2013 Hyundai Sonata Gls on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2020 Hyundai Sonata shows fresh shape among competitors

The Hyundai Sonata received a refresh for the 2018 model year, but it seems that version won't be around for long, because a 2020 Hyundai Sonata midsize family sedan has been spied testing. The new car was spotted in Las Vegas testing alongside the competition. This new Sonata also appears to be a complete redesign, since nothing appears to be shared with the current model. Up front, the new Sonata looks much wider than the current model. Part of this is due to the headlights being moved to sit inline with the top of the grille, as opposed to slightly above on the current model. And while we can't see it clearly, the grille will likely have a similar shape to that of the current model and other Hyundais. The fenders also wrap around the top of the car more, further contributing to the car's wide stance. The profile of this new Sonata is different, too. It's a bit more traditional in how the engine compartment area doesn't blend into windshield as much. The current Sonata blends the engine, passenger and trunk compartments more. There's also a curve to the bottom of the greenhouse on the new car that lends the car a more graceful, less upright appearance. There is still a fastback look to the rear of the Sonata, but it's stretched out more, again helping the car look less upright. This is the first time we've seen the next-generation Hyundai Sonata, but it does look as though it's pretty far in development. What we can see of it appears to be production ready. As such, we probably won't have long to wait to see the car revealed. It will probably show up sometime next year in time for the 2020 model year. Related Video:

Second-generation Hyundai Veloster spied with same asymmetric doors

Until we saw these photos, the future of the Veloster didn't look especially bright. It's entering its fifth year on sale with no major updates, and no announcements for a replacement. It also was killed in the UK three years ago when it wasn't selling well. However, these photos show that Hyundai hasn't given up on it. At first glance, it looks very much like the current model, but closer inspection reveals some differences. Up front, the hood looks lower, and it tapers down to what seems to be an exaggerated version of the "cascade grille" Hyundai has implemented on the Elantra GT, and new Sonata. The headlights look slimmer, and there seem to be fewer busy, "quirky" lines. Moving backward, we find the same asymmetric door layout consisting of one door on the left, and two on the right. On the right side, the rear door handle is still tucked in the corner of the window. The glass area on the right also appears a bit larger thanks to a lower edge that stays lower for longer. At the rear, the camouflage is at its heaviest, but interesting details still show through. The rearmost glass seems to be more steeply raked. We can't tell if there's still glass on the top of the hatch, but considering the evolutionary nature of this car's design, we would expect the same amount of hatch glass. The taillights have adopted the slim and wide look of other recent Hyundai's. The center-exit exhaust remains, too, but it looks a bit smaller, and no longer has an obvious split in the middle. On either side of the bumper are auxiliary vents, likely fake. Besides the low sales and limited updates, another reason we questioned the future of the Veloster was its unremarkable driving dynamics. While forgivable in the base model, it was an issue on the Turbo, which simply wasn't fun enough to recommend over competitors. We're glad to see Hyundai will give it another shot, though, since the world can always use more quirky and interesting automobiles. Hopefully this next one will drive better. And who knows, it might even spawn a crazy mid-engine, rear-drive version. Related Video:

Hyundai working on clean-sheet, hydrogen-powered CUV

Autocar reports that Hyundai is working on its next hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, and that the coming vehicle will be a clean-sheet design and likely a crossover. The South Korean company will soon have its Toyota Prius-fighting Ioniq hybrid on the market, now it is said to have placed a bullseye on the Toyota Mirai FCEV. This follows news that Kia is developing a brand new fuel-cell hybrid for launch by 2020, the theory is that platform will be shared with Hyundai, who will launch it first. The bodystyle isn't confirmed, but making it a crossover would take advantage of two important factors, one being the ongoing sales boom of compact and mid-sized SUVs. The second is that according to Sae-Hoon Kim, head of the company's fuel cell research, "all customer feedback says range and boot space are the priorities." Since bigger tanks typically mean less trunk space, a crossover would offer the best opportunity for maximizing both. A people-hauler could also make design and brand connections with the Kia Niro hybrid crossover. Hyundai is hoping to get a range of 500 miles out of the new vehicle, which would mark a 25-percent improvement over the range of the Tucson FCEV currently on sale. When it arrives it will give Hyundai a dedicated player in three alternative powertrain domains, joining the Ioniq plug-in hybrid and the pure electric vehicle it promised for launch by 2017. That could be seen as merely hedging bets, but the company does believe in hydrogen, Kim saying, "Every solution leads to hydrogen; either you use renewable energy sources to create and store hydrogen, or you use traditional fuels like coal to create hydrogen. Either way, hydrogen is the way to store energy and control supply and demand."