities for the Veloster chassis and is currently not related to any future production model." Which is a bit of a shame, but hardly a surprise.