PHOENIX — Seems usually are not all the things, but in the shrinking however however aggressive midsize sedan market place, they certain cannot harm. So Hyundai is bringing top quality structure features to its mainstream Sonata applying producing improvements to maintain charges in examine.
“Additional and a lot more, structure is a highly effective factor of brand name id, and a powerful conversation instrument for clients,” claimed Hak Soo Ha, head of the Hyundai inside structure team. “Our mission was to structure the most lovely sedan in its course.”
But does fashion offer vehicles? It surely draws in purchasers to the showroom, Ha instructed Automotive Information. And there is precedent for daring structure elevating Hyundai’s midsize sedan: The sixth-technology Sonata stunned the field with its smooth traces just before supplying way to the bland seventh-gen vehicle. The 2020 Sonata, which goes on sale this thirty day period, attracts inspiration from the preferred 2011 design.
In contrast with the latest vehicle, the new Sonata sits decrease on its new system, with a a lot more coupelike silhouette. It incorporates exterior styling cues that have been the moment restricted to luxurious vehicles since they needed highly-priced producing procedures. On the Sonata, Hyundai has formulated some improvements to provide all those features to a mass-market place sedan at a modest rate stage.
“When I say innovation, it is really a relative time period,” Ha claimed all through a media presentation right here past 7 days. “It really is almost nothing new to the field, since you see this in a lot more top quality or unique vehicles. But to provide this stage of engineering and execution to a mainstream vehicle, that is why we simply call it innovation.”
For case in point, the hood on the redesigned Sonata flows all the way down to the grille, with out the need to have for a horizontal “minimize line” amongst it and the entrance fascia. That can make the hood extended, a structure factor related with Aston Martin. But it complicates the assembly.
Hyundai designers and engineers labored jointly on the flowing hood though minding charges. Ha claimed it was not quick, but it was well worth it since it sets the Sonata aside from rivals these as the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Nissan Altima.
“We challenged every single minimal depth like that to provide some unique issues to the Sonata,” claimed Ha.
All through his 14 many years at Ford, the Korean-born designer labored on the Fusion and Edge — automobiles recognized for their top quality appears to be like relative to rivals.
When Ford redesigned the Fusion for the 2013 design calendar year, it integrated features reminiscent of Aston Martin, together with the trapezoidal grille. The Fusion was reworked from a operate-of-the-mill midsize sedan to a smooth, a lot more top quality-wanting vehicle.
A further problem with the new Sonata was to decrease the sizing of the entrance fender to produce a floor-hugging stance. Suspension items experienced to be redesigned though retaining basic safety functions these as the entrance crush zone to take in impression in a crash. “When you see the vehicle in genuine existence, you discover that the fender is extremely reduced, practically to the stage of unique vehicles,” Ha claimed.
You will find a lot a lot more: A chrome strip from the headlights to the rear doorway lights up when the vehicle is on the tail lamps are dominated by a round “racetrack” that unifies the rear and the dashboard, middle stack and other inside features are slimmer and decrease to the flooring, and you can find significantly less button muddle.
And, of class, the vehicle in general has been reengineered from the floor up to decrease sound, vibration and harshness, and to offer a sleek, sporty journey, as well as enhanced gasoline economic system.
In a sea of cookie-cutter crossovers, Hyundai is hoping to attract purchasers from other segments who are wanting for a journey that stands out in a group. The 2020 Sonata may perhaps not strike the revenue documents established by the sixth technology — when sedans have been however preferred — but it will never be for a absence of attempting.