2011 Hyundai Sonata: New Sheriff In Town?

Gen 8 accord came out as a 2008 model. The sheetmetal is OK, nothing bad, but the interior looks like it's from 1995. I think Honda better figure out the center stack and cheap plastics for gen 9, cause the Sonata looks modern, inside and out, and has more content and is cheaper. And at this price point, people really care about cost.

I think more people can afford a $16-23K car than a $20-$32K car. And the Elantra Limited may be a bit too nice and reasonably spacious compared to a similarly priced Sonata GLS, for people looking for an additional car.

The Sonata is an attractive car (from most angles), but the Elantra is nothing short of revolutionary. It's the first compact I'd characterize as desirable, maybe even aspirational. It's a more cohesive package than the Sonata, and with the right wheels looks almost like a concept car. It'll outsell the Sonata on looks alone.

I personally know one Sonata owner who wishes he had waited for the Elantra.

The new Azera (Grandeur in Korea) looks sharp, too.

Hyundai, murdering the critics / leavin Honda's body for the roaches and crickets

Leave it to americans to abandon their japanese loyalties and flock to a south korean compact instead of their own critically acclaimed domestic offerings.

Must be nice for Hyundai - Sonata selling extremely well and Elantra doing even better. I guess it's not a huge secret anymore that style (along with quality and reliability) sells. Both of these cars immediately made most segment competitors look frumpy and dull by comparison.

But it shouldn't surprise that the Elantra is selling better, simply because of its lower price of entry. Accord and Civic have both been giants in their respective segments - but Honda always sold more Civics than Accords. More people can afford Civics. And with gas prices skyrocketing, more people than ever are considering more fuel efficient compact entries. Of course, it also helps Hyundai that their MIDSIZE offering in the Sonata does as well as the compact Cruze in actual real world fuel consumption.

@uncanny_man,

"criticaly acclaimed domestic offerings"

Sure you mean to make that plural? Focus is nice (but rear drums on volume-selling models and high top-end price make it a tossup vs. Elantra). Cruze is......not nice.

Elantra is nice.

-Rod

"outselling all other 40-mpg compacts by a margin of six to one"

There's some sunny number-cooking BS if I ever heard any. How many other 40-mpg compacts are there? Cruze Eco? Corolla and Civic must be outselling Elantra badly, because they were deliberately removed from that "statistic".

The Sonata doesn't do anything for me, there are other choices in the midsize segment I would rather own. The Elantra looks great, and (at least on paper), is more appealing than either the Toyota or Honda. But for now, I think I would go for a Focus, Cruze, or 3 before the Elantra.

apez,
"nothing short of revolutionary...maybe even aspirational"

Wow. Did you write that "outselling 6 to 1" nonsense for Hyundai too?

Hey, did you also know that the Elantra is outselling every other Korean compact made by a company starting with the letter "H"? It's truly remarkable.

The Elantra is a gorgeous little car. I'd pick it over the Sonata in a heartbeat. It's small, efficient, still *very* attractive, and I'd bet money the interior is bright and comfortable for the price. Now, I haven't even seen the interior, but I'm apparently willing to give it the benefit of the doubt sight unseen. I think that says a lot about Hyundai, too.

I loved my test drives in the Elantra. It's a great little car. The power and materials seemed plenty good enough for the class. It has way more room than the Focus. My only complaints are that the rear suspension could use a little refinement, and it could use a spare tire. A can of fix a flat and a 12v air compressor just aren't cutting it for me.

Well, Car and Driver didn't really like the Elantra. In a recent 5-car comparo, the Elantra finished third to the winning Focus. The Focus really out-accelerated the Elantra wih a 0-60 of 7.6, vs. the Elantra's 8.9 (slower than all the other four cars in the test.)

I know that isn't the biggest thing a buyer in this segment looks for, but for Car and DRIVER, I would imagine the performance specs are pretty important.

Oh, yeah, the Elantra has a bigger trunk, and does 2 mpg better on the highway. (Although, the Focus got 1 mpg better than the Elantra during C&Ds test. EPA, SchmEPA.)

Off topic: I need to apologize for my ranting against the performance of the Odyssey. In the same issue of C&D, they did a comparo of four minivans. The Odyssey was the fastest to 60 and the quarter mile. I had complained about the Odyssey's low hp, versus the Accords' much higher hp. Seems like the Odyssey, despite its lower hp, is more than competitive with its peers. Sorry for my ranting without good cause.

Maybe I shouldn't be putting down the Elantra.... ah, where's the fun in that?

And coming soon: Veloster.

The only area Hyundai isn't knocking it out of the park is with their crossovers. The new ones have interesting styling but they're not world beaters like their newest cars are.

legacygt

The new Tucson is selling great here. More talk about it then the old school CRV and RAV4.

Love that, despite the EPA numbers, C&D did better in the real world with the Focus. Hyundai must be doing that GM game-the-test thing.

edc124 - If you say C/D "really didn't like the Elantra" because it placed 3rd in the compact comparison, what would you say their feelings were on the cars that finished 4th and 5th? You know, the Cruze and the new Jetta? Did they despise those?

I've already seen several new Elantras on the roads, and Sonatas are just everywhere. Way to go Hyundai!