2014 Hyundai Sonata Limited on 2040-cars

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2015 Hyundai Genesis

It's not easy to drive a prototype-level version of the upcoming, second-generation Hyundai Genesis sedan.
Three hours in airports; fourteen hours in a plane; two hours riding in a car from a Iuncheon to my hotel in the now-famous Gangnam district of downtown Seoul; another two hours-plus on a bus from Seoul out to the Hyundai nerve center in Namyang. And that's just the travel.
Finally settled into a massive presentation room deep in the heart of the Namyang R&D center, freshly denuded of all of my camera gear and fortified with abundant coffee and green tea cookies, I still faced hours of product presentation; question and answer sessions with a large team of engineers, designers and executives; an official unveiling under the soaring dome of the Design Hall; a strolling lunch and more coffee. And then, finally, a shuttle ride to the proving grounds around which the whole facility hums with enterprise for an all-too-brief stint behind the wheel of a car that, by this point, I'm basically slavering to get my hands on.

2015 Hyundai Sonata found uncovered in Korea

Hyundai is locked and loaded to debut its redesigned, 2015 Sonata at the New York Auto Show next month. For one enterprising Korean photographer, however, the reveal just couldn't come soon enough.
A South Korean website called Bobaedream.co.kr unceremoniously published some images of what would appear to be a completely undisguised example of the new Sonata. Korean Car Blog quickly followed up on the leak, claiming that the car in question was fitted with Hyundai's 2.0-liter turbocharged GDI engine, making 274 horsepower, and connected to an all-new, seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.
Whether that information came from a reliable insider source (as the photos would suggest) or was just a best guess, we can't say. But we can see what direction Hyundai is headed in with the Sonata. The front end seen in the spy shots is more or less what we'd already seen in the last teaser picture, with a new headlamp design helping to set off a prominent grille. The grille does seem to have some element of the strong, graphical surround from the teaser, too, though it's not as defined in these low-resolution pictures. Sheetmetal on the hood and bodysides seems cleaner, straighter and less fussy than in the current car, too. As for whether or not this is the Korean-spec car or the one destined for the US market, that's unclear, though we have been told that the two cars do look very similar.

Hyundai Mingtu revealed on billboard ahead of Shanghai

The so-called Hyundai Mini-Sonata now has a proper name. Called the Mingtu in China, this new sedan will slot in between the compact Elantra and midsize Sonata, and it sports a pretty nifty look.
We've known for a while now that Hyundai is working on a more mature version of its Fluidic styling language, the first fruits of which showed up in the latest Santa Fe, and the Mingtu seems to take that refined appearance to the next level with a refined look of creased lines, a chiseled fascia and a smooth greenhouse.
There's no indication that this car will be offered in the US market, but it's certainly possible that some of its styling elements will carry over to the next Elantra or Sonata. In any case, expect a range of 1.8- and 2.0-liter four-cylinder engines to be announced for the Chinese market when the Mingtu makes its official debut at the Shanghai Motor Show this weekend.